Former student Erica Trinidad left the BPT program for a Production Assistant job at Fox Charlotte. After being a production intern for the morning show, Erica got the hands on experience she needed to land herself a paying job on the crew. She interned at Fox in Fall 2010, and they hired her in Summer 2011. If you remember Erica, she was a hard working student in the BPT program, known most for her work behind the camera and her editing skills.We caught up her recently to see how she is doing.
Q: Erica, what do you do at Fox Charlotte?
A: At Fox Charlotte, I'm a Production Assistant for Fox News Rising, the morning show that airs from 5:00-9:00am. I really enjoy it because there are so many different things to do to where you aren't tied to just getting one thing... and you get to move around a lot. I mainly operate cameras but soon I am going to be trained to do other things like run the audio board, graphics, and direct. Fox uses 3 different types of cameras for the morning show. Standard studio cameras, a handheld camera (mostly for on the fly shots like outside or cooking segments), and the jib camera (which is the camera that kind of looks like a crane with weights at the bottom that has handles that controls the pan, zoom, and focus.... it gets cool "bump shots" during the shows usually coming in or going out from a break.) I also run teleprompter for about an hour during the show. My coworkers and I rotate hours on the prompter.
Q: What are some of the most exciting experiences you've had while working at Fox?
A: Occasionally we get to go out on remote shoots and air a show like at the speedway. Recently in February, Anderson Cooper had a contest for his talk show giving away a car to a local family in the Charlotte area. I got to be part of the crew that filmed the surprise to the winner that aired on his show.It was a completely awesome experience to be able to be a part of a crew for something that was network related.
Q: What advice do you have for fellow BPT students just starting their job search?
A: I would tell people not be discouraged. It's very easy to convince yourself that it's hard to get a job in the industry. It is competitive but if you can get an internship somewhere and meet all the people you can who work in the field that you want to be in you have a better chance.
Q: Did the Gaston College BPT program prepare you for your job at Fox?
A:I wouldn't be where I am right now if it wasn't for my education at Gaston College. Mrs. Carmody and Mr. Maier are the 2 best instructors I could have ever had. Before I started at Gaston I lost my full time job. I didn't know what I was going to do. I always wanted to do something broadcasting related but I didn't think I would have the time or money to achieve that goal. Gaston not only made it an affordable option to go to school but that have great instructors who genuinely care about their students success. I've never been in a learning environment where it was so easy to talk to my instructors and you didn't feel weird about asking any questions. All of the hands on experience I learned in the classes I took while I was there really prepared me for my job now.
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