Date: Fri 20-Jun-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: BILLB

Quick Words:

Petschek-animals-Charter-cable

Full Text:

If You Like Animals, You'll Be Absolutely Wild About This Cable Show

(with photo)

BY BILL BRASSARD, JR

When it comes to public access cable, a producer doesn't have a lot of

resources with which to impress the viewer. No incredible sets, music, or

special effects. The best the producer can hope for is to convey enthusiasm

for his or her subject.

When it comes to the subject of animals, Audrey Petschek has enthusiasm

aplenty, and she hopes her new cable show, "Absolutely Wild About Animals,"

will project that, as well as teach some valuable lessons about the

relationships humans have with animals.

"I think that if you treat animals well, it makes you a more humane person,"

said Ms Petschek.

The show debuts this Tuesday, June 24, at 8 pm, on Charter Communications'

Channel 21. It will continue in that time slot as long as Ms Petschek comes up

with ideas.

And she has a lot of ideas.

The first show involves horses, a subject dear to the heart of Ms Petschek,

who owns Audden Farm in Newtown and is a breeder of thoroughbred conformation

hunters.

Instead of hunters, though, she focuses her camera on carriage driving, an

underappreciated segment of horse sports. It also is one Ms Petschek

admittedly knew little about until she started filming.

She hopes viewers will enjoy learning about driving and will be entertained at

the same time.

Ms Petschek's friend and fellow horseman Tom Lutz, who has been driving for

ten years and has won many ribbons, explains during the program what the

elegant sport is all about.

"When I got to his farm the day I was going to tape him, Tom had all the

harnesses out and several carriages lined up on the lawn," said Ms Petschek.

"He's an eloquent and a wonderful commentator."

Mr Lutz, noting he's not used to being in front of a camera, said, "I talked a

lot."

It was Tom Lutz's enthusiasm for carriage driving that made Ms Petschek decide

to air the material she had in a four-episode series.

The first show involves carriage construction, training the horse to drive,

and the types of horses used for driving. Mr Lutz's Thoroughbred-Hanoverian

crossbred, Sebastian, and a handsome gray thoroughbred, Laverne, are seen in

the show, along with several carriages he owns - a Studebaker, which is a

circa 1890s two-wheeled vehicle that has a smooth ride, and a Meadowbrook road

cart, a vehicle popular in Pennsylvania's Amish country.

"It's the Chevy of carriages," said Mr Lutz.

Mr Lutz is thrilled he will be able to promote his sport to the general

public.

"The tradition of driving is important - the clothes the driver wears, the

carriages, the classes in a show," he said. He noted that lately driving is

having a difficult time because some shows, such as the Fairfield Driving

Show, which Ms Petschek filmed last year, and the Mid-Hudson (N.Y.) show have

been canceled this year.

"It takes a lot of volunteers to put on a show and there aren't enough," he

said.

The second episode details the history of driving, rules and safety; the third

has interviews with world-class whips (as drivers are sometimes called) Tucker

Johnson and Sharon Chesson. The final episode shows extensive footage of the

1993 World Pair Championship and gives the viewer a taste of "combined

driving," the sport's most demanding test.

The "Absolutely Wild About Animals" shows are 30 minutes in length. The

opening series has two sponsors, All The Kings Horses, a tack shop in

Ridgefield, and Tom and Barbara Lutz's Sky Watch Farm in Newtown.

Ms Petschek, who is 33, has always been interested in photography and film.

With this show she is able to combine that interest with her love of animals.

"This is about sharing the information I have about animals," said Ms

Petschek.

She got her start with public access programming by working with Sue De

Francesco, the producer of "Animal Talk," which also airs locally. The two

shows do not conflict, said Ms Petschek, who was once a guest on De

Francesco's program and considers her a friend.

For "Absolutely Wild About Animals," Ms Petschek edited film at her home and

at the Charter Communications studio on Commerce Road. She has taken the

course Charter requires for all public access producers, and she credits Rob

Manouse, Charter's public access coordinator, as being a big help.

The subjects of other "Absolutely Wild About Animals" programs will be wide

ranging, said Ms Petschek. "It won't be just about horses."

There will be a program about sharks. "I wouldn't even go in the ocean until

six years ago because of movies like Jaws , " said Ms Petschek. She conquered

her fear, however, after taking trips to the Galapagos Islands and the Florida

Keys, where she talked to experts. Ms Petschek has film of a Danbury woman in

a steel suit hand-feeding sharks that she will use in the show.

There is also a program planned about dolphins, as well as one about the

Florida Everglades. She is considering episodes about cats (she owns several

Himalayans), dogs, zoos, conservation, birds, animal welfare and animal

activists ("It's important to know their viewpoint"), and when she gets back

around again to horses, a show that explains the difference between hunters

and jumpers.

"I know public access usually likes things to be local, and many of the shows

will be, but there are animal lovers in this town every five feet and issues

about the environment and animals everywhere are important to everyone," said

Ms Petschek.

Given Audrey Petschek's enthusiasm, "Absolutely Wild About Animals" should be

a hit in this animal-loving town.