"That's my real name!" Bunny Smith said, and for a fellow who had to produce his birth certificate to prove it to the draft board, he certainly has made the best of it. "I've had lots of ribbing about it," he said with a smile, "but everyone's used to it now."

Twenty-six year old Bunny graduated from the American Institute of Television in Chicago. He quit his job as a photographer in Canton, IL, because as he put it, "I wanted to get in on the ground floor in a new field. TV is gathering impetus like a snowball... and once you have the training and ability, you're in.

Bunny came to WHBF in 1950, two months before the station went into TV. He did such a fine job of lining up film and putting things in order for the big event that he was promoted to the position of director.

Bunny's an intense person who takes his responsibilities as director seriously. We asked him just what a television director does and Bunny explained: "Well, after the salesman sells the show, the director works with continuity planning the commercials. Once they are written, it's up to the director to put the show together. He decides on the little gimmicks... then coordinates the entire program." He went on to explain that if the show promotes coffee, the director cues the announcer on when to move, what to do with his hands or when to take a sip. The director sits in the control booth and speaks to the cameramen who pick up the directions from their earphones. He tells them where to focus the camera on each shot.

Bunny decides what to emphasize by "picking out the most important thing. I ask myself, "How does the advertiser pitch his product?" When I decide what I want to stick in the viewer's mind... I direct the cameras accordingly." A lot of obstacles can come up in the way, of course, and it's up to the director to work fast and cover and mistake.

Bunny is certain that the standard of TV is going to have to come up. No more old movies.. and better shows are his answer to methods of improvement.

"But at present," he said, "the cost of TV is terrific. That's why there's such a limitation of rehearsal time. Each time a TV show is rehearsed you must have at least 7 men present. From the technical side alone, the cost is exorbitant!"

However, Bunny derives great satisfaction in knowing a show's been good - and pride in himself that he also derives from his favorite hobby, golf. He summed up his vocation and avocation rather simply, when he said of both, "It's wonderful. Something's always happening!"