Local public TV station WNIT has kicked off production of a documentary about the sights and sounds of The Grand Old City, and they’re looking for good stories to tell.

The stories of its citizens, to be precise.

The PBS-affiliate is currently seeking local volunteer videographers to contribute footage and narration for the latest installment of its “Our Town” series of documentaries. Next month, producers with the station will be in town to help provide shooting pointers and story suggestions for interested participants.

“We’re sending out a call to videographers,” said producer Brian Lewis. “We want to know what are the stories and the things you want others to see about your hometown.”

WNIT launched the “Our Town” series in 2010, Lewis said. Each documentary is comprised of a series of three to five minute vignettes focusing on memorable locations, businesses and other facets of a particular Michiana community.

“Let’s say your aunt is coming into town,” Lewis said, summarizing the pitch that the station made when it first came up with the idea. “You want to show her your town, the things she needs to see. Maybe it’s a cool little jazz club or maybe it’s a museum.”

So far, the South Bend-based station has created scrapbook style profiles of several Indiana communities: Goshen, Warsaw, Mishawaka and Elkhart. However, for the fifth-edition, they decided to turn their sights northward towards Michigan.

“We received a phone call here at the station from someone who was very passionate about Dowagiac,” Lewis recalled. “We choose to go with them right after that.”

Producers met with officials with the city earlier this week, receiving a first-hand look at Dowagiac in the process.

“This is the first mayor who walked us around the city to show all the great things that are going on,” Lewis said. “We’re very interested in the history and the facilities that are around here.”

The fact that the visuals and audio are provided by the residents of the community gives the production a different feel from other documentaries, Lewis said.

“You’re not looking at a particular person’s or group’s viewpoint,” he said. “You’re looking at the viewpoint from many different people, the people who live there.”

Producers are looking for around 15 to 20 people to submit video for the project, with filming taking place the week of June 19-25, Lewis said. The subjects of each video can vary, from stories about parks or historical landmarks to things about popular legends about the city.

After the footage has been compiled, crews with WNIT will interview the videographers about their subjects, the audio of which will be used for the narration for each segment. After that is finished, crews will spend the next several weeks splicing together the elements to create the finished product, which will premiere on Aug. 18 at 8 p.m.

People interested in helping with the project are encouraged to contact Lewis at (574) 675-9648, ext. 371. Volunteers will need to provide their own digital video equipment for the shoot.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Lewis said. “You get to come out and shoot some video, which gets to be shown on TV. It’s a fun process to be a part of.”