Our Town: Oshawa

Project Summary

Scheduled for broadcast on WNED-TV, this is the 19th in this series of programs featuring life within the communities of western New York and southern Ontario.

The Our Town: Oshawa project began with extensive promotion in the local media to engage residents about what to feature. Community volunteers were recruited to become producers, using their own cameras to record the amazing stories that make Oshawa such a great place to live.

Under the leadership of WNED professionals, volunteers had a chance to showcase their town through the eyes of a local. Exploring the neighbourhoods, ducking into cafés and listening to a community band, viewers are treated to the many personalities, perspectives and possibilities that Oshawa has to offer. Attending events and celebrations, the town’s stories and secrets are unlocked before the viewer’s eyes.

The resulting footage was brought back to the WNED studios to be edited into a one-hour production that will be broadcast on WNED-TV to more than 1.3 million homes across western New York and southern Ontario.

Prior to the broadcast premiere, a community screening of the program was hosted locally. This will be an opportunity for residents to see their community and neighbours on TV and to share their unique story with the entire region.

Pre-production

WNED facilitated community meetings with interested parties. Volunteers were required to attend one of these meetings. During the meetings, participants learned about the production process, joined in a technical workshop and spent time brainstorming the subjects and locations for the program. The volunteers then voted to narrow down the list of topics until they each selected one to cover.

WNED also established community partnerships to assist in launching the project, identifying potential funders and connecting with potential promotional partners.

Production

Two to three weeks were allocated for filming. While WNED producers were available during this time for guidance, technical advice and support, it was the community volunteers that determined the scope and focus of their story.

WNED returned to the area with a camera crew and spent two days recording individual interviews with the volunteers.

Post Production

WNED’s production team spent four to six weeks sorting through all of the footage and edited together each two and a half to four-minute story by combining the interviews, music and video captured by the volunteers.

A premiere screening was held for the volunteers, program funders, and community and production partners September 24, 2019. 

The program will be broadcast on WNED-TV Friday, October 25 at 10 p.m. and made available for online streaming. A page for the program will be added to wned.org and edited portions are featured on social media.

The Western New York Public Broadcasting Association (WNED-TV) is a trusted binational public media resource that develops and produces original television content for local and national broadcast. Providing educational and entertaining programs to 3.1 million households across western New York, WNED-TV is fully committed to serving the southern Ontario region with quality programming and services.

WNED maintains offices and studios in downtown Toronto, collaborating with the Central Canadian Public Television Association (CCPTA) to secure production support for a variety of Canadian projects.  

For more information on this project, please contact:

Christy May

Our Town Oshawa Producer
716-845-7000 ext. 284

ourtown@wned.org

Eileen Kennedy, Film Durham

905-668-7711 ext. 2617

filmoffice@durham.ca