Making Moves with Summer Freelance Gig

Time has come when the UN meetings + events are slowing down and things around the international community are quiet, well before the huge chaos of the General Debate during the end of September.

With much more after-work times on my hand, I recently began a new freelance/part-time gig with MLB Network as a production logger. Very similar to my internship with NBC Olympics, I will be watching game broadcasts and taking notes of all game action, bloopers, analysis, and any other highlight-worthy events from the broadcast. 

My first game was an insane 17-run scoring game, which (for my first real shift) was absolutely miserable because we log every single highlight-worthy and for score plays, they look for word-for-word transcription of the call. Not only am I gaining experience working on a sports network, but also learning new media management / editing software: Adobe Premiere.

Overall though, the past week or so since starting has been so amazing and I am very excited to see what more I can learn and experience at MLB Network over the remainder of the season.

Back Into the Swing of Things

Whoa... It's been a few months since my last post (back in Feb) and I wish there was more to write about since then, but nothing really is new! Spring has sprung and summer is heating up; here at the United Nations, meetings and events are becoming less frequent because summer is near.

As any aspiring media professional, I am constantly searching to advance my career and develop my skills and expand my network thru freelance gigs on nights/weekends. Throughout the winter, I worked as general production assistant for a new Showtime docu-series, 3AM. The show premiered 28-May to great reviews as it follows "the bizarro world of late-night New York City."

Otherwise, I have been trying to take advantage of my Paid Time Off days and throughout late winter/spring, I traveled all over the East Coast, as well as Italy for a long weekend.

Working full-time and some freelance can be extremely tiring, yet genuinely  rewarding.

So Much Snow... and Nonstop UN Briefings

We're well into February and dug deep into many feet of snow (over the past month), the United Nations rarely closes and meetings continue all day, even with nonstop snow and freezing rain! Thankfully, with our well-deserved time off and I took a day off for an extra long weekend 

At the UN, there have been lots of week-long summits/forums/conferences and many of them have actually been quite interesting. Most recently there were sessions on social development, global anti-Semitism, the 2015 Youth Assembly, and many others — all of which, we in the broadcast facilities are monitoring and/or operating the robotic cameras, audio, graphics, etc. Many of these high-level meetings, Security Council or sessions I mentioned earlier, with various important political figures in attendance, we often experience first-hand knowledge of breaking news and historical votes on global geopolitical situations.

Many of the conferences and "emergency" SC meetings are called because of the numerous parts of the worlds' violence flaring up at once. The "Rise of Global Anti-Semitism Violence" sessions were following the Kosher supermarket attacks in Paris in January; since March 2014, Missions of Ukraine or Russian Federation have both constantly requested Security Council meetings to discuss the escalating situation on the borders.

The highlight of my winter so far has been the vacation (obviously!). Over the long Presidents' Day weekend, I flew to Italy and enjoy nonstop pizza, pasta, and vino—flights were only $400 roundtrip, so how can that be passed up!! Everything about the trip was so incredible - seeing all the cultural and historical landmarks of Milan and Venice while eating the delectable Italian foods!!

Onto 2015 and Continued Success

While most of the world was celebrating Christmas and New Year's Eve, the UNTV crew was still hard at work broadcasting last-minute Security Council meetings on important votes on world issues. Besides these few briefings and vote on the "Question of Palestine" (as the United Nation labels it), there has been very little international political work getting done.

As previously noted here, my supervisors and producers want me to partake in other production positions at UNTV. While there are fewer meetings happening and more time to practice on the UN broadcast equipment, I have slowly but surely started actively taken initiative to take a camera out and enhance my field camera skills. Additionally, they have began to schedule me more and more as the cameraman for high-level Security Council press stakeouts and hopefully soon on the art exhibits around the building or in one of the auditoriums (with non-robotic cameras).

One of my new year resolutions (at least for my career), is to grasp a more comprehensive understanding of broadcasting systems and processes at the UN, so I can use this knowledge to further propel myself for sustained success in the media industry.

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful...

... but not so much - even though it is getting bitterly cold in New York City. I just realised I have not posted any updates in a few months so here we go.

The UN General Debate happened, we worked crazy long hours and celebrated accordingly with all of our colleagues, supervisors, and peers. Some days we arrived early at 7am and other days we didn't leave til past midnight. The first days of that week started with the unprecedented Climate Change Summit with powerful speeches from Leonardo DiCaprio, US President Barack Obama, philanthropist Al Gore, international politicians, business leaders, and many others. Following that long day of climate change action and ambition announcements, the General Debate began and didn't stop - Heads of State of all 193 countries made their national statement for nine straight days, recording, editing, and distributing all of statements.

As the broadcast department has not been overwhelmed with nonstop Debate or Assembly meetings, my supervisors have give me few more opportunities to operate robotic cameras, studio graphics, field microphones, and more. They also are beginning to have MOC technicians (myself included) train fellow technicians in the MOC Room systems; which is amazing as much senior technicians shadow and learn from my hands-on experience in the room.

