This week, my main goal was to tie up loose ends while still starting new tasks. We finished another episode and locked another edit. The video release agreement form was on our radars, as well as a 3D print of a phoenix and the upcoming magazine project.

Final Cut: Dr. Lua’s Episode

The big milestone was finishing Lua’s interview. Syncing the external mic track to the camera feed became a frame-by-frame process because of multiple cuts that were made in the video. Every time the sound felt subtly off, but once we aligned it, the whole piece tightened up. We have done the color correction, cut some of it, added the intro with outro, exported it, and called it done.

Interfaith Recording

Friday’s shoot was our smoothest yet. Dr. Lua hosted a conversation with Imam Rasheed, Rabbi Kay, and Dr. Hunter about faith, identity, and common ground. We double-checked mic levels, but one microphone turned off halfway through; we paused, re-asked the lost questions, and will put them accurately into the edit. Unfortunate, but fixable – and proof that we’re finally calm when the equipment misbehaves.

Release Forms

Before we finish the internship, we need signed waivers from every student guest. I put the release text into a Google Doc, filled it with names, and the speaker’s emails. Lua is handling the big names (Daryl, Jeff, Marc, Alan), while I’m tracking down everyone else. A little admin work now prevents legal issues later.

Uploading material

On Friday, I spent time uploading rendered podcasts, interviews, and project files into a neat folder structure for the fall interns. I believe it is a good practice to leave a tidy workplace behind.

Magazine

Next week we’ll hold the kickoff meeting for the January 2026 Phoenix Generation magazine and annual report – a project Mr. Marc has commissioned. Leveraging my layout and design experience, I’ll join the team. Together, we’ll brainstorm initial content and define everyone’s project roles.

Reflection

I really value the hands-on experience and growth this internship offered, from fixing audio and video problems to writing the scripts and taking photos. I’m also happy that I will keep working with Dr. Lua on future projects, building on what we have achieved so far.

After last week’s intense round of edits and emails, week nine brought me right back to the studio twice. We started preparing the needed material for the next group of interns, recorded two more episodes, and had a field trip to Universal with all interns. It was a great way to keep the energy going.

Podcast Shoot – Agree / Disagree (Round 1)

Monday’s session was called “Agree/Disagree”. In this recording, multiple statements were given, and speakers had to either agree or disagree using our new original format: one finger meant strongly disagree, and five meant strongly agree. Prompts included “Money can buy happiness” and “It’s okay to pull the wings off a cockroach for fifty dollars”. We began with quick introductions and then let the debate flow, asking follow-up questions. The conversation and the recording process felt much smoother than in previous shoots, likely because we had become familiar with the camera angles and microphone settings.

Podcast Shoot – Agree / Disagree (Round 2)

On Wednesday, we introduced a new lineup of guests and made the statements more debatable. Here are some topics we have covered: social media age limits, mandatory uniforms, a limit on how much money one person can earn, a ban on subscriptions, and many more. We used the same finger scale, and the energy remained high throughout the entire recording.

Data Drop for the Next Crew

We also began creating the archive, which includes footage folders, audio stems, and prompt sheets. This way, the fall interns won’t have to deal with a confusing set of “final_FINAL_v3” files. It felt odd to prepare for a hand-off already, but organizing everything now will mean fewer problems for the next interns.

Universal Friday

Phoenix Gen surprised the intern team with a day at Universal. No cameras and no prompts – just roller coasters and conversations. It was a nice reset before diving back into edits.

Reflection

During week nine, we’ve reached a point where the technical details fade into the background, allowing the dialogue to take center stage. Handing off clean folders to the next team feels like proof we’ve picked up some knowledge about managing our workflow along the way.

After multiple sessions of recording podcasts and interviews, week 8 was spent on editing and communicating with the recording studio. No cameras were rolling, but the lessons we learned were no less important.

Editing Marathon

With the recording paused, we had some time to finish editing our old interview. First was the 50-minute Daryl Davis interview from Courageous Conversations. I incorporated Dr. Lua’s feedback, made color correction changes, and added an outro. I exported it, and after the review, it was fully ready for publishing.

Next came the interviews with Alan Ginsburg and Marc McMurrin. They were shorter, cleaner, and mostly raw – it required much less editing work compared to Daryl’s lengthy interview. By mid-week, both were rendered and ready for final approval. We still have minor changes to make in those interviews, but they are mostly done too. Dr. Lua’s interview is still in the works, but I am confident that we can finish it relatively soon. Each finished project is a little checkpoint that reminds me how much this internship experience has taught me in just eight weeks.

