Lights, Camera, Action! // Film Project with Life in the Heartland

Me in an interview with Deep Structure Productions for their upcoming episode for Life in the Heartland.

“So, Paula, what’d you had for breakfast today?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

That was Deep Structure Productions producer, Lysandra Petersson, asking me for the microphone soundcheck.

There I am, in the VPM news station’s studio room, surrounded by giant lights and movie-style film cameras facing me as I sat in front of a small team of producers and directors based in Staunton.

Did I felt I like the star of my own show? Um, oddly enough, no.

Not to sound arrogant, but despite not being “famous,” I’m use to being in the public eye as a journalist and model who spends most of her time taking “pretty” pictures and writing content on a public space.

This was a semi-secret film project that was planned about a month in advance right before I took my trip to London. Deep Structure contacted me months after I wrote a story about them a few months back filming, “Life of the Heartland,” which a PBS documentary series on life in the rural areas in Virginia and its struggles. This series has been going on since November 2021 and has shed light on the difficulties of acquiring broadband services in rural communities, which caught the attention of the state’s lawmakers.

To give you a peek behind the curtains, this upcoming episode is going to be about community journalism in rural areas of Virginia and its deteriorating newsrooms.

Deep Structure Productions producer, Lysandra Petersson

I swore I never would talk about my experience ever again working in local journalism, but on the contrary, if I (or any other journalists) do not speak openly about these failing news corporations—especially in rural newsrooms—, then how will things change for the better?

This time, I was on the other side of the conversation, being interviewed about my career and thoughts on journalism. I will say it was intimidating, at first, because I thought my words would slip up and I would say something that I may be held liable for, but the nerves quickly settled once I realized that all I needed was to tell my story. Sharing my experiences in order to make a great impact is more important.

This episode is currently in its production phase, so I cannot say when exactly the film will air out. But, once I do know when the episode is airing, I’ll post a full link on the site. For now, if you want to get yourself familiarized with Life of the Heartland, please click here. They have many informative episodes on rural life in Virginia.

Can’t wait for my readers to see it!

— Paula J.P. 

Please note: VPM, Virginia Public Media, is a non-profit news organization and has news stations in Harrisonburg and Richmond. It is a call sign of PBS/NPR, which are much bigger news stations/organizations on the national news level. Sounds complicated? I know.

Journalists—correct me if I’m wrong & I’ll crawl back to my hole…