by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
Jacksonville will soon be the host city for a new weekly television series.
While the show won’t be “CSI: Jacksonville,” the new series called “On Location” will be a lot like “Wild on E!,” said the program’s director Erik Di Somma.
“It is almost like a Wild on E! meets the Food Network type of thing,” he said.
Di Somma said “On Location” will be a magazine-format television series that will feature an insiders look into Jacksonville’s entertainment and dining options and venues.
Each show will feature several different restaurants, events or places, he said.
“It is not going to be like an infomercial,” he said. “This is going to be an interesting and entertaining program. It will inform guests and residents of what is going on in their community, which is what every community needs.”
Di Somma said the half-hour show will begin airing on cable Ch. 7 in late January on Wednesday nights at 10:30 p.m.
Jacksonville was picked for the show’s focus because the city is rapidly growing and “geographically already has a lot to offer,” Di Somma said.
Though the production team has already been set up for the series, Di Somma said he is still looking for two people to host the show.
Casting calls and tryouts are currently underway to find a male and a female host for the show and, while a few people have been thoroughly looked at for the position, Di Somma said he is still looking for candidates with the right personality.
“We are looking to take somebody that has been interested in being in television and maybe has or hasn’t gotten their feet wet yet and we want to turn them into a local celebrity,” he said.
The show is being created by Stray Dogg Productions in St. Simons Island. Di Somma has worked on similar programs before but said this will be the first series he has ever produced in Jacksonville.
“We have been working on this project for quite a while but we have just put together the team that can get it done,” he said.