Communication with Recording Studio

While exporting video footage, a bigger problem arose: the July 10 Let’s Get Deep session returned as fifty minutes of complete darkness for one of the guests’ videos – perfect audio, no video. Hi-Hello’s system didn’t capture the footage on their system, and their camera backups weren’t started.  

I wrote a detailed email explaining the loss and asking for clarity, a refund, or at least a credit for a reshoot. Their reply was, “We do not have any backup. We did not handle the recording; therefore, it is not our responsibility.” This was, after we had double-checked with them that everything was good to go. There was no refund, but it was a valuable lesson, as I have previously not had an experience with resolving such problems.

Reflection

Week eight showed that post-production is part creativity and part crisis management. Turning raw interviews into ready-to-publish material feels great, but finding a black screen where footage should be does not. The studio’s response was not as we expected, but it pushed us to tighten our workflow and have multiple checks before starting the recording.

This week, we started filming the first podcasts, which we had been planning for a long time, writing scripts, and getting equipment. Things didn’t go exactly as planned, but we made progress.

Magazine Meeting

Early in the week, Mr. Marc proposed a big idea: a magazine and annual report to release in January 2026. Since I work on The Reporter at Stetson, I volunteered to help with the design. We sent out a Doodle poll, scheduled a brainstorming session, and I promised to bring sample spreads from my past layouts. Seeing my skills combined with Phoenix Generation’s tasks feels like a perfect match. It also reminds me that my InDesign skills are still useful in a video-heavy internship.

First Podcast Shoot – Diverse Talks 

Monday was our first official recording day. The concept is simple: gather students from different countries and share culture-shock stories. We created a Google Form, informed our guests, and prepared questions like “What’s a stereotype about your home that’s wrong?” Fifteen minutes before call time, one of the guests texted that his car broke down and he could not make it. Five minutes later, another one canceled too. We had two empty chairs in a recording studio, and we had to figure out something as the time of recording just keeps going. The other podcast intern and I switched our behind-the-camera roles, jumped on set, and started being recorded. Surprisingly, the conversation felt natural – probably because we didn’t have time to overthink. We ended up with solid footage and a valuable lesson in solving problems quickly. 

Second Podcast Shoot – Let’s Get Deep 

Wednesday’s episode used a card game with different types of questions (Icebreaker, Deep, Deeper) to encourage conversations. I reviewed every card beforehand and picked prompts that fit our theme – this was a good choice because some were unrelated and would make the video not interesting to watch. We adjusted the camera angles and had a couple of guests switch seats for balance. Once we started recording, the dialogue flowed smoothly. There were fewer problems than on Monday, and overall it went great.

Dealing with the Raw Footage 

After video shoots, we began the tedious task of data organizing – labeling audio tracks, syncing camera files, and organizing everything into clearly named folders. I believe that it is an important part of video editing as it makes the video editing flow faster.

Reflection 

Week seven taught me two important lessons: plans can fall apart, and you need to be ready for it, but preparation still pays off. When two of the guests dropped out, we adjusted quickly, and I am grateful that we were able to figure it out on the spot. Even though the magazine project is still in the brainstorming phase, it already feels like the next big challenge. This internship keeps pushing my skills in every direction – design, photo, video, and crisis management. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Photo Day: Headshots in the Florida Sun

My main assignment was straightforward: shoot new head-shot photos for every intern. The challenge was to maintain consistent backgrounds and lighting outside. I found a shaded brick wall covered with leaves near the office, and spent most of Monday on it. The sun kept moving, so each setup took longer than I thought. By afternoon, everyone had a matching, well-lit portrait. After that I spent some time in Lightroom correcting exposure and color to ensure the entire set looked like it came from one mini-studio session.

Podcast retake

Mid-week, we attempted to record a solo episode with Dr. Lua Hancock. It was a short piece on why Phoenix Generation matters, as part of the mini-series. Halfway through, the main camera overheated and shut down unexpectedly. We lost some amount of footage but not a lot as we were monitoring while the camera was recording. We regrouped, checked the battery temperatures, and re-shot the missing segments. The good thing was that I liked the second take more than the first one and I know the edited video will look seamless once I put the clips together.

Polishing the Daryl Davis Interview

By Friday I was back in After Effects, cleaning up the long-form interview we shot during Courageous Conversations. Tasks included normalizing audio levels and designing a branded intro. Seeing the raw footage transform into a shareable episode reminded me why post-production might be my favorite phase – it’s when the video actually takes its final form.

Reflection

Week six was not full of events, but it sharpened my technical skills and challenged me in taking photos once more. I learned how to deal with the changing sunlight, troubleshoot an overheated camera on the fly, and keep an interview flowing in the edit. Even slow weeks here come with new problems to solve.