Since that early October week though, committee meetings have continued, panel discussions convened, special events have happened and we have all been stepping up our game to make sure all meetings are effectively broadcasted.

It's Been a Year!

It's crazy to think I have been working at the United Nations headquarters, in the television broadcast for just over a year now. I have seen quite the number of celebrities (Steven Spielberg, Stevie Wonder, David Guetta, Mia Farrow -- just to name a few) walk thru these halls, as well as decent high-level political figures (Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, David Cameron, Benyamin Netanyahu, and many others).

As I began my experience the UN broadcast dept, I was thinking the studios or control rooms or master control booths would be top of the line technologically... Ironically, it was quite the opposite, everything was analog and just transitioning into the new digital age (new cameras, tapeless recorders, high-def monitors, media management servers, etc) and everyone was starting fresh to learn it. Since there were few "new" guys, we knew nothing of the old ways and were able to quickly get a hang of the systems but the "old" crew took some time readjusting to the digital age. There were (and still are) numerous glitches in the system. I found out , actually that some local news stations run the system media management system and they have similar issues as well.

While the digital transition was happening for us, there was non-stop construction in the General Assembly (GA) Hall. Since before my time (Jan 2010, to be exact), the GA has been in a temporary building on the north lawn of the headquarters -- housing many conference rooms, offices, and storage. This month, the original GA Hall (built in 1952) will reopen after years of construction - including infrastructure repair, telecommunication upgrades, and general renovations. Our staff are planning to test all the new GA equipment soon and hopefully be up-and-running for the Debate in late September.

And today (18-Aug) is my birthday... our supervisors celebrate the staff birthday each month with cookies (or a cake, or cupcakes, etc) and I cannot be more excited for free cookies!! 

In the end, this past year has been awesome -- with plenty of ups and downs, fun times and annoying times, and mostly learning experiences that help with progress my career.

Time is Flying by... it's Summer now!!

Cannot believe spring flew by and it is already summer-time! Unfortunately, in the "real-world" we do not get a 3-month vacation, beach-filled relaxing days, or any sort of real summer break -- I have to use my allocated time off, which in turn means I have less time off, come fall or winter time. Either way, I am excited for continued work at the UN even though the summer is known to have a lighter workload.

Over the past month or so, the producers have actively been cross-training the technicians (myself included) in various positions throughout the operations; because of this, I have been quite often running the Media Operations Centre on my own, while others watch / learn the daily tasks of the room. At times, it definitely gets overwhelming because some days there can be five different recordings (meetings, events, interviews, etc) happening at once, while I am the only technician operating the recording system AND the global UN Television feed.

With every job, there are always those few staff that are completely oblivious with the tasks of the day- even if there are schedules posted all around the control room. To some extent, I can blame myself with this at times mostly because I am often the only staff in the MOC and do not always catch the start of every single meeting, for backup recordings. The one thing I did learn (at least with others being oblivious), is to double and triple, even quadruple check the tasks I complete - because, as often the sole technician in the MOC, anything that is exported, dubbed, monitored and in essence seen UN staff, media personnel, or country delegate representative all comes through my office!


In the end, it has been ten months working at the UN - I am still constantly intrigued and on the edge of my seat with everything that we do in the broadcast operations of the UN.

Finally Spring!

Time is speeding by this winter and it's finally spring! Lots of things have been happening with my work - most notably, I operated the robotic cameras / switcher for a UN meeting AND was the technical director (TD) for a short time one evening recently.

My boss(es) have been trying to spread me around to do different jobs for various UNTV programming. The opportunity for operate robotic cameras and switch between feeds for one of the meetings was awesome! At first, it was overwhelming but slowly began to realise it is not as difficult or complicated as I once thought; sure I sometimes turn the joystick the wrong way, since the controls are reversed (moving stick right, aims camera left), but overall fun and intriguing! The second time I was running the whole switcher for different UN program feeds; since it was after "regular" hours, I was simply switching between a playback deck, bars or black, and live press stakeout camera - still was pretty sweet.

As less high-level meetings are happening and spring / summer rolls in, I will have many more chances to take roles in the control room or in the field, shooting b-roll / secondary footage. Ambition and time will tell what positions I ultimately with be ... check back for more update.

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Right before taking over control of the TD position

Crazy snow days then some awesome celebs!

January flew by and February is well underway... might have been because of unbearable cold and snow of NYC this winter! The United Nations actually shut down once and closed early / opened late a few times, due to this crazy weather.

Many things are always happening here at the UN Headquarters including daily committee meetings, General Assembly plenary, country's Mission events, brief diplomatic meetings, Security Council debates, international remembrance days, or cultural bazaars in the HQ lobby. Everything that occurs in the UN really is quite interesting, even if I am just walking by checking out the posters or tables.

