Editor's note: First of two articles on Shelly and Bruce Abitz, a husband-wife team that owns the recently expanded Gemini Studios in Fairmont.
"Getting your exercise, huh?" asked Terrie Golden, a guest on "The Cocklebur Morning Show," as he watched Shelly Abitz pace back and forth from one camera to another, adjusting lights and sound before shooting a segment of "Our Story" for the local cable access channel.
Shelly spent about two hours filming Wednesday, and she'll probably spend another 40 hours editing those segments. The most difficult part of the job, she said, is cutting an interesting interview down to 15 minutes without leaving out anything essential to the story.
Shelly's passion for film production is newfound. For 25 years, she was a banker, working 8-5, dreaming of going back to school for art. When her employer downsized, she decided to get that degree, attending college for graphic design.
The training did not, however, prepare her for work in film production, which is where her career would quickly turn. Just as Shelly was graduating from college, Jeff Rouse was looking for someone to film Our Story productions.
"I'm a big believer that things happen when they're supposed to happen," she said.
Believing strongly in supporting her community, and excited about what Our Story wanted to do, Shelly took the job.
"I pretty much learned how to do things as I went, with my husband teaching me, and then he pulled back to do his own projects," she said.
Shelly and her husband, Bruce Abitz, own Gemini Studios in Fairmont, a business that evolved through Bruce's love of technology and his daughter.
"It was 1998, 1999 when I started the video aspect, to capture my daughter playing sports," Bruce said.
For several years, the setup was in the back half of the former Gemini Music store, a business they closed in 2005 after 25 years. Gemini Studio customers would struggle through the alley in the winter to reach the back steps. Adding to the inconvenience were the limited hours filming was possible, since the Abitzes rent the front of the store to a piano teacher.
Those days are gone. A newly opened space on Downtown Plaza, next door to the old Gemini Music store, now wears a sign announcing the presence of Gemini Studios.
When their tenant, Bonnie Taplin, closed Elegant Affair, the Abitzes decided to move in.
"That all fit into the decision to expand," Shelly said.
"Another thing was lessons," she added, referring to a multi-media program Bruce teaches. "We would have 7 to 10 students in our little office area, trying to do all their projects, as we still try to conduct business."
Together, Shelly and Bruce offer sound system sales and installation, video production, graphic design, illustration, logo design, VHS-to-DVD transfer and DVD productions.
That's what their business cards say anyway.
Condensing everything the couple does onto a little slip of paper simply isn't possible. There's too much. To focus just on Shelly alone is overwhelming.
Her schedule is a hectic one, though you'd never know it watching Shelly at work. Whether she's manning a camera or hauling chairs on and off stage to find the right fit for the "Cocklebur Morning Show" co-hosts, Bobby Ray and Sally Sue - stage names for Keith Kenney and Alice Nawrocki - Abitz comes across as cool, calm and collected.
"She's the force that makes this happen," said Rouse, director and producer at Our Story Studios. "From Our Story's standpoint, she's a tremendous asset. ... We pay Shelly to do the show, but she is willing to shoot weeknights, weekends, whatever it takes to get the job done."
Nearly every weekend and three nights a week, Shelly films for production, and then spends hours upon hours editing. She also writes for Our Story, penning the script for the humorous soap opera "As the Corn Grows." That's not all she does, though.
Shelly regularly films and produces community projects, from the Martin County Youth for Christ "Lighthouse" to school activities. She does all the graphic announcements for the school and channel 12, the local cable access station, and "City Spotlight" ads, which essentially make Our Story Studios possible.
"None of it was planned," Shelly said.
But the hard work doesn't feel like hard work, the Abitzes say. Simply put, they love what they do. And besides, the rewards make any bad days more than worthwhile.
Take for instance, Shelly's first big project - filming a parade for local troops returning home from Iraq.
"That one could bring tears to your eyes, what it meant to everyone there," Bruce said. "... That's the power of video."
