My Time with ESPN+

I have quite a few of my favorite moments working with Gemstone Media, which is headquartered in Jacksonville and works with Jacksonville University as well. 

Getting to direct my first ever show was my favorite. 

After watching fellow interns and freelancers direct multiple shows, I knew that was the spot I wanted to learn the most. Getting to direct reminds me of the set position at my current job: they're the ones who run the show. When I had to direct and TD, that was a little more stressful than I first thought. I've TD-ed for prior shows, so when my director/producer passed a quarter of lacrosse off to me to direct and to TD so he could help with a camera issue (that was happening as the game was going on!), I was a little nervous. Since we were having camera issues, I only had two camera angles to go back and forth between, so it wasn't the worst. However, on April Fool's Day, I once again directed, but this time an entire baseball game instead of one quarter of lacrosse. This time, I had a different producer. Things did not change, though, as I lost my critical camera: center-field. If you know anything about baseball, the center-field camera is crucial because it is used for your pitcher/batter shot. So, losing that camera for part of the game, I had to use my high home camera as not only the game camera where they follow the ball, but also as my pitcher/batter shot. I had a wonderful producer, who's last game with Gemstone was that April Fool's game. He made sure we didn't stress out in the control room, which allowed my camera operators to remain calm as well and focused on the game. I kept reassuring them that they were doing a wonderful job and that we were going to get the third camera back up and running. 

Another favorite moment of mine was creating a package that we aired during the seventh inning of a softball game. Throughout that game, we were having issues with getting the program live. We still went through the motions like a regular game while our Production Engineer and Assistant Engineer were trying to solve the problem. At the end of the day, we were live for most of the game, but we were only told that we were officially live at the bottom of the sixth inning. I created a package of all the runs scored so far through the game as a recap while our on-air talent voiced over it. Getting to create it and review it with my director in between breaks felt fulfilling to me. 

When I first walked into my interview with the Crew Chief, I only knew how volleyball worked. 

In my senior year of high school, I was the manager for the JV and varsity volleyball teams. I helped with the score sheets, including substitutions, players on the court, serving rotation, scores, and time-outs. Walking into that interview knowing that it was for spring sports had me nervous, as I had never watched a softball, baseball, basketball, or lacrosse game in my entire life. The Crew Chief reassured me that it was going to be easy, and we'll have plenty of mentors and professionals to be able to help grasp the information and learn, and he did not lie. I've worked in trailers, in the control rooms, and even in an RV with many professionals! After this semester, I'm able to completely follow baseball, softball, and lacrosse games. I'm still trying to learn the rules of basketball. In my opinion, it's at a similar complexity to football. 

A-Level games were more intimidating than B-Level games. A-Level games include graphics and typically more cameras, which means a bigger crew. You can also have multiple replay ops and multiple on-air talents as well. B-Level games, at least at Gemstone, were mostly operated by students and our few in-house employees. They had fewer replay ops, fewer cameras, no graphics, and typically one on-air talent. B-Levels were more relaxed, in my opinion, because we know it's student-run. A-Levels had professionals who have been doing this for decades, so being around them was also nerve-wracking because you didn't want to waste their time. 

I am forever grateful to Gemstone Media for taking me in with open arms and letting me learn how sports worked while building these important career skills. I've created multiple relationships that I plan to continue to develop, and hopefully, I will be able to continue working with Gemstone Media in the future. 

Go Bulls! 💚🎥