I’ve worked in news since the beginning of the year with WDJT CBS 58 and one of the questions I’m often asked is, “What does a producer do?”
A Producer is one of the most flexible titles in news or media; a person can be in the act of producing, or creating, just about anything.
As a Field Producer for the #58Hometowns series I’ve worked behind the scenes planning and scheduling our twice-weekly deep dives into communities in our viewing area. Then, day-of, I join the crew in the field to promote our newscasts throughout the day by taking photographs and videos to post on #socialmedia.
We select neighborhoods or towns in our viewing area at random. Depending on the day and location I might have between 8 hours and 4 days to research, make connections, schedule out an entire day of locations, interviews, bivouac editing space, as well as contingency plans. It’s a maelstrom of planning and foreseeing potential challenges to our shooting schedule.
In Slinger, this past Tuesday morning, our crew explored Slinger Super Speedway, Kettle Moraine Playhouse and Little Switzerland Ski Hill. Scheduling is a jazz ensemble unique to each location; this week featuring race cars (can you arrange a race car and driver onsite, can we mount a camera on or in the car, can Nicole Koglin rev the engine, are there time restrictions on conditional use of race cars due to sound…?) – an example of a few of the logistics to consider at just one location.
I’ve appreciated the opportunity to work alongside and learn from Nicole Koglin, Jerry Imig, and Aaron Frye throughout the 58 Hometowns series and I particularly enjoyed this slice of Slinger. Thank you to the WDJT CBS 58 crew for the opportunity and to the communities that welcome us to immerse within and celebrate their stories!
Ed Makowski | Multimedia Journalist, Writer, Poet 