When the 1-800 number flashed across television screens asking for participants, Lyndsay Parker headed to the phones at the Jenny Jones Show in Chicago. “The phone,” she says, “never stops ringing. Thousands of people call every day. Every story was pretty wacky.”
One of those thousands of callers got a surprise when Lyndsay, who was an intern for the Jenny Jones Show, answered the phone and asked for the caller’s address. Turns out, they were both from Belleville, Ontario, Canada. Lyndsay’s Jenny Jones stint was one of a couple of internships she took as a student. She volunteered at her local cable station and worked at WhistleStop Productions, an independent production company for which she now works as a producer.
As a TV producer, most of Lyndsay’s work involves producing sports shows for The Sports Network (TSN). That means taping world-class biker-cross events one week, Canadian Billiard championships the next. “It’s amazing, considering that I only graduated six months ago and already I have my own producing credit,” says Lyndsay, who earned a television broadcasting specialist diploma from Loyalist College. http://www.loyalistcollege.com
Having taken classes in script writing, news, documentary making, full-feature movies and editing, Lyndsay could choose from several occupations. Editor, producer, news director, news-feature editor, post-production coordinator, cameraperson and video-tape operator are just some of the jobs available in the television industry. Lyndsay herself once considered going into news, but decided she needed more variety in her job.
“Nothing changes too much except for what the news is about,” she says. “But (in) features like we do here, the format changes. I could be in Calgary or in the woods or in the mountains in Quebec City. It changes all of the time, and I’m always learning new things. Because we’re independent, one day I could be doing fitness, the next I could be doing downhill-mountain biking.”
As a feature-show producer, Lyndsay is responsible for making the whole process come together. “I’m on site to coordinate things and make sure things go smoothly,” she says. “I set up a lot of pre-production needs before we get on site.” She also decides what goes on the tape. Out of a 2.5-hour shoot, Lyndsay will choose the best hour of footage to include in the final show. She also books cameramen, reserves hotel rooms, coordinates paperwork, directs crew members, labels tapes on site and makes sure the shoot is done well.
If you’re interested in television production, Lyndsay recommends studying broadcasting, communications, media marketing or film. You’ll have to be organized, too. And internships can only help. “Volunteer at your local cable station,” Lyndsay says. “They’re always looking for help. Do a co-op placement. Get involved in news or sports, and offer to shoot your local football team or high school team to see if you really like it, or if really you don’t.”
