Reinhart Mendoza turned a Media Arts internship into a job at Channel Nine

Why UTS? 

UTS was always an appealing choice for me. Back when I was thinking about universities in Year 11, and then attending Open Days in 2021, UTS uniquely stood out compared to other universities. Everything about the location, observing the students, understanding how the courses worked, and the industry links that UTS had as well made for the perfect blend. 

Why Media Arts? 

I love stories. I’ve been surrounded by fictional worlds my whole life mainly because of my hobbies; in both video games and anime, the stories of different places and characters, growing and understanding each of them was something that I grew to love. Over time, I eventually grew to appreciate the process of creating stories, especially video editing. Seeing the process of how media gets created and seeing how everyone has a story or stories to tell and being able to help others bring their stories to life was so appealing to me. Then learning about Media Arts at UTS, it sounded like the perfect course for me - a blend of film making that allowed me to get experience in every aspect of film making, while also being able to hone in on a specialty.

Studying at UTS I was constantly surrounded by other students both within and outside of Media Arts. Since filmmaking is all cooperative, this course built my teamwork and general social skills (helpful for an introvert). I also got to work with and have access to professional-grade equipment and facilities through the Media Lab. The staff there and the constant advice, knowledge and support they provided to me and every student studying Media Arts was invaluable. 

Working in groups was definitely the main highlight. While I can’t speak for everyone who has studied Media Arts, I’ve been blessed to work with and know so many different people, some even becoming great friends post-university.

Interning at Channel Nine 

The course and subject coordinators of Media Arts were constantly posting about internship opportunities, giving a massive shout out to Justin Harvey, Lecturer in Media Arts, in particular since he was the one who posted about the Channel Nine internship and helped me secure that initially. I greatly appreciated the connections that the staff at UTS have to help bridge the gap between students and the professional field.

Interning at Nine was a mix of observation and getting involved in the work. I got to see all the aspects of the behind-the-scenes and workflow for how the news gets produced. I spent time observing the studio, master control, and in the editing booths.

The section I spent the majority of my time interning in was a section called Media Exchange (MEX). Media Exchange are the data wranglers of the news, recording and ‘ingesting’ vision coming from a variety of sources. While the number of screens looked daunting initially, being able to see how they process video feeds coming from different sources made me see that MEX is arguably one of the most crucial parts of the news team, since they’re the middleman of all video and are responsible for getting it from camera man to editor. 

I received a job offer fairly quickly after this internship, getting the call just a couple of days after finishing up. Although Media Exchange was not the job I expected to have, I was told MEX was the gateway to branch into other fields within the company, such as editing, camera operating or studio floor tech. 

The future goal is to be editing; whether here at Nine for the news, or outside Nine for short films or for myself online as content creation, I hope to continue that passion of watching video and stories come to life. 

Do you have any advice for current students who are hoping to get internships, or preparing for their next steps?

Talk to your subject coordinator or UTS CareerHub, they are there to help you, and have a CV/portfolio of your work ready. After that, shoot your shot! As everyone says, you miss all the shots you don’t take, same applies with internships. If you do get an internship, while in it, take notes, be attentive, and ask questions. The people observing you love someone who’s engaged and hard-working, but not over-confident. 

For those who are still studying, get to know people and build connections. But also, and most importantly, have fun with your time at UTS. Those years at university will go by before you know it, so be sure to make memories and friends you can fondly look back on.