Destination Durham: Linking Our Past, Exploring Our Future

Last spring First Selectwoman Laura Francis put out a casting call to all Durham residents interested in developing a cable access television program that would highlight the town of Durham. A handful of residents, with diverse backgrounds, stepped forward to create a magazine style program entitled Destination Durham.

“As First Selectman, I received an invitation to visit the [Comcast studio in Clinton] to learn about opportunities for municipalities to utilize the public access studio,” said First Selectman and Host, Laura Francis. 

Francis wanted to utilize this “medium to highlight the people, places and things that make Durham so special."

The goal is to air “a creatively based, multi-generational project, run solely by volunteers, to be taped at Comcast Public Studios and aired on our public access station," said Liz Cipollina, who serves as Managing Producer of Destination Durham.

"We agreed that we would run it as closely to a professional operation as possible to produce something with an edge not really seen on your typical cable access show. I was just coming off a similar set of projects as an art director and producer with an indie film group and was ready to do something different, something that would contribute directly to my community,“ Cipollina said.

What does it take to put on a weekly features television program? It starts with a core of dedicated volunteers. The team is comprised of high school, college students, and professionals of various backgrounds. Some of the team members have prior experience in media production, are attending school or are participating in communication internships. Some are experiencing media production for the first time.

Cipollina added “we have also joined with Coginchaug Regional HS kids from the TV Production Club, advised by media teacher Robin Fox, who have worked with us to provide footage for the shows."

Every member of Destination Durham received eight hours of studio training under the guidance of Dan Matteson, Station Manager at Comcast Clinton studio. In addition to studio work, there are also monthly production meetings to attend.

“We discuss as a group, goals and ideas we have for our shows, often starting with ideas and suggestions from Laura, about what is new and exciting in Durham and what would be of interest to viewers. Our show format includes guest interviews and B-roll - still or videotaped footage that is shot and put together before we enter the Clinton Comcast Cable studios to tape our shows. We end up with a look very similar to a news magazine,” stated Cipollina.

Since Destination Durham’s inception, nine shows have aired.

The latest episode, “Resident Artists of Durham” is one of a two part series that features the arts in Durham. The program will include live and taped interviews from Connie Brown, a cartographer who utilizes art and science to create her beautiful and intricately detailed maps. Connie has created such masterpieces for many clients, such as former vice president Dick Cheney’s family. Terry Oakes Bourret started her career in medicine as an ER nurse, when she realized her true passion was in fine arts. Tonight's episode takes a look at the beautiful pieces of art that Terry has created as she talks about the artists that have inspired her and how she is sharing that knowledge through teaching art classes. 

In recent years JR Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” a classic novel in the literary world, had a resurgence of popularity due to the very successful Lord of the Rings motion pictures. Meet the original illustrator of Tolkien’s “The Hobbit," David Wenzel as he talks about creating the illustration of Gandalf’s character and how White’s Farm in Durham can provide inspiration when creating an English shire.

Destination Durham airs weekly on Tuesday’s at 7:00pm on Comcast Channel 19.