My project so far has been a little more challenging and overwhelming than I expected. The internship has been very time consuming, leaving me less time to work on my independent aspect, but I don’t mind. Because of this, I designated the weekends for working on my own show, while I do my internship during the week. I knew what my project was going to look like in many ways because I have been doing this internship for the entire year already. But now I can spend more time and really focus on this work. There is always something to be done but the tasks really do range in importance. Some days I’m doing tedious things that really don’t take skill such as organizing receipts in order of date and cataloging them for reimbursement. Other days I’m offering suggestions of what should be included in an episode of a new big cooking tv show. I’ve even gotten to help write scripts for reality tv, which confused me at first because I didn’t realize how much planning ahead and scripting went into reality shows. It’s not exactly a script, more so figuring out elements that should be included. For example, I am making a general outline for each episode, and while it makes sense that some things, cooking classes for example, are planned, I also had to add that something breaks in each episode. So that may be an example of something that is more manufactured or orchestrated for the show. I do need to set some boundaries about timing, because there have been several days where I’ve been asked to work extra, or at times when I had other commitments. Or another example is when there are mistakes that weren’t mine, I was the one who had to work extra to fix the mistake on top of my regular work. That has been frustrating for me, but I understand that is how things work in a professional environment. In the following weeks I hope to set more boundaries and know when I am working because I think that will help everyone. I also hope to incorporate more of my own ideas. One thing I’ve done so far that I really enjoyed was pitching a concept for a show and writing up a report and pitch deck for it. I hope to have the time and space to do another pitch, and I think it was a really valuable experience. I also hope there is a shoot I can go on before senior project ends.

For my independent aspect of my project, I have been working on my own show on weekends and when I am out of the city and my time is less flexible. This has been really great, for me to write for fun and not for homework or an essay. I am enjoying the creative process, and I hope to be able to continue to tie in things I have learned in my internship to my work. I am also planning on pitching my show to Vivian at the end of the senior project. I will have a completed season, create a pitch deck and presentation to share with her.