Don Wright had been part of the local media landscape since the late 1980s and, despite being laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Barrie resident is busier than ever with his production company and winning awards for it, too.
On Wednesday night, Wright won the Jim Copeland Award, which recognizes the significant contributions made by a citizen or group to the prevention of fire and the public education of life safety in the community.
Wright says he produced a bunch of fire safety messages for the Central York Fire Services during the pandemic, which led to the award nomination.
“They were used as a way to keep everyone informed of fire safety when firefighters couldn’t physically go see people,” Wright told BarrieToday.
“I created two in particular called Fire Safety With Ethan and Elliot," he added, which is a series for kids telling them how to create an escape plan for their home. "That was hugely successful, a lot of kids identified with it.”
Wright has been producing content for fire departments for 20 years, but the majority of it since 2008, when he started his production company called Running Rabbit Productions.
“I have also done safety videos with Barrie Fire, which have won awards for the department,” he said. “They won best fire messages internationally, for example. I think it was a second place in the world.”
This is Wright’s fourth fire service award. He also won a Commander's Medallion from CFB Borden when he did a series of videos for soldiers in Afghanistan featuring messages from their families.
“A lot of the videos I do are with regards to safety, but I also do work for charity groups, too. I’m doing something for Victim Services of Simcoe County this year, which I am really happy to be doing," he said.
Wright has also done videos for human resources and municipalities, such as tutorials on what to do if an intruder enters the building or if there's a hostage situation.
Wright moved to Barrie in 1989 to take a job at the TV news station. He was laid off last year due to the pandemic.
He says he's fine with what happened and has never been busier.
“I’m solely doing work for Running Rabbit Productions now and loving it. It's great to be creative and be able to focus on things I love to do, but also things that are beneficial to others,” Wright said.
The Jim Copeland Award was given to Wright last night, but an official ceremony will be held next year in London, Ont.
