Nelson filmmaker Amy Bohigian has scored a funding deal to produce six 10-minute episodes of TV sketch comedy about the city.

The series, entitled Southern Interior, will be produced by Bohigiansa国际传媒檚 company Watershed Productions and a local technical and artistic crew for broadcast online in 2025.

Bohigian says she wants to sa国际传媒渃elebrate and satirize Nelson.sa国际传媒�

Many outsiders are attracted to the uniqueness of Nelson, and she wants to help them satisfy that curiosity and also give them a few laughs.

sa国际传媒淚 want to show the rest of the world that theresa国际传媒檚 still an earnest, authentic place on planet Earth. Actually I call this the last earnest place on Earth.sa国际传媒�

The series will appear on the web platform Kinda TV, which is the digital presence of Shaftesbury, a Canadian creator and producer of television and film. Bohigian has been developing this project for several years, but the agreement with Shaftesbury and a significant monetary backing from the Bell Fund has pushed Southern Interior into production.

Bohigian says Kinda TV is the type of platform that aspiring TV producers typically start with. Itsa国际传媒檚 how unknown creators get their work out there, hoping to prove that they should be given further funding and hoping they get picked up by bigger players.

sa国际传媒淣one of the TV platforms really want to touch anything unless it has an audience built in already,sa国际传媒� she says. sa国际传媒淪o itsa国际传媒檚 hard to get something out there that people donsa国际传媒檛 know yet and is not a proven commodity. So this is our chance to establish that this can be a really good show with a proven audience.sa国际传媒�

Bohigian has already explored the many social layers in Nelson with dozens of short films and documentaries since 2012. Perhaps her best-known film is , a full-length documentary about Nelson seen through the lens of the 2018 municipal election, available periodically on Knowledge Network. Her other documentaries include , , and .

Southern Interior will be directed by Bohigian and produced by Gregory McKenzie, a veteran of film and TV production.

The pilot demo for the show was written by Bohigian and locals Sioux Browning, Michelle Hart, Lucas Myers, Jackie Atkins, Deryn Collier, Jon Ramos. The all-local cast was Myers, Hart, Hiromoto Ida, Ramos and Lynne Karey-McKenna.

Bohigian and Mackenzie will build out their team to fit the needs of the series.

The West Kootenay film community has long wanted to produce films locally, Bohigian says.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檝e often seen them as someone from the outside coming in,sa国际传媒� she says. sa国际传媒淲ith this, wesa国际传媒檙e growing our own. Wesa国际传媒檙e not waiting for someone else to come here and spend their money. Wesa国际传媒檙e actually creating our own infrastructure.sa国际传媒�

John Wittmayer, film commissioner for the Kootenay Regional Film Commission, says this is exactly what his organization is trying to do.

sa国际传媒淲e are thrilled for [Bohigian],sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淜ootenay Film has been trying to focus on building a local, domestic production film industry for the Kootenay region, and itsa国际传媒檚 little productions like hers thatsa国际传媒檚 going to help achieve that goal.sa国际传媒�

Bohigian says the episodes will all take place in various locations that Nelson residents will recognize. The demo was shot at the Kootenay Co-op, Whitewater Ski Resort, and downtown on Baker Street.

One of the themes of the series will be Nelson residentssa国际传媒� high tolerance for each other.

sa国际传媒淲e have something here, an elasticity or whatever it is, that wesa国际传媒檝e grown over the generations, and Isa国际传媒檓 exploring how we all live in our tight proximities and we somehow manage it. Even though at times we might hate it, or we get frustrated, we donsa国际传媒檛 know where else wesa国际传媒檇 rather be.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 looking at the lens of living rurally not from the white male, straight perspective but from the perspective of why so many other marginalized groups also find a home here as well.sa国际传媒�

But she does not want to be too earnest about this.

Bohigian wants us to laugh at ourselves and also be critical, or sa国际传媒渂ust the myths that we have about ourselves and at the same time celebrate them.sa国际传媒�

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