Shoalhaven to be featured on the national stage

It will be the first time "Living on the Coast Shoalhaven Recovers (LOTC), the three-part series, produced by Michael Pignataro and Allan Baptist, will be broadcast to a national audience.

Viewers in metropolitan centres will get a chance to see the resilience of residents on the NSW South Coast, as they recover from the devastation of the Black Summer bushfire, floods and COVID.

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The three, half hour episodes will air on the Nine Network starting on Saturday, June 18 at midday on Channel 9 and throughout regional Australia on the WIN Network, with a potential audience of millions of Australians.

The series has been locally produced by two passionate Shoalhaven locals, Walkley award nominated documentary maker, WIN NEWS Producer/Cameraman Michael Pignataro and former Shoalhaven City Deputy Mayor Allan Baptist,who has more than 15 years experience working in the arts and events industry in the Shoalhaven.

Michael said he's excited for metropolitan viewers to get a chance to see more than just the spectacular scenery that the Shoalhaven has to offer.

"Many people escape from the cities to visit regional areas, particularly Sydneysiders and Canberrans coming to the NSW South Coast and I think they will see a new side to the region and the incredible people who call it home," he said.

"Their stories of courage and resilience are inspiring and will change people's views not only of the South Coast but regional Australia more broadly."

LOTC is back by popular demand, after being broadcast on the WIN Network to regional audiences across Australia in May last year.

Viewing audiences grew 25 per cent from episodes one to three.

Allan is confident the series will be as well received across the nation and hopes it will translate into more visitors to the South Coast.

"We saw the audience enjoying each episode grow each time and I think no matter where you live, whether it's in the regions or the cities, everyone can relate to hardships and how tough it can be to rebuild businesses and livelihoods after devastating events like a natural disaster or COVID," he said.

"We hope it will also inspire people to come back to the region and spend big to enable that recovery to continue."

The region was left devastated by the Currowan fire in December 2019, which burnt for 74 days, destroying nearly 500,000 hectares and destroyed 312 homes.

With the recovery ongoing, the region suffered as NSW went into COVID lockdown with its major industry - tourism, effectively shut down overnight.

And, of course, the area has also suffered through a couple of flooding events.

You can see the series over three weekends on the Nine Network and the WIN Network - airing dates are midday Saturdays, June 18, June 25 and July 2.