TV show looking for young Aboriginal hosts

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A unique opportunity exists for Aboriginal young people to enjoy a cultural exchange and share it with a television audience. Road Scholars Productions Inc. is accepting applications in its Toronto office from students in grades 9 to 12 who want to travel, take pictures, and participate in a television production that will be broadcast on APTN in 2006.

Jane Hawtin is executive producer of Road Scholars. "We've done 26 episodes of Road Scholars which aired on YTV over the last three years, so it's already an established show and was well received in Canada as well as overseas markets," she said.

"Now we're planning a season on APTN with all-Aboriginal hosts which is even more exciting because the young people will be enjoying the experience with their hosting First Nation."

Participants are trained in how to use cameras and act as hosts, and then are dispatched to other parts of the world to take part in a cultural exchange. Locations include Wyoming, where they will live with the Arapacho of Wyoming, Peru, and the Tiwi Islands of Australia.

"The Tiwi Islanders are unique in that they have lived somewhat in isolation, and their culture is largely uninfluenced by pressure from non-Native governments and populations. The youth will spend several days on the island working with the local teenagers," Hawtin said. Bolivia, Brazil, Fiji and two other U.S. locations with the Hopi and Navajo are also in the planning stages.

The young people will travel as a group of 10 to 12 participants and will be gone from 21 to 30 days.

"The kids will use their digital cameras to record their daily activities. Then a professional team of producer and cameraman comes in for a few days to shoot as well, so the resulting half-hour documentary eventually seen on television is a combination of what the students have shot and what the professional team completes," she said.

Hawtin finds that for most of the participants the experience is life changing. "They are off on their own, often for the first time, and they're with young people from all over the world because other countries are sending students at the same time. They may be sharing a tent with someone from France or California or wherever," she said.

The trips all feature an educational as well as a cultural component. "Each of our students will be asked to demonstrate their own culture as well, whether it's Inuit drumming or First Nations dancing," she said. They must be ready to teach others about their traditional games, songs, stories and so on. There is no charge to the participants as Road Scholars Productions Inc. has picked up the cost. The program also receives funding through its license to APTN, with further contributions from Canadian Television Fund.

"Youth who apply need to want to make friends and to be enthusiastic and friendly themselves," she said. "They need to be confident enough to ask people to be in their pictures as they have the added burden of using their camera."

Parents can be assured that the youth will be chaperoned at all times. "I've worked with some wonderful hosting companies over the years and there's no problem ensuring the safety and comfort of the participants," she said.

With some 28 years in the broadcast industry behind her, Hawtin is no stranger to television production. She is not only president of Road Scholars Productions Inc. but she also holds the same position with Amberlight Productions Inc., an independent company that has been successfully involved in radio and television production, marketing and promotion, and a full range of related services for close to two decades. Through Amberlight, Hawtin created and hosted a 17-week, hour-long series for CBC radio which aired in the fall of 2002 and was notable because it was the first time that CBC Radio had commissioned and purchased a radio series from an independent producer. She also fills in on a number of CBC Radio shows including The Curren, which is heard nationally.

One of Hawtin's most recently completed productions is Inuit Adventure Africa, a one-hour special that aired on APTN in February. That show featured six teenagers from Arviat, Kugaaruk, Gjoa Haven, Baker Lake and Coral Harbour who had the adventure of a lifetime when they spent the summer of 2004 volunteering in rural Africa. They saw first hand the crushing AIDS pandemic sweeping that country, had one-on-one encounters with cheetahs and elephants, earned four high school credits, met and performed for the president of Botswana, and made fast friends on the other side of the world. They were sent to Africa by the Nunavut Youth Abroad Program, whose mission it is to build self-confidence and self-esteem by providing life-changing experiences.

Students interested in being considered for one of the Road Scholars hosting spots can send a photo of themselves and a short letter telling why they would make a great videographer to Road Scholars Production Inc., 2 Haig Ave., Toronto, ON M1N 2W1. Applications can also be e-mailed to maria@amberlight.ca. The deadline for applications is April 30.

"If you want to capture the history and beauty of exotic locales while drawing viewers into your personal experience," Hawtin said, "we want to hear from you."