Recently I started my internship with the sports department at KTLA, an LA TV station.  I admit I was a little nervous at first.  I knew I would be helping out the sports producers, but I was still unsure of what to expect.  Over-thinking things as usual, many concerns were running through my mind as I embarked on the miserable drive from Claremont to downtown LA:  Are the producers going to like me?  Am I going to like them?  Will my job be really difficult?  What if they ask me something about hockey, or another sport I don’t know much about?  What if I mess something up?  What if I ask a stupid question?  What if I don’t ask enough questions?  And the list goes on…

By the time I got to KTLA, I had finally convinced myself to calm down and that I would do just fine.  After I filled out some paperwork, the human resources director brought me over the sports production room and introduced me to the producers.  As soon as I met them, I knew I’d be fine.  They were all very nice and started joking around with me about their favorite sports teams right off the bat.  One of the producers is a huge Michigan fan; I remembered distinctly the last time Oregon played Michigan (Dennis Dixon was our quarterback and we creamed them 39-7 at the Big House) so I was happy to throw out a few stats to remind him of the painful loss.

One of the producers is actually still a junior in college.  He spent a year and a half interning at KTLA and was eventually hired to be a part-time producer.  He was the one I mainly worked with that day and he was awesome.  Having recently been an intern himself, he was very understanding and did a great job explaining things to me.

That first day turned out to be pretty relaxed.  It was a slow day for LA sports, so I just watched one basketball game and wrote down the time codes for all the important or big plays so the producers could easily find them later.  I did a lot of observing and tried very hard to retain all the information I was given.  I watched the producers use a video editing program to create highlight packages for the sports segment of the evening news.  I watched them cut film, edit audio levels, and write scripts for the anchor.  I also watched them run the show in the operating room while the sports segment was on live.

Over the following two weeks, I continued to learn a lot at KTLA.  I got better at “logging games” (watching and writing down important time codes) and learned more about the editing software as well as everything that goes into a sports production.  As I learn more, I’ll get to do more.  I’ll soon be writing scripts and helping cut the film myself, which I’m very excited for.

What I’m the most excited for though, is going to games.  I got to go to my first game on last week, which is Oklahoma City Thunder at LA Clippers.  I helped the camera men set things up for live shots and will watch the game in the press box.  After the game I’ll get to go into the locker room and ask the players questions.  Since I eventually want to be a sideline reporter, getting right in the action will be perfect for me.

Needless to say, I’m very pumped for everything KTLA has to offer me.  Over the next few months I will try my hardest to be like a sponge and soak up all the information I can.  Hopefully this internship will be a big step to getting the career I want!