Will Coley
Location
- Harlem, NY
Portfolio
- Editing
- Producing
- Recording
- Reporting
- Voice
About Will
Will Coley is an independent radio and podcast producer, originally from North Carolina and now based in Harlem, New York. His work has aired on NPR Morning Edition, BBC World Service, 99% Invisible, PRI's The World, Unfictional, and Georgia Public Broadcasting, among others. Will also produces digital storytelling projects for nonprofit organizations building stronger communities. Will is a graduate of the Transom Story Workshop.
Will's Portfolio
99% Invisible: H-Day
September 3rd, 1967, also known as H-Day, is etched in the collective memory of Sweden. That morning, millions of Swedes switched from driving on the left to driving on the right. The changeover was an unprecedented undertaking, involving both national infrastructural overhauls, extensive educational campaigns and pop music.
BBC World Service: The Abandoned
Will Coley listens to the stories of Ethiopian and Eritrean migrants who have made the often lethal journey across the Sahara, and then the Mediterranean, to arrive in Sicily asking for political asylum. Once the news cameras have left them on the beaches, Italian squatters are helping them to occupy the opulent empty homes of a Sicily in decline. Around 20% of Sicilians are unemployed and there is no help for homeless people, so activists called Prendocasa or ‘take the house’ are taking over empty buildings. This ancient crossroads for migration over many centuries is once again being adapted.
Morning Edition: Former Refugee Helps Others Arriving To America AT JFK Airport
Omar Nur left his native Ethiopia more than 35 years ago. He landed at New York's JFK and took his first steps in his new country. In the decades since, he's helped others arriving at the airport.
Southern Flight 242: Bringing My Father Home
Will lost his father when he was seven years old, he has only some photographs and a few audio tapes to remember him by. Will knew that his father died in a commercial plane crash in 1977 along with 71 other people, including nine on the ground. It's an event still memorialized in New Hope, Georgia, where the DC-9 attempted an emergency landing on a highway through town. For most of his life, Will was reluctant to learn too many details about the crash that took his father. In fact, it took 35 years until he was ready to make this radio story.
BBC Cultural Frontline: New Amsterdam Musical Association
We pay a visit to Harlem, New York City and the historic New Amsterdam Music Association. Two of its members take us behind the scenes at this iconic music venue and community cultural treasure.
Indefensible
Indefensible is a podcast series brought to you by the Immigrant Defense Project. Over five episodes, producer Will Coley will bring you stories from people who are standing up and holding out; fighting to be with their families. They say they’re here to stay.
Quarantine projects curate pandemic-inspired art
Throughout history, quarantines have spurred artists to create (think Shakespeare, Frida Kahlo or Edvard Munch, among others). Today, thanks to the internet, we’re not so alone during our lives in lockdown. People all over the world are figuring out creative ways to use this time. They're hosting virtual parties, cooking meals together and posting videos on TikTok. And, a number of international art projects are harnessing the internet's crowdsourcing power to curate art about life in quarantine. Many are inviting public participation in the work or finding new ways to bring art to people — and sharing messages of hope and solidarity or “stay home.”
Experience
Skills
- Tape Syncs
- Story Editing
- Social Media
- Reporting
- Producing
- Audience Development
- Interviewing
- Field Recording
- Field Producing
Equipment
- Rode NTG 2 directional microphone (with grip & dead cat)
- Shure VP88 stereo condenser microphone
- Audiotechnica 8010 omnidirectional microphone (back-up)
- Shure SM7B studio microphone & preamp (available for travel if needed)
- Tascam DR 60D recorder
- Sony PCM M-10 recorder (back-up)