The 'glamourous' life of TV

I have now been working at CMT for about three weeks, and I times I still can't believe that it is true. It is so much more than I would ever have imagined before I began working here. I have taken film classes so I know that a lot of work goes into making films and TV shows, but what we get accomplished in short spans of time amazes me.

In one week, the prep work and script writing take place and on the start of the next week we are shooting the next episode. Or as was the case last week, we shot one episode on Monday and then another on Friday. Leaving a shorter amount of time for preparation. My job involves long hours spent on the internet doing research for the writers. The show I work on "CMT Top 20 Countdown" highlights the top 20 music videos of the week. A pretty simple concept if you think about it. However we don't just say what order the videos are in and leave the show at that. We like to provide little tid bits of information about the artists or about what went into the making of the video. This is where my research comes in. My research gives the writers the newest information about the artists that they can work in (sometimes humorously) into the script.

However, this is sometimes easier said than done. Because we prepare the research about a week before the show actually airs you have to find information that will still be interesting when the episode airs. That was difficult this week. Because the CMT Music Awards and the CMA fest are next week, most of the music news this week revolves around those two events. The news stories are about who will be playing at what time and so forth. However, when this particular episode airs, most of these events will be over. There is no point mentioning something that will have already happened. One thing that would be cool to note in this episode would be who won what awards. However, since we are filming before the winners are announced there is no way we can include this information.

So that in a sense is the 'boring' part of my job. But I enjoy it. While it does get a little monotonous and tiring sitting in a cubicle all day looking up information on the internet, I enjoy it. Why? Because I get to find out the newest information right as it hits the public. I like being 'in the know'. It is cool to go home to my roommates and tell them about what I found out during the day. One of my roommates basically does the same thing I do all day (for the radio station) so sometimes we have seen the same piece of news, but it is nice to be able to talk to someone about it.

The really cool part of my job is to sit in on the tapings of the show. When you watch the show on TV everything is edited together and flows perfectly, but in the taping we jump all over the script and things don't always go smoothly. It is an interesting experience to sit in the production room and watch take after take and see how it all comes together. Plus I get to hang out with the host of the show on occasion. (Who is a really cool guy by the way). Plus, everyone treats me like a full member of the team even though I am just an intern and am not even getting paid to be there.

It is really nice that I actually WANT to go to work everyday and it isn't something that I HAVE to do. I think that makes all the difference really. And if I like it this much when I'm not getting paid, I think it more solidifies that this is definitely something I could do in the long term. This kind of work could be what I choose to do with my life. I could live my life, excited about going to work everyday. It doesn't even bother me that I have to get up early, because when I get there I know that I will enjoy what I will be doing, and that is a great feeling.