By Emily Lepkowski

Jan. 27, 2016

Video One director Jim Mead likes to “take it all in” when it comes to the success of the internship program housed in the lower level of the Andersen Library.

The 15-week internship opportunity, which allows Electronic Media communication students to work with clients and make corporate and commercial videos, is starting its second year at UW-Whitewater.

“What we have right now is very exciting,” Mead said. “I really like that the clients are happy about their experience.”

Mead also is the director of UWW-TV, the campus TV station located in the lower level of Andersen Library.

Video One got its start from an in-demand class that had a specific assignment requiring students to go out and find a real life client to make a video for.  As clients became more and more interested, Mead considered creating a new service for the sole purpose of producing content for  those interested in the student’s work.

Even though Video One was founded off the premise of a popular class assignment, clientele projects are more than just homework for the student interns.

“There’s actually something tangible that has to be turned in because that’s the expectation of someone,” Mead said. “[Clients] getting something out of this by giving our students the opportunity to work for them.”

The young program also received a one-year Strategic Innovative Grant. The grant helped Video One buy new technology like cameras, green screens, lights and editing systems. The grant also allowed Video One to function on their own and fund projects, as well as provide compensation for the interns working for the program.

“Overall, [the grant is] a success because it did what the Strategic Innovative Grant was supposed to do,” Mead said. “[It will] provide an opportunity in an educational realm to earn something outside of what would normally be available.”

In order to be eligible for the Strategic Innovative Grant, Video One had to create a website and a mission statement to be recognized as an actual program. In order to keep the grant, however, Video One cannot underbid professional video services, because while they employ students who are considered advanced in their coursework, they’re still in their learning stages.

“I am trying to make myself very aware of the fact that Video One cannot compete with professional entities,” Mead said. “So we communicate a lot to make sure we do not violate the contract.”

Junior Brandon Grade is one of the students who completed the Video One internship last semester. One of the unanticipated perks of working for the internship program occurred when he was at home flipping through the TV channels and saw the video he created on the University Channel.

“I thought that was pretty cool to be able to see something I did on the campus-wide TV channel,” Grade said. “The experience was really good. Being able to do the stuff that I might do after school really helps.”

The internship averages two students per semester with a requirement of experience through having taken advanced editing courses.

Senior Remington Greely, who completed the internship over the summer, also found the most rewarding part of each assignment came after it was finished.

“You also got a sense of accomplishment after each project,” Greely said.

One of the clients Video One pairs up with is VLS Productions. The Fort Atkinson-based company provides production houses with high quality video, lighting and audio equipments.

VLS founder Chris Scherer was a UW-W student who worked with Mead. Scherer decided to give Video One an opportunity to work for them, because of the lack of internships in the area available for students.

“It’s a lot of fun for us to see a lot of the new techniques coming out of the program,” Scherer said.

The money Video One charges clients for fully-edited productions is part of what keeps the program running. While the long term future of Video One is uncertain, Mead said, the program is seeing growth in student interest.

“I think that there’s probably more people who would like to know we’re out there,” Mead said.