In 2021, I accepted a position at Kansas City PBS as Director/Producer/Editor for a monthly television show called Flatland in Focus.
The goal of this show was to take many of the journalistic resources from the station’s digital magazine flatlandkc.org, and focus them on a contextual exploration and nuanced conversation of an issue affecting the Greater Kansas City community. The show opens with a short form documentary then transitions to a roundtable discussion moderated by our host, D. Rashaan Gilmore.
Each month, I led a team of reporters in researching new ideas and topics on a tight deadline to produce an episode dedicated to exploring nuances of complex issues while centering the community members closest to the problems, and thus, the solutions.
Thirty-four episodes, three seasons and two Emmys later, our team had illuminated topics such as utility burdens, reparations, police accountability, the housing crisis, immigration, local food systems, stadium subsidies, media literacy, recreational marijuana and many more. As a body of work, Flatland in Focus represents a period of my professional life grew my skills as a journalist, director, editor and team leader.
Flatland In Focus
Youth With Disabilities & The Resource Gap
Director/Producer/Editor/Camera Operator/Reporter
Over the last year and a half, efforts to end homelessness have accelerated in Kansas City. Emergency shelter interventions saved the lives of many but resulted in relatively few long term solutions. Service providers and city officials turn their efforts towards long-term housing option and the houseless community wait anxiously as winter returns.
Activism In
Kansas City
Director/Producer/Editor/Camera Operator/Reporter
The current tumultuous nature of US politics has left many wondering - how is democracy working nowadays? The Flatland team takes this question to those growing up in a time of polarizing politics and pressing existential issues to find out how they are seeking to best affect change in their world.
Moral Distress In
Healthcare
Director/Producer/Editor/Camera Operator/Reporter
While our most recent surge of Omicron was often described as mild, the number of hospitalizations still packed beds and spread an already exhausted workforce thin. We’ll discuss how our response to the pandemic can be made more sustainable and what support healthcare providers need.