Be a Community Media Producer

Local Producers develop much of the content distributed by WPAA-TV.

Producers of Community Access TV retain all rights to their content. The content becomes available to producers when it has met the condition of first distribution as TV. Producers accept responsibility for production expenses, crew formation, and program planning. They also accept all liabilities if content disputes arise. Producers are responsible for their crew, talent, and guests and all disclosures and releases.

Producers are eligible for limited studio and other production support from WPAA-TV staff and volunteers. Support available is determined in a program planning meeting or via phone after submitting basic intent for use to reserve@wpaa.tv. All producers are expected to make an effort to learn basic production skills, develop crews, respect the rights of other Users, and follow operational protocol in all communications.

Are you eligible?
We are hyper-local TV. Our focus is on serving Wallingford residents, businesses, and organizations that are also serving Wallingford. Some initiatives serve a broader community of friends and followers.

If you want to be a citizen-media-maker, we will help you get local contact for your community.TV resources are available in every CT town.

We do not rent our space for commercial use.

You have a show idea. What comes next?
Getting into the studio is not the same everywhere. Some Community TV locations require that you have a crew of up to four people, others require 2 to 6 weeks of training so that you can handle all aspects of production, and others limit support to a simple format.

At WPAA-TV there are a few production styles to choose from. Our goal is to support your goals as optimally as possible within our limited resources. We provide a baseline of support for projects. If you are a newbie or media professional the steps are the same to get started.

The basic steps:
Review basic community TV concepts: Joining a community of media makers, noncommercial copyright-free media, 1st come, 1st serve access to resources. This can be done by reviewing online documents here.

• Make a call or send an email to set up an appointment to review your ideas, the style of the show it might fit into and tour the TV station, and affirm your eligibility.
• Work out a Program Plan with staff. A plan confirms the resources your idea will need. You identify a project timeline. You document your prospective show name, style, duration, and crew.
• Set up a time to observe a show currently in production. Recommendation:  Watch a locally produced show with a similar style on TV or online. You can find links to regularly produced programs here. You will be asked what programming you are familiar with.
• Register contact information for ongoing communication. Confirm eligibility. Connect with the community on social media.
• Develop/select your show assets:
  1.  Music (We have an audio collection you can review or you can select from here. )
  2.  Show open 10-30 seconds of graphics or video.
  3.  Show close with the format for credits, produced at wpaa-tv, and disclaimer
  4.  Method for captioning of a show called Lower 3rds. For example, Talk shows typically identify hosts, guests, and the show name in graphics.
  5. Based on the show-style set-up a plan for the roll-in of graphics, audio, or video
  6. Design your set. Choose a Black, Gray, or Green curtain. If the green screen is used also select a background image. Choose a table, chairs, and accessories.
  7. Crew training, if applicable.
  8. Schedule a try-out session. We recommend you use your 1st session to create a 1 to 5-minute promotion of your show. This can be an asset for your YouTube Channel.

Our Local@5 PM Initiative for short-form video: Wallingford stories every day!

Goal: Daily compilation. We can only share what you submit. New content is added to local@5 as available. #YourTownYourStationYourVoice

We are TV on Comcast 1070, Frontier 6091, and Internet simulcast | WATCH

You can be a content contributor.

Anything captured with your phone or video conference tool can be prepared for Local@5

Making it TV Ready: If your content is not TV ready, we will reformat it for TV. Or,

we can provide you with cloud access to an editor to reformat the video yourself. The tools are free.

The Video Submission Process: Submit your video to this Email address. Type Local@5 in the Subject Line. Attach a video file or include a downloadable link from any cloud transfer such as Google Drive Share. Copy the following text into the body of your email as a media release.

“I represent that the video submitted was recorded by me. I take full responsibility for its content. I agree to let WPAA-TV remaster the video in a format for TV.”

Add the video clip name, an expiration date (if applicable), and your full name.