Introduction:
Initially turned down for the Quiksilver Pro Journalism internship I was pleasantly surprised to receive an E-mail from Bevan Bache, the Humanities Administration Manager of Griffith University, a day before the Quiksilver Pro was to begin (1st March, 2014). The E-mail said that there was a new position available in the internship, and although I would not be working with the media team at the event I would still be getting priceless, first-hand experience in the field. I would be working as a Production Assistant (I found out what that actually entailed throughout the event) for the duration of the event. Told I would be starting at 5:30am every morning for the entirety of the Pro I decided that this would be to big of a hassle travelling every day from Brisbane where I live. Therefore I decided to drive to my Mums house the night before the beginning and commute from her house in Murwillumbah as it was 30mins closer and I would be getting free food from home! Originally worried that it would be a waste of my time as I would miss the first two weeks of University, I straight away realized that I made the right decision in taking the internship. And so my first internship began!
Day 1 – Sunday 2nd March, 2014:
Due to the 1 hour time difference between Queensland and New South Wales, I was able to have an extra hour of sleep every morning which was a blessing. Up at 530am New South Wales time meant that I had an hour to get to the event by 530am Queensland time. Arriving on time and struggling for a park I managed to find Bevan and the other interns in the Rainbow Bay Surf Club having an early breakfast. Bevan quickly gave me a run down on what I would be doing and where I’d be stationed. I was also introduced to the Quiksilver Pro Co-ordinator, Kate. She seemed very nice and she also gave me a brief run down on what my internship would entail and introduced me to a few of the other team members. I was lucky enough to be starting on a day where the surf was quite good and Round 1 of the men’s would be running. I was thrown straight into it.
Still oblivious to what a Production Assistant actually was, I soon find out. I would be looking over large chunks of footage that was brought in each hour or two by cameramen and cutting out the key sections. I was told by Chris, the head of the Association of Professional Surfers Production Unit who was a really helpful nice guy, that I would be mainly just cutting the highlights, interviews and really just the “best bits” from the heats. Chris also showed me how to monetize the advertisements so that they couldn’t be stolen by viewers on-line. It was quite overwhelming to begin with as I had absolutely no experience. However by the end of the day I had got the hang of it and was doing fine. Dave Prodan, VP of Communications for ASP was also sending me direct E-mails throughout the duration of the day letting me know what parts they wanted cut and I soon realized that was I was cutting was going directly onto the ASP online highlights page. It was initially checked by Dave quickly but once I had the hang of it, it was going straight up. No pressure!
The work was quite enjoyable as I am an avid surfer and all I was doing was watching the worlds best surfers surf all day. Plus everyday at lunch time the Rainbow Bay kitchen would provide everyone working with a delicious lunch for free! In between editing heats and sifting through footage I was able to sneak out and even watch the heats live and take a few photos. It was a good start to the internship. Below is a few photos I managed to get on the first day.
Day 2 – Monday 3rd March, 2014:
Still not used to the early starts, I arrived about half an hour late. However the event had been put on hold for two hours so it didn’t matter at all. I took this opportunity to have a coffee, fully wake up, and take a few more photos of the worlds best surfers tearing apart the Snapper Rocks lineup. I got back to the Production shed to learn that the event would be on hold for another couple of hours and then they would be running the Women’s Roxy Pro Round 2. I had missed the first round because I was a late inclusion into the internship team. Another two hours to kill, I grabbed my board and went for a sneaky wave at Duranbah, just around the corner. The rest of the day was very similar to day one except the Women were surfing, not the men. I was set up with a computer and told to cut the videos basically the same. However Ziul Andueza, the ASP heat analyser manager, came down to the shed and informed me that I would need to just clip out the entire heat from now on. I would also need to make sure to get as few advertisements in the clip as possible as viewers were complaining about the constant stream of ads. He was a lovely guy who praised me on the job I was doing.
Below is an E-mail from Ziul during one of the busier days, instructing me on what he wanted for that specific day.
Day 3 – Tuesday 4th March, 2014:
I was unable to work on the Tuesday as previously mentioned to Bevan before I said I could take the internship. I had a job interview in Brisbane at 12 so I would be away all day. Luckily I got the job! However I missed a very entertaining day of women’s surfing. Some touted it as the “best competitive women’s surfing day ever seen”. A bit disappointing but I wasn’t too fazed.
Day 4 – Wednesday 5th March, 2014:
Back at Mums house following my job interview in Brisbane, I left early again ready for another day. However I was told on arrival by Chris that it could be an early morning for me. The surf was on hold until 11 as it was quite windy and the swell had dropped. As 11 came around the ASP Head Commissioner Kieren Perrow decided that neither the Quiksilver Mens or the Roxy Womens would be running for the day. This was the first of many lay days to come.
Day 5 – Thursday 6th March, 2014:
Similar to the day before, I had another reasonably early start but managed to sneakily sleep in for a while longer as I had a pretty good idea that the event would be called off again or at the very least would be starting later. Arriving at around 7 I was again told by Chris that I would most likely be receiving another early mark. Chris was right of course and the event was deemed a ‘lay day’ and postponed until Friday. I talked to Chris for a while about his job and whether or not he enjoyed it. Chris and the other three guys in the shed all stated that they loved their job as it allowed them to travel around the world to destinations such as Australia, Fiji, Hawaii and France and watch surfing. They also outlined how they all loved to surf. An interesting thing that I noticed while working the event was the immense number of ASP team members from the USA. Chris and I were the only two Australians in the production team.
Day 6 – Friday 7th March, 2014:
Again, up early to drive to the event to find out its ANOTHER lay day. I decided that because it was a lay day and I was already on the Gold Coast, I would try and get to University for a few hours. However on this day they had the event on stand-by until 12 so I had to hang around until 12 to find out that they in fact were still not going to run the event that day and by that time all my classes were over.
Day 7 – Saturday 8th March, 2014:
Would you believe it? Another lay day. By this stage I was beginning to get a little annoyed just because I was wasting petrol driving to and from the event for no reason at all. However I knew that I had to be there bright and early just in case they did decide to run it. So I had no choice but to keep it up.
Day 8 – Sunday 9th March, 2014:
A bit second hand from the night before (friends 21st in Surfers) I arrived at the event on time hoping for a lay day for once. I was granted my wish, however again I had to hang around until 1 to hear the call that it would be another lay day. The event was scheduled to finish on the 12th which was the Wednesday, therefore the topic of discussion in the shed was had the organisers left enough time to finish off both the men’s and women’s in the allotted time.
Day 9 – Monday 10th March, 2014:
FINