Mark LaBarbera shows off his catch to Dan Small.

Our September Producer of the Month is an Independent Producer Member of WCM, who has won several Best of the Midwest Media Fest awards.

Mark LaBarbera started in the business “decades ago” and has negotiated airtime with ESPN, and created, hosted, and produced shows for ESPN2, Outdoor Channel, and the Sportsmen’s Channel.

Viewers in Wisconsin may recognize LaBarbera from his years of co-producing and co-hosting the deer hunt season preview Deer Hunt Wisconsin. LaBarbera wrote to explain how that program came about. “Dan Small started doing Deer Hunt Wisconsin with what is now called Milwaukee PBS and Madison’s PBS station, WPT. Live, with call-in questions from the public, the show filled a need that Dan had identified through so many interactions with viewers throughout the state and throughout the year as he filmed the Outdoor Wisconsin TV show. Interest behind Deer Hunt Wisconsin has grown as people prepare each year for the firearms deer hunting season opener the Saturday before Thanksgiving. For the decade or so that I've partnered with Dan on Deer Hunt Wisconsin and other productions, we have seen interest continue to grow as people want an easy, quick way to receive plain language updates about the latest deer regulations and population forecasts, plus hunting tips, access to new public hunting opportunities, and other news. We also see an interest in unique hunting personalities. And viewers seem to like hearing about hunters with compelling stories.”

Aside from the deer hunt preview shows Dan and Mark produce, they create other shows around the state as well. “In addition to videos we produce each May covering the big Midwest Outdoor Heritage Education Expos near Poynette and in Milwaukee, we do fun short videos like I've Been Over 'Der (with music from Madison's The Gamers) about the Outdoor Heritage Education Center's (OHECyes.org) “Touch of the Wild” mobile education trailers with interactive hands-on fish and wildlife exhibits. But we are primarily known for the annual Deer Hunt Wisconsin TV specials released each November.”

LaBarbera was asked to provide some advice to either new or not-so-new producers in the field of storytelling. “I'm hesitant to give advice when I still have so much to learn. If pressed, I guess I would urge producers to capture the feelings, emotions, and motivations of outdoor enthusiasts being featured. Most producers know the value of staying silent after asking questions because it increases the odds that your subject will keep talking and start to touch on inner feelings and deeper emotions after their initial response. Leverage dead air so they break the silence. You can always edit out the quiet, right? Other than that, start rolling early and keep rolling even after you think you have the footage and audio you need. Real gems are captured at the most unpredictable times.”

Our February Producer of the Month is WCM Independent Producer Nadia Giordana. You can visit her website at https://nadiagiordana.wordpress.com

As the author of six books, most recently, Breathing Under Water: A Poetic Memoir (2019); Life is Sweet, Savor it (2018); Reinventing New Chapters in Your Life at Any Age (2012); Thinking Skinny (2009); No Thank You, I’d Rather Be Myself (2007); and earliest, Windwalker Speaks. She is a mentor, motivator, speaker, and community TV producer and host.

At age 59 in 2007, she decided it was time to lose the 80+ extra pounds that she felt were weighing her down. She did it naturally and quickly, using a sensible plan she designed for herself. Her most popular book, Thinking Skinny, chronicles that journey.

The second thing Nadia did was overcome a lifelong fear of public speaking. That accomplishment sparked her passion for working in community television projects with an emphasis on promoting other women who are living the second acts of their lives. Through producing and co-hosting multiple programs including, “Where Women Talk,” “That’s Odd,” and “It’s a Woman's World,” just to name a few. Nadia is all over social media and has over 1K followers on her page. You can check out one of many of her social pages at https://www.facebook.com/IAWWTV.

Nadia describes her brand as: shift, change, and ultimately, transformation. Whatever your age, it’s not too late to shake off negative self-talk and reinvent new chapters in your life. Through her productions Nadia aims to help women in midlife find the inspiration to reawaken sidelined dreams and create new chapters in their lives. Nadia is all about living in the moment and living life to the fullest. She believes it’s time to do the things you’ve always said you were going to do, or replace outdated dreams with better ones–and follow through! She says it’s not a bucket list to mark off items one by one saying, “There, I did that.” It’s about living.

If you would like to air one of Nadia’s programs, or maybe all of them ;) you can email her at iinadia@msn.com.