Most residents aren’t aware of all the services that WayCAM, Wayland’s Public Station provides until it touches their lives, whether it be through a televised town board’s decision concerning their neighborhood, a film or sports program their children are involved in, or a community event they missed.
Although WayCAM and other local television stations provide many services to a community, they are facing severe financial strain due to cable companies reducing funding. WayCAM Executive Director Jim Mullane, other local station managers, and legislators are searching for alternative ways to fund the stations. To determine how essential local public television is to the community, residents should understand what WayCAM provides.
For the past 40 years, WayCAM has been a bridge to home-grown news, local transparency, and essential community building by offering local television broadcasts, media production training, and community event coverage. It provides local broadcasting and streaming of town government meetings, local sports, and community-produced shows across public, educational, and governmental channels 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If someone can’t participate in the town’s Zoom meeting, they can view the meeting at their convenience.
Mullane said the station also films and broadcasts community and school events. Upon request and for a fee, they can also send a video of a child’s special covered event, such as a graduation speech. They also broadcast a few original shows, including Meet the Neighbor, Virginia’s Views and Vibe, Wayland News Magazine, and Wayland Sports Chat.
WayCAM maintains, he said, satellite communications equipment at various town buildings: the School Committee room, the Town Hall’s large hearing room, the COA meeting room, the WHS fieldhouse, and the Public Library.
For anyone who does not know what to do with an old family DVD, WayCAM will do media transfers. They convert old analog formats (like VHS, Super 8 tapes) and digital camera cards to DVD for a small contribution. Rental equipment for personal or commercial use is also available, Mullane said.
Since the program’s inception in 2007, WayCAM has awarded at least 17 college merit scholarships to graduating Wayland High School seniors who participated in the sports or film programs, according to Mullane. He said the scholarships help fund their media careers.
If a resident is interested in producing a television show, WayCAM offers free classes and hands-on media production training for adults and students on state-of-the-art video production and broadcasting equipment. Individual training sessions can also be arranged. Jim Mullane said he developed sports and film classes with the high school staff. He proudly said that many high school alumni, who took classes through WayCAM, are now professionals in the sports and film industries.
Telly Awards
Entering WayCAM’s office at Wayland High School, there is a showcase filled with trophies. Wayland Community Access & Media has won 25 Telly Awards since the program’s inception, through their student partnerships with Wayland High School’s Script to Screen and Sports Broadcasting classes.
The sports broadcasting class provides students with professional, hands-on media production experience centered around live athletic events. It is taught by WHS wellness teacher and football coach Scott Parseghian alongside Mullane, the WHS Television Production teacher at the WayCAM studio. Mullane or one of his staff members also collaborates with a high school teacher on a film class.
The Telly Awards are global honors for excellence in video and television across all screens, according to the Telly Awards website. Founded in 1979, the organization originally recognized local, regional, and cable television commercials. It has since evolved to honor a massive variety of digital and broadcast video content from around the world. The awards celebrate work created for clients, specific brands, or self-directed creative projects. They receive over 13,000 entries annually from six continents across several core areas.
WayCAM’s recent awards include: the 2025 Bronze Telly for their production of the “WHS Football vs. Newton South game” and the 2024 Silver Telly for their video production of the “Wayland Football vs. Bedford game.”
Recent film awards are: 2023 Bronze Telly for the online video “Curse of The Minds of The Students of The Morrigan From Hell” directed by Brendan Hines; the 2020 Bronze Telly for the online video “One Last Dance,” written and directed by Elizabeth Francis; and two 2018 Bronze Tellys for the online video “Heist School” directed by Thomas Simon and the “Cognizance” video directed by Sebastian Giammarino and co-directed by Jay Abdella.
Mullane named a few of the former WayCAM alumni working in broadcasting, which includes Randy Scott, an ESPN anchor, and Josh Shapiro, a freelance sports television producer for major sports networks such as NBC Sports, Olympic Broadcasting, and Peacock. Joe Bushee, another WayCAM alumnus, works as a television producer for ESPN.
Several alumni who participated in the WayCAM collaborative film classes now have film careers, according to Mullane. They are Parker Bryant, director of “Haunted” and “Transference;” Tucker Jones, director of “Broken Reality” and “Old Fashioned Romance;” and Justin Lerner, who wrote and directed “The Girlfriend.” Stuart Yamartino works in Los Angeles as a director, creative content producer, and media consultant.
Vickie Curtis, Doug Anderson & Anna Haddington reunited decades after graduation to write and produce “Comparsa,” an award-winning documentary filmed in Guatemala. Michael Gentilucci used WayCAM as his launchpad, leveraging the studio’s professional equipment to build a technical portfolio that eventually led to media operations roles at NBC and Universal networks.
Independent filmmaker and writer Andrew Pilkington is another WayCAM alumnus who has made a major mark on inclusive cinema. He produced the critically acclaimed SXSW feature musical “Best Summer Ever” for Hulu.com, and co-produced the Tribeca Festival documentary “All You Hear is Noise” for IMDb.com. Genevieve Skehan, the daughter of Russell’s Garden Center owners, wrote and directed the award-winning feature documentary film “Growing through COVID-19.”
WayCAM’s services have impacted many Wayland residents’ lives, whether viewing online shows, renting equipment, or learning about filmmaking or broadcasting, but funding local television will determine if these services will continue.
See the July 10 issue of the Way;and Poit to learn about the funding problems that WayCAM and other local television stations are experiencing.
