Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Research Assistant Donovan Jones Edits and Masters A TV Show for Professor Ben Steger

I’ll never forget the day when I first saw the posting online for the opportunity to work with Ben Steger on his upcoming TV show, “Open Mic”. The show follows artists from all around the world as they continue to progress through their musical journeys. Thus, since I am a music lover, and open mic poet myself I just couldn’t resist looking into it more. I submitted my application and emailed Professor Steger expressing my interest in the position. I told him how excited I was for his project and a few weeks later, I got the job! He even told me that he was going to try to get the show on Netflix!

I am honestly honored to have such an opportunity to work with one of GMU’s finest. Professor Steger has won some huge awards in the documentary film industry including a DOCFEED award for best documentary for his film “Stage Four: A Love Story”. So obviously having constant contact with someone as experienced as him is a strong resource to have. For this project I will be editing and mastering the TV show for Steger, all while organizing documents, and creating graphics/logos for his new and past projects. This position is already shaping me into a better business man and employee by challenging my creativity, and strengthening my time management skills. Most of the work I’ve done this far requires some type of design. Whether the design be a DVD cover or disc cover, I have to really challenge myself to think outside the box on a daily basis to create something eye-popping and new for our audiences to see. My time management skills have been improving as well. Since Steger is usually out traveling the world, I have to be responsible for making sure the work gets done within a reasonable amount of time. This can be difficult at times due to schoolwork and another job that I have. Nevertheless, I have been learning to work smarter and balance all my responsibilities accordingly.


So far, this position is exactly what I needed. Not only do I get compensation/rewarded for my work, but it’s challenging me to perform better every day!