My coverage area runs from Hope to Golden, from the US border up to Prince George and beyond. After twenty years working these routes, I know them the way most people know their own neighbourhood.
In my time as a staff video journalist at CTV Vancouver, I was regularly driving two or more hours from the office on any given day to chase a story. That kind of constant travel teaches you things no training manual covers: how to squeeze every usable minute out of a narrow filming window, how to read a scene fast, and how to make sure what you’re sending back actually holds up at ingest. Since launching Distill Media, I’ve been freelancing for major networks across Canada, which means every assignment is a test of whether you’ve earned the call-back. I keep getting the calls.
Part of why comes down to relationships. Twenty years in these communities means I have personal contacts with city officials and emergency responders across the Interior. That’s often the difference between getting an interview or going straight to voicemail. When the atmospheric river hit in 2021, I spent several days embedded in Merritt and Lillooet for CBC under some genuinely difficult conditions. During the 2023 wildfires, I was CTV’s primary videographer in Kelowna for nine consecutive days. Those assignments don’t go well on goodwill alone. They require the kind of access and trust that takes years to build.
They also require the right setup. I run a fully self-sufficient mobile unit, so I can operate for extended periods without needing to travel back to an office. For an assignment desk in Toronto trying to cover a story in a remote valley, that matters. The technology doesn’t become the problem. I’m already there, already set up, already rolling.
Speed is the other piece. Because I’m centrally located in the Okanagan, I can often reach a scene hours before a crew travelling from Vancouver. That head start is real: early interviews, early b-roll, and a chance to shape the initial narrative of the day rather than chasing it. In a news cycle that moves in minutes, being close to the mountain passes and Interior highways is a genuine advantage for any network.
Beyond logistics, I actually know this place. The local politics, the industry drivers, the cultural texture of each valley. That context shapes every story. I know who to call, where to go, and what a national audience needs to understand about what’s happening here.
Whether it’s a quick b-roll feed from Salmon Arm or a multi-day feature in Revelstoke, the goal is the same: to be a seamless extension of your newsroom, out here where you can’t always have someone on staff. You’re getting a seasoned journalist who cares about getting it right. The accuracy, the speed, and the integrity of the broadcast.
Contact me today to book, or learn more about my Freelance News services here.
Curtis Allen is a veteran of TV News in British Columbia, having worked with some of Canada’s largest newsrooms. He provides freelance news gathering services with a keen eye for detail and technical skills to feed interviews and b-roll from some of BC’s most remote areas.
Email: [email protected]
Phone/Text (24/7): 250-808-6461
