As a part of National Volunteer Week, we've decided to sit down and have a chat with some of our current, fantastic volunteers!
Today we sat down with Mike, who is currently undertaking our Screen Access Program - and is enjoying every minute of it.
Before Mike began his journey in the media industry, he was a high school teacher, until he decided to make a change and shift careers. Mike graduated from RMIT with a Diploma of Screen Media last year and began to build his portfolio through volunteering for various productions inside and outside of C31.
Mike worked on many RMITV shows both throughout his course and after he graduated. He also worked on many C31 externally produced shows, including King TV, Bumper 2 Bumper and Oz African TV and on the live set of Talking Fishing.
It was on the set of Talking Fishing that Mike heard about our Screen Access Program and was accepted into the team in early March.
Since then, Mike has worked in various capacities as a camera operator and editor on various C31 productions, such as Octane, Small Biz Big Ideas, Best 5 in 5, Broadcast Radio Australia as well as commercial work for Vision Australia.
Since volunteering in our Screen Access Program, Mike has moved into a paid freelancer role with C31, to help produce content for a variety of different small-business and non-profit clients.
"Volunteering has given me hands on experience and a way to trial different roles", Mike said. "It’s also a way to find where your passions and strengths lie and to see if you fit into a culture of a company."
Furthermore, Mike stated that "Volunteering for C31 has a wholesomeness to it, it has shown me that there are people who are passionate about niche areas of the media industry. C31 also encourages the community to create content in a grassroots fashion and I’m glad to be a part of an organisation that encourages that."
Without dedicated and passionate volunteers like Mike, C31 would struggle to survive. The C31 team strive to create a low-risk, high-reward environment for people at any stage in their media career, and we're glad that we could offer these opportunities to Mike.
If you're interested in joining Mike as a part of the C31 production team, join our Production Noticeboard on Facebook.