After the excitement of Courageous Conversations, week five felt much less stressful than the previous. We moved from event organization to planning for the long term. We discussed what worked well and what didn’t at the event, and proposed the new plan for the podcasting filming.

Building the Podcast Roadmap

Monday started with brainstorming episode ideas, who we can invite for a podcast, and what dates we should use for that. By Wednesday, we had a six-episode plan finalized:

• July 7 – Diverse Talks: 4 people from different countries come together to talk about the differences and what they know about each other’s countries. Questions like the biggest culture shock, and popular foods.
• July 10 – Let’s Get Deep: Players will take turns picking a card with a question/prompt, leading to deeper conversations and more personal answers.
  
• July 21 – Interfaith: A host and three faith leaders dig into common ground and tension points.
  
• July 23 – Agree or Disagree: Players will be given a statement to which they write down a number based on how much they agree with the statement (0- Strongly Disagree, 5- Strongly Agree) and then take turns explaining why.
• July 28 – Hillel Interview: two Fellows and two Hillel directors on campus dialogue.
  
• July 30 – Can We Survive?: Series where a group plays different games that are known for “Breaking Families apart” (Uno, Monopoly, etc.)
  

We created detailed question sets, covering topics from “What’s a false stereotype about your country?” to “Where do you feel most at home now?” We also decided that each session will typically use a four-mic setup, but we can adjust it to match guest availability.

Strengths Finder and Bios

Mid-week, we took the CliftonStrengths survey. My top five strengths were Ideation, Strategic, Arranger, Input, and Learner. This means I enjoy connecting ideas and organizing chaos. Comparing results with the intern group was very interesting, as it appeared that we were much alike with each other than we initially thought. I also collected everyone’s headshots and mini-bios, which I was doing for the updated website of Phoenix Generation.

Debriefing Courageous Conversations

Wednesday’s debrief combined celebration with honest feedback. Wins included a flexible event flow, an eye-catching lobby design, and Jeff’s engaging storytelling. Areas for improvement are clearer check-in procedures, a longer setup period, and a real run-of-show flowchart. The main takeaway was that communication and preparation time are essential. At the end of the week, I was working as a digital organizer, and I had sorted every photo and video and put them into different folders. This will be very helpful for future work.

Reflection

Week five has been less eventful but not less exciting. We built a strong foundation for six podcasts, identified our strengths, recorded the lessons from our largest event yet, and sorted through a vast amount of media. It reminded me that great content involves planning, communication, and learning from past experiences.

Week four was definitely the busiest week of my internship so far. On June 17th, we held the Courageous Conversations event with Daryl Davis and Jeff Schoep. But before the event started, there was a lot of preparation that needed to be done.

Interview Preparation and Badge Printing

Monday started with finalizing the interview script. We planned to record an interview with Mr. Davis and Mr. Schoep, hosted by two interviewers who were also interns at the office. We wrote the script, and later shifted into preparation mode for the event. In addition to organizing the merch, which included shirts, pens, and cups, we needed to print name badges for all the guests. That part was more complicated than I expected. First, we had to get the right printing paper. Then use a web-based app to organize and print the badges directly from an Excel sheet. It took some time, but now I know how to do it, and that’s a skill I’ll use again.

Event Day

The event was a full-day experience, running from 9 AM to 7 PM. It started with a Community Leaders Brunch, where Daryl Davis played the piano and sang. He also shared stories about his transformative work, which really made the event’s message come alive.

After brunch, we went to Hi Hello Studio to record our first podcast interview. The studio provided its own equipment, but we faced some technical challenges. We had to manage four cameras, monitor audio quality, and work within a tight timeframe – Daryl and Jeff only had about 45 minutes. The limited timeframe made this experience more stressful, but we managed to finish everything in time. We pushed through, and completing that recording was a significant milestone.

Capturing the Event

Once we returned to the venue, the youth part of the event started. Our task was to take photos and videos throughout the evening. We aimed to create a photo gallery for the website and for future promotional materials. At the same time, we set up tables, organized the food, and kept the space running well as people arrived. It was a long day, but everything went smoothly. Seeing the final result made all the effort worthwhile. We still need to organize the photos, which is our aim for the next week, but from this moment it will go smoothly.

Reflection

This week showed me how much work goes into putting together a successful event. From writing the script and setting up the cameras with microphones for the interview in a short amount of time, to managing guest arrangements and taking photos and videos. It was stressful at times, but I’m proud of what we achieved. The event went well, and I’m happy I played an important role in making it happen.

Week three felt like the calm before the storm. We finally finished the promotional video, exported it’s final version, and sent it off to the Phoenix Generation Fellows’ emails to give them information about the event. The video was also circulated on the Phoenix Generation Social media platform where followers engaged with it.

