Salford students join forces on national TV

A DOCUMENTARY produced by University of Salford students is set to be broadcast on the Community Channel next month.

'Going Local' is a 30 minute documentary about the government's attempts to establish 50-plus local TV stations. Presented by MA Journalism student Natasha Johansson, it is a collaborative project involving a range of postgraduate courses based at MediaCityUK.

“There are no official links between the courses,” said Natasha (pictured), “but, since it’s the field I want to work in, when they were looking for someone to present a current affairs documentary I jumped at the chance. Media City should be all about collaborations like this.”

The programme was produced, directed and filmed by Paul Vernon-Lydiate, edited by James McCallister (MA Post Production), features an animated title sequence from Alan B. McKenna (MA Animation) and was dubbed by Giorgos Matoulas (MSc Audio Production).

“I had to get my own team together when work commitments prevented me shooting in the Caribbean with my original TV Doc group,” explained Paul.

“As a result ‘Going Local’ is the only cross-discipline project to come out of my course this year – and the only piece from any Salford course to be offered a broadcast.

"It was aimed at the Community Channel from its inception, which is what programme development is all about. I’m really pleased that it will gain broadcast/ IMDb credits for all concerned.”

Paul’s real passion is historical documentary. Channel M has broadcast two of his historical projects and he is currently seeking an established NW indie to umbrella a loose format returning history series.

'Going Local' will be screened on the Community Channel on October 6.

By Elliot Millward