Virtual Television Network.com officially opened on July 13th of last year. But the idea originally struck about a year prior when Wayne was working on his computer in the basement. He had recently moved to Chilliwack, determined to rebuild his life after a period of tremendous grief following the death of his only son, Christopher, who committed suicide at age 16. "I kind of lost it," he says, explaining why he gave up a career in acting and his Vancouver-based Internet casting company.

Wayne's interest in television isn’t new. It began when he was acting in front of the camera. In addition to small parts on the X-files and Sliders, Wayne played a police officer in 22 episodes of Sweating Bullets, a CBS television series shot in Mexico. "Every time I was on set, I was always interested in the behind the scenes. I was always interested in what the soundman did. I was always interested in what the cameraman did. That's where I found my interest," he says. New to Chilliwack, with a partner and four step-children to care for, Wayne needed to reinvent his career. While running his web-based casting company, which includes the production of audition videos for the web, Wayne developed an interest in the potential of web broadcasting. That day in his basement, everything "came together" when he suddenly came up with the name Virtual Television Network and got to work on securing the domain name. "We're still working on a shoestring," Wayne confesses. But adds he's never been happier with a career venture. "It takes some people a while to find out what they really want to do in life. I think I've found it."

The company has grown since its grand opening to become not only an Internet broadcaster, but also a video production house and training centre for young people interested in the business. Most of the stories and shows that appear on the website are also broadcast on Chilliwack's local Shaw Cable station.

Wayne, who is recognized locally as the host of Shaw's City Beat, is Executive Producer for the company's many shows and series. But he credits his team with contributing many ideas and practical know-how. He has two paid employees, including 'Cadillac Bob' who's responsible for the training program that brings in students from Chilliwack schools as well as places like The Vancouver Film School and Burnaby's Centre for Digital Imaging and Sound (CDIS). VTN's productions are short six minute, information-based Fraser Valley series and stories. Among many others, they produce "Taste of the Vine" about BC wines, "Little Critics," a movie review show by kids for kids and "Valley Adventures" about valley-based companies offering outdoor activities such as sky diving, river rafting and mini-golf.

Each production is six minutes in length to suit the website and the attention spans of web viewers. "We don't put half hours shows on VTN because if you do, people will click on them and go away and have a cup of tea. Meantime it's costing us money much like a long distance call," says Wayne, explaining that there's a "ticker on web video because bandwidth capacity is still restricted."

VTN's production unit, which also does wedding videos and event broadcasting, is now branching into film. Wayne's developing a new
section of the website and of the company called virtual films. Two of his student interns, Ryan Webster and Rasmus Svensson, are producing a film which will appear on this new part of the website to introduce the new service. Wayne would like to attract more young filmmakers to work with VTN and put their films on the website so that subscribers can watch them. "We'll probably get to the point where we'll have download on demand, where you pay a monthly membership fee and you can watch the films that come out. It would be a source of revenue for the artists as well," he says.