A San Diego Regional Policy & Innovation Center report titled
For its part, San Diego Public Library (SDPL), in partnership with the City of San Diego and the nonprofit Media Arts Center San Diego (MACSD), launched a paid internship program comprising a six-week video production training course taught by visual artists and film producers. The classes offered hands-on opportunities to pitch a documentary idea, shoot film, interview subjects, and edit in post-production. Interns were then deployed to SDPL branches to promote the library by using the skills they learned to create social media content.
During “Empowering Interns Through Video Production: A Strategic Initiative for Workforce Development and the Creative Economy,” a June 30 session at the American Library Association’s 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Diego, presenters outlined the basics of the program and its benefits to participants. The speakers included Oscar Gittemeier, SDPL program manager; Mizar Martin, MACSD teaching artist and community producer; and SDPL library assistants and former interns Dallas Purvis, Xitlaly Cruz Rebollar, and Manorack Sukhaseum.
Gittemeier described how the program came about, noting that SDPL is a large library system with numerous social media channels, including Facebook pages for each branch, Instagram, and a podcast. “We really needed interns to help us generate that content,” he said.
Rebollar, who is currently studying graphic design, said that the internship program enabled her to try professional programs and equipment while adding a sense of stability to her career, since the internship was paid.
“These [programs] would have cost individual artists thousands of dollars out of pocket,” she said. “I truly appreciate that this was indeed a paid internship. … It shows that the City of San Diego values us creatives, not just as free marketing, but as people with livelihoods.”
Purvis mentioned how the classes, which required the interns to partner with each other, helped them learn how to collaborate with others, especially when their visions weren’t fully aligned.
“At times, when you’re working on media-related stuff, it can be really hard to see eye-to-eye with the person you’re working with,” Purvis said. “Through that challenge, I learned a lot about troubleshooting my issues and working through some of the problems that I could have with my partner.”
The 6–week training was also a highlight for Sukhaseum. “There’s a lot to learn in six weeks, from learning composition to how to [set up] the camera properly,” he said. “It’s very exciting and very informational, like a crash course.”
The technical skills that interns learned helped them prepare for media production in the real world, Martin said. Beyond knowing how to use the equipment, interns also practiced conducting research and contacting and interviewing sources.
“We basically want to set them up for success and to create good quality content,” she said.