A few months ago, David Guetta and Stevie Wonder ventured into the UN for various events, studio records, and meetings... for the "International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust" (as officially named by the UN), many Jewish-related organisations and genocide prevention and awareness groups hosted / attended the ceremony to remember and honour the Victims of the Holocaust. The keynote speaker for the event was filmmaker Steven Spielberg and Holocaust survivor Rena Finder, both speaking about incredible stories of resilience, survival, and continuing education. Spielberg then came into our studio to record an extensive interview discussing his Jewish roots, filming Schindler's List, meeting survivors to hear their stories, and attempting to continue educating today's youth before all the survivors are gone! One of the best parts about having such incredible talent and "celebrities" come into our studio, is that I am on the opposite side of the wall from them or often in the same room as them (operating the camera, setting up lights, stage managing, or simply watching the interview).

In addition to my full time position at the UN, I recently picked up a freelance gig with Dick Clark Productions for crew at the NFL Honors which was held 1 Feb 2014 at Radio City Music Hall. As I was crew with various live event and award show productions in Los Angeles during my time there, I was able to reconnect with some of the managers and supervisors to land this gig. It was really an awesome experience to work again in a live award show production; to make it even more interesting, I ran into Hugh Jackman, Andy Samberg, Alec Baldwin, and lots of NFL players and coaches!

Big Year Comes to a Close... 2014 Here We Come!

Well damn... 2013 was quite an adventurous year - graduated college, started my first career full-time job, and moved to the Big Apple!

The first half of the year went according to plan, arrived back to Ithaca to finish my last semester at college. Throughout that time, I remembered and relived the most incredible four years of my life; realized how lucky I was to have those incredible times in Ithaca - learning so much, tears of joy and sadness, many (and many more) drinks, different ups and downs, gorge jumping, TCAT riding, wandering the streets of Ithaca, making the best of friends, and just loving life. After those four successful years, I graduated from Ithaca College's Park School of Communication and was ready to take on the media industry!

After I graduated, I thankfully found a summer job - in my intended career - and started right away, producing media content for my summer camp I have attended since sixth grade! I quickly then interviewed for a full time position, a Media Production Technician via crew agency at the United Nations, and got offered it then started very shortly after. I moved to New York City then started to settle in, relearning the subway system, exploring new neighborhoods of the City, and loving it all.

On that note, happy new year... here's to 2014 being just as successful, fun, and awesome as 2013

Wintertime in NYC... and the United Nations!

Since the last post, surprisingly not too much as happened... Thanksgiving and Channukah overlapped this year, Christmas trees and lights have taken over NYC, and few really exciting days at work!

November went by real quick, I moved into my first NYC apartment and quickly settled in - figuring out my new commute, finding good pubs/restaurants, and all the fun moving-in stuff. That's really all that happened last month, well and Thanksgivukkah! Plus NYC got its first "snow" of the winter, just a few morning snow flurries which turned into rain by mid-morning.

December quickly came upon us and started off with a bang! Nelson Mandela passed away on 5-Dec and the UN quickly took action on broadcasting a message of thoughts, condolences, and prayers to his family, South Africa, and the world. As soon as the news broke, the UN Secretary General and Security Council President quickly took action and went on-air with a message to pay tribute to the life and legacy of Mandela. Since the news broke very late in the day and much of the crew left, the remaining quickly jumped into action and got everything back up and running, ready for the broadcasts. We later saw that we broadcast our first statement 20 minutes before Obama!

Most UN committees, Security Council meetings, Mission programs, and other events happen generally wrap up as December comes to a close and come Jan/Feb, days will be much slower and less hectic. For now, I'm still tasked to monitor, then cut and distribute the the important recordings of UN events!

Post-Debate Frenzy

In early October, the General Debate ended and numerous Committee, conference, and council meetings restarted or continued. These non-Debate meetings occur throughout the year, in addition to various studio messages, photo opportunities, interviews, delegation statements, etc throughout the UN complex.

I continue to be stationed in the Media Ops Centre, where we monitor video recordings of all high-level meetings, as well as maintaining any studio recording or ENG shoot. Also, I am one of few staff that operate master control for the global UNTV channel. Everything really has settled into place and I am really creating my niche in the media management aspect of the UN media departments.

One pretty cool project that was just started this week is the retrieval of "ancient" video recordings - from the 1960s and 70s, for an NBC Olympics feature. Since the meetings was on film, these records are archived at some facility in New Jersey; once we obtain them, we will ingest and transfer into HD-ready for the NBC broadcast in February.

Long Month of August and September

Damn... these past two months have gone by ridiculously fast! Everything about my "new" position (as a Media Production Technician for the United Nations broadcast department) is awesome; I am constantly learning new techniques and skills, meeting more and more inspiring media professionals, and ultimately have a fun time. In addition to working full-time at the United Nations, I have found some time to pick up freelance jobs and continuing to expand my resume with more production experience.

Every September, the United Nations General Assembly holds its annual General Debate - featuring all 193 member states setting its agenda for the coming year and begins discussions on such matters. Our broadcast crew is already swamped with extensive amounts of video requests for each State delegation arrival, all the speeches, and various special events. I personally have been monitoring all the Debate recordings, editing and exporting each speech for their respective delegation.

General Debate 2013 is occurring the week(s) of 24 Sept thru 1 Oct