Chamber approves funding for potential TV series

During its monthly meeting on Wednesday, April 9, the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce approved an amount of $35,000 to be invested in the production of Wahkiakum West's (WWest) future TV series "Columbia Coast." During the Feb. 12 Chamber meeting, WWest CEO Ken Johnson announced a pilot episode had already been filmed for the series and that he was in talks with a network to have a 13-episode season's worth of stories that would showcase Wahkiakum and Pacific Counties on the Washington side of the Columbia River and Clatsop County on the Oregon Side as a way to "promote the region with a little more muscle." During a subsequent interview with The Eagle, Johnson noted he had been "doing the groundwork to build the sponsors and the revenue side of it." Last Wednesday's decision by the Chamber helped put a strong foot forward for Johnson and his crew to meet their objective.

"The executive team talked about it, and they were initially asking for $24,000," said Steve Carson, president of the Chamber Board of Directors. "They gave us a proposal back at $45,000 because we had said, 'What if we did more?'... The way they've supported Bald Eagle Days and other events with the chamber, and to be in a Wahkiakum County organization and a member of our organization, I think we can trust them. They're not going to take the money and run. They're planning on doing this."

According to Chamber Treasurer Kim Howell, the $35,000 investment would "secure Wahkiakum County's place as a co-sponsor for the show with an expected five-year shelf life." During the April 9 meeting, Howell said, "If we look at a $35,000 investment, essentially, there are three aspects where that money would fit. Show sponsorship would be approximately $11,500... Video production services would be the second piece. That would be $12,000 and this would provide high-quality, B-roll footage of Wahkiakum County assets for use in various tourism promotions across all platforms for at least five years. They're not only going to produce one-hour episodes, but they're also going to allow us to use some of that footage to come up with tourism-type promotional stuff that might not fit. The third aspect of it is post-production services which would be another $11,500 which would include a production of a 30-second commercial for tourism entities along with thirteen 30-second social media formatted commercials utilizing footage from the show."

According to Howell, WWest amortized the economic impact over five years across Wahkiakum County "with a projected return on investment of $1.7 million," citing a $340,000 per year, monthly average $28,350 impact, and the equivalent of "4.8 hotel room rentals per day" on average. "I think their intent is to continue for a second season after they initiate the first season," said Howell. "We can re-evaluate then what benefit we're getting and potentially offer more in the future."

Weighing in on the decision, Mayor David Olson said, "I'm working, and I'll bring it back to the Town Council, to include a community channel on Charter Spectrum for its Wahkiakum system in Cathlamet. There's a community channel as a result of the Cathlamet cable franchise where this programming would recirculate, so there would be a community channel on this cable system here for cable subscribers so everybody in the county who's a Charter subscriber should be able to pull it up, see this channel, and not have to wait to figure when it's going to show up on a satellite channel."

With Johnson's prediction of viewership for the initial season being upwards of 150,000, Carson expressed his appreciation for the fact the Chamber will own video with which it "can do stuff." He said, "I like the fact that it's not just that production but we actually have something we could use."

Following the Chamber's decision, Johnson said, "We are producing this show in partnership with the Willapa Harbor Chamber of Commerce, and the way they've structured it, this investment will ensure Wahkiakum County has a strong presence throughout the season. This contribution will combine with investments from Pacific County and Clatsop County to move this project along."

For more info, visit Columbia Coast TV on its Facebook page.