Interviews

With the video sent out, I moved on to writing questions for the three interviews that we had planned for next week:

Daryl Davis & Jeff Schoep – the Courageous Conversations event speakers

Alan Ginsburg – founder of the Ginsburg Family Foundation.

Marc McMurrin – CEO of Ginsburg Family Foundation.

I and another intern, with the help of Dr. Lua Hancock, drafted and revised questions. Interviews’ questions covered a wide variety of questions about the beginning of the Ginsburg Famiy Foundation and how it has evolved overtime.

Materials Preparation for the Event

On wednesday I joined other interns to sort event merchandise. We organized T-shirts in five sizes, pens that actually write, and insulated tumblers that won’t fit back in their boxes once you take them out. It took a long time but it was an essential part of the preparation for the event.

Looking Ahead

Next week is planning to be very busy: actual event, where will be taking videos and photos, and, hopefully, recording all three interviews without any problems. I’ll be balancing podcast hosting, camera setups, and an actual recording of the material. First three weks gave me the right attitude towards the goals that we want to achieve.

Reflection

Every task, whether scripting, organizing event materials, or making last-minute audio or video adjustments, keeps pushing me out of my comfort zone in new ways. This mix of creative and logistical work is turning this internship into a crash course in real-world media production and I am happy for having that experience.

The second week of my internship at Phoenix Generation was mostly focused on preparing for the “Courageous Conversations” event with Daryl Davis and Jeff Schoep. Once again, my “podcasting intern” role shifted to something more like a mini-marketing studio position.

The Promotional Video

Our main goal was to produce a clean, high-quality promotional video that clearly explained the event to people interested in signing up. Initially, we filmed four interns speaking, unscripted, about their work experience. However, during the editing process, I realized the video felt too crowded and lacked focus. To improve it, we narrowed it down to two speakers and wrote a concise, one-minute script focused on the event details. We recorded multiple takes to ensure clarity and energy. I then spent significant time in After Effects refining the transitions and visuals, followed by using Audacity to remove background noise and achieve studio-quality audio.

Posters and Marketing

In addition to filming and editing videos, I collaborated closely with the marketing team to design promotional posters for the event, Courageous Conversations. I created four drafts aligned with the brand’s color guidelines, ensuring consistency and visual appeal. Once finalized, I resized the designs for Instagram and published them promptly.

A Day at the Holocaust Center

Later that week, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Holocaust Center of Florida during the Holocaust Teacher Event. I was responsible for managing the Zoom back-end, relaying audience questions from the chat to the speakers, and troubleshooting any technical issues that came up.

Reflections

Reflecting on this week, I recognize how rapidly my duties have evolved from narrow audio tasks to a multifaceted media-production role. Also, this experience shows how important adaptability is in an art-related working field, as you must always look at one thing from different angles. I’m grateful I could put my skills to good use – editing the promotional video, volunteering at the event, and designing the posters.

Before my internship began, I expected to focus solely on producing podcasts for the foundation. And while Podcasting remains the core of my work, I quickly discovered how many elements, from research and scripting to lighting, filming, and post-production, must come together to create a successful episode. I’m currently learning about lighting and honing my video editing skills in addition to podcast workflows because our team decided to include a video component in our projects.

First Impressions

The office reminds me more of a collaborative workplace than a corporate space. There are only a few interns, so it’s quiet enough to focus but casual enough to brainstorm out loud. Basically a comfortable studio that makes it easier to focus and test ideas.

Visiting the podcast studio

We took a tour of SWELL Podcast Studio early in the week. In terms of the look and feel we were  pursuing, this location needed a lot of work, but technically it was fine. When we saw Hi Hello Recording Studio two days later, we were immediately struck by its vibrant LEDs, pre-wired cameras and mixers, and ample space for filming video segments without having to move furniture. We intend to get this studio’s three-month block.

Work done

At the beginning of our internship experience we were given the task of making a podcasting plan for the next year. Over the week I dove into audience research, acquiring data on youth’s generation podcast habits, drafted three versions of budget that lists everything from specific microphones to Adobe/Logic Pro subscriptions needed, sketched a three-month content calendar featuring weekly Phoenix Youthcast episodes, bi-weekly interviews, and a steady stream of 30-second “Phoenix Shorts” for TikTok and Reels, outlined a draft for a promotion video for the June 17 Daryl Davis event – and finally wrapped all of that into a presentation.

Reflection

It surprised me how quickly the duties expanded from “podcasting intern” to “multimedia producer,” but I think this is what makes the internship worthwhile and will provide me with much-needed experience. It was fast-paced, but that variety is certainly what makes the internship already feel valuable: each new assignment gives me a tangible skill I can develop, and the momentum keeps me engaged.