HIGH POINT, N.C., July 27, 2015 – Zac Gaetano, a rising junior at High Point University, is producing sports news programming for Comcast Sports Network this summer. The communication-electronic media major from Ellicott City, Maryland, is an engineering intern for the network, assisting the production team with in-studio and field coverage.
As a member of the engineering team, he supports all of the personnel and functions behind the production of the network’s broadcasts. He’s learned how to operate and maintain the studio, editing, IT and transmission equipment as well as the production truck and location equipment packages. Before the summer ends, his experience will also include working on the broadcast of live NFL preseason football.
“I have been exposed to many different aspects of technical production,” Gaetano says. “A highlight was the unexpected privilege of training under a top Sony instructor on how to use the latest and greatest switcher. I have been able to familiarize myself with many levels of technology, whether it’s cameras involved with production or the transmission racks involved with getting the picture on the air.”
Last summer, Gaetano was a production assistant for hit televisions series “House of Cards.” His internships are putting skills he developed at HPU to good use and preparing him for a career that could take him in many different directions, perhaps directing a major motion picture or technical directing the Super Bowl.
“I took an independent study course last semester that allowed me to write and direct a short film. That has been the greatest help to me with this internship,” Gaetano says. “That experience taught me to think quickly on my feet and keep production running smoothly no matter what – words to live by in this business.”
For now, he’s on location covering Washington Redskins training camp, but Gaetano says he expects the best is yet to come.