By Kate Richards
The Canadian branch of the Oprah Winfrey Network will be airing a new talk show this January.
The Naked Entrepreneur is hosted by Business Management professor Sean Wise of the Ted Rogers School of Management and produced by television and radio students at Ryerson University’s RTA School of Media.
The online show has invited prominent and successful Canadian entrepreneurs to speak about the realities and struggles involved in becoming your own boss.
Some of the highly successful entrepreneurs that have been featured on the program are Harry Rosen, Debbie Travis, John Sleeman and W. Brett Wilson.
Wise said he believes the heart of entrepreneurship lies in addressing large unmet needs.
“When I started teaching entrepreneurship I couldn’t find Canadian content celebrating entrepreneurship and that needed to change,” he said in an e-mail statement to Humber News.
That realization inspired the creation of The Naked Entrepreneur.
OWN Canada will air eight episodes comprised of edited pieces from the 18 already finished shows that have been made since 2012.
Caitlin Dosa is in her final year of the Media Production Bachelor of Arts program and was a part of the production team for The Naked Entrepreneur.
This is the first time her work will air on a medium that isn’t a local channel or online and she said she appreciated being able to learn the technical skills that are a part of her program as well as the business side of the industry.
“We’ve done this now, we have these skills, we have these credits and I’m now able to take these credits, learn the skills and actually apply some of the content (of The Naked Entrepreneur) and some of the messages from our speakers to my future,” said Dosa.
Having a major network pick up student work will also help lower some of the hurdles new grads can sometimes face in the industry, she said.
Charles Falzon, chair of the RTA School of Media, helped conclude the deal with Corus Entertainment, the media and entertainment company which is partnered with OWN Canada. He also helped in the production process and said that being picked up by a major network proves the level of talent within RTA.
“We have another indication that our students are able to produce professional level, quality products that goes on the air and that’s really quite an exciting achievement for our students,” he said.