Andie Walla developed a love for video production in southeast Ohio at Ohio University and WOUB

Andie Walla’s path to Ohio University and WOUB Public Media started in Cincinnati, Ohio at a girl scout meeting.

“In junior high, we were working on our Silver Award and chose to do our audio-visual badge,” said Walla. “We visited the local public access studio and did a project. I fell in love. It was so cool, so I started volunteering at the public access studio.”

Walla’s dad was a football coach, and her brothers were football players. So, eventually, Walla started videotaping the games. It grew into a full-fledged production with one of the other coach’s sons as the commentator. The games ended up airing on the public access station.

“The day I turned 16, I asked the public access station for a job, and I got it,” said Walla with a laugh. “I was hired for 10 hours a week.”

When it came time to start looking at colleges, Ohio University made the most sense to Walla. It had a great reputation for communications and when she came to Athens for a visit and learned about the hands-on opportunities at WOUB, she was sold.

“I heard about WOUB’s high school football show Gridiron Glory and since I had been videotaping high school football for years, I knew I could hop right in.”

And hop right in she did. Walla, a video production major, started working on Gridiron Glory as soon as she got to campus. She also moved into roles working in the WOUB newsroom as a videographer and editor for the nightly half-hour news program NewsWatch.

“I would work with a reporter. We’d get in a news car and drive wherever and do whatever the news was for the day. We interviewed officials, got to know the community, and learned what issues were important. Even though I didn’t see a future in news for my career, I learned so much. I learned how to work on deadline, how to be part of the team and how to interact with the public.”

Walla also had the opportunity to make mistakes and grow.

“One time, I drove to Glouster for an event,” said Walla. “I got there, got all set up, and we were getting ready to interview someone. I realized I didn’t have a tape to put in the video camera. I had to come all the way back to the newsroom to get a tape. It was so embarrassing, and I never made that mistake again.”

While working at WOUB, Walla realized that being a woman on the production side of the camera was rare. People in the community would comment on it and point out how she was a “camera woman” not a “camera man.”

“I always thought that was so weird that there weren’t more women running camera. There is no reason women can’t do this,” said Walla. “But there are just not a lot of women in this field. I feel like it’s my job to be a role model.”

When Walla graduated, she was hired as a video producer by the university’s communication and marketing department and worked there for nine years. She had the opportunity to produce documentaries, operate satellite trucks and produce live streams.

“I wouldn’t have gotten my start as a video producer without WOUB.”

Now, Walla is an associate professor of instruction in the School of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University. She also produces multi-camera live music videos for Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch, and every summer, she takes students to produce live content for the jumbo screen as part of a multi-camera crew at the main stage for the Nelsonville Music Festival in partnership with WOUB. Walla is also involved in the production of the Sycamore Sessions, a video series that offers WOUB’s audience intimate sets from Nelsonville Music Festival artists produced by Ohio University students under the supervision of WOUB and the Ohio University School of Media Arts and Studies.

“WOUB was a really great way to learn to be disciplined and work in a professional space,” said Walla. “I’m grateful because my involvement with WOUB is one of the big reasons I’m still at Ohio University. I developed such a deep appreciation of the southeast Ohio community.”

To learn more about WOUB, visit woub.org.