A New Internship is Starting….

I want to thank all of the readers of this blog for several things; first, this blog would not have existed without your desire to find new ways to stay connected to us and each other. Second, no internship has ever been successful when we have had fewer than 10 members, and it is not possible to provide a few with training that was meant for a group experience. Finally, your experience and involvement here at what ever level you felt was possible or appropriate for your schedule was our opportunity to review the model and tweak it to achieve the best for everyone involved.

Beginning with the internship session starting June 4th, we are introducing changes which we feel will improve participants' opportunities to learn television production and contribute to the variety of programming on CTV-21. We have changed the hourly requirement, time-span of the program, and course syllabus.

180 hour, 8 month requirement is reduced to 50 hours and 18 weeks. This establishes a definite end time while providing a more realistic hour/week goal as interns pursue the certificate of completion.

Classes in the various skill sets (studio, sound, lighting, etc.) will now have a practice session requirement in the week following each class. Interns will need to sign up for these sessions and show proficiency in a short list of skills.

The focus in this new internship will be providing opportunities for interns to maintain a minimum number of hours each week between classes, practice sessions, and regular productions to apply their new skills. We are renewing the 3 shows we produce (Local Edition, Education show, Government Show) with a goal to rotate the production of each, including truck shoots, so that there is something occurring in the studio weekly.

Interns will need to produce something in order to complete the program and we are taking the success of the producer training/film-festival model and making this a permanent event as part of that requirement. By the end of the 18th week we expect to have all participants ready to receive their certificates and we will look to building a continuity of participation from each as producers and volunteers.

This was a long explanation, which I am sure has some of you wondering, “What does that mean for me? Do I still have to do 180hrs? Do I still have to complete the 8 months?” We want everyone who is interested in producing or volunteering at CTV-21 to continue to do so. However, we will allow current interns who have 50 or more hours to receive their Intern Certificates so they can see some closure. If you are close to 50 we will permit you to accumulate the balance so you can finish. If you are still interested in the 180hr – 8 month commitment, please call the department and we will work with you on your individual goal.

The pace of the internship and the ability of each participant to realistically maintain 6 hours a week was something we realize needed to be changed. In this new design the program will end as the next one begins and we hope the momentum will continue and create more opportunities for participants to work together on their own projects as well as drawing from the next group.