Anyone who knows me well
would tell you that I am very fond of television. Okay, I'm obsessed
with television. I consider it a necessity of life, along with food
and shelter. So it was no surprise to my friends and family when I
decided to apply for an internship at a talk show. Needless to say, I was very
excited to be accepted at the Sally Jessy Raphael
Show, although I went
into the situation expecting to be the coffee girl for the producers
and directors. I was pleased to discover that this internship was a
great learning experience for me, in addition to being a wonderful
opportunity to meet people in the industry and establish contacts for
the future. My duties consisted of
screening potenttial guests on the hotline, researching story leads
for producers, running various errands for Sally's assistant,
escorting guests around the studio, helping the production assistants
during taping, and seating and greeting the audience. I also had
opportunities to sit in the control room and observe, along with
being able to wear a set of headphones during taping to listen in on
the director's cues. This experience exceeded my
expectations, and I met a lot of great people. It was a revealing
combination of the gruntwork and excitement of the television world.
Although some days I felt like I would never find that certain letter
the producers were looking for, in the end, when I finally did, it
was very rewarding to see that my own efforts, however small, played
a part in the production of a show. This internship made me realize
that I could definitely see myself working in an environment like
this after I graduate.
Joni Lefkowitz '02 will be
returning to the
Sally Jessy Raphael Show to work this summer.
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