MISSOULA - Podcasting has skyrocketed over the past few years in popularity and research shows the number of podcasts and their listeners has grown substantially over the last decade.
If you've always wanted to start your own podcast, but don't know how or have the money, look no further than the Missoula Public Library.
“It’s really simple to make a podcast at MCAT,” said Neil Wells, an editor and media mentor at Missoula Community Access TV. “All you have to do is come on down, sign up for one of our podcast courses and you can come right into this room and schedule it out super easy.”
MCAT — which can be found inside the Missoula Public Library at 455 East Main Street — offers free classes to learn how to make a podcast from start to finish.
“In fact, I think it’s our most popular service we offer here,” Wells said.
Introduction to Podcasting is just one of the classes offered through MCAT.
“I’m here to take the Intro to Editing class,” Casey Chapman said.
Chapman is an aspiring director in Missoula who takes MCAT classes to get a better understanding of all of the moving parts that go into making a film.
“I’m currently working with a really talented editor and every time he works on my project, I feel like he’s a magician next to me and I don’t understand anything behind the curtain. And I’m here to learn more about that process.”
“In seeing my friends make podcasts and make their own shorts and comedy sketches, I feel like I know so many people who have utilized MCAT for either equipment or classes,” Chapman said. “So it was one of the first things I looked at when I was like, how do I learn to edit a film?”
You can learn how to make music in the MCAT studio, learn photography, one-day short film production, computer video edit skills, digitize old photos among other workshops, and use studio rooms. At no cost, MCAT's mentors can help you learn new technology and finish those projects you've always wanted to start.
“It’s important to remember that for a lot of people, it’s hard to get into podcasting," Wells said. "They don't have the equipment or the space or just the technical knowledge, as simple as though it seems. So, it’s just really good that we got this space. It’s just free and open to the community.”
