Student Contributor Virginia Smart visited with Corey Womack, whose work in EAST led to his position as Head Writer and Senior Producer at Arkansas PBS.
You may know Corey Womack as a Head Writer and Senior Producer at Arkansas PBS, but did you know that he was one of the first EAST students at Cave City High School?
After graduating from a small town high school in northeast Arkansas, Corey planned to come back to teach TV and radio classes. However, his plans changed as he dove deeper into his education.
“I wanted to teach in that same little TV station that I had learned from,” said Womack.
His college experience broadened his horizons and helped him see the wide variety of prospects that were out there.
Womack stressed the importance of leaving yourself open to all of the possibilities and not limiting yourself to one specific field. “Whatever, the task at hand is, let's try to do it as well as we can.”
Corey rose to that challenge. “I really wanted to make these dark and moving movies and win Oscars, but I never thought about children's content,” Corey confessed. “I ended up writing puppet shows.” Corey has written scripts for several children’s programs including Blueberries Clubhouse, Mystery League, and more. “Fifteen years ago, I never would have thought I would be writing these kinds of stories, and I love it,” he said.
He worked on Arkansas AMI (Alternate Methods of Instruction). Arkansas PBS recorded teachers' lessons and broadcasted them over the air. AMI allowed the state of Arkansas to finish the school year in 2020. This helped many students to continue learning at home.
When asked about the key points to making a good documentary, Corey stressed the importance of being flexible when creating content.
“The story you set out to tell is not necessarily the story that needs to be told,” he noted. Corey pointed out that it’s also important to build a one-on-one relationship with the people you interview. Subjects will be the most sincere when they are comfortable, so you want to practice relaxing people from the moment you first meet them.
You never know where the practice of EAST skills may take you in life. Wherever you hope to end up, no doubt a little bit of creativity and reasoning will help you go far. Keep innovating, keep learning, and keep reaching, and the next time you turn on the TV and watch a local documentary or an episode of a puppet show, be sure to look for Corey Womack- former EAST Student, in the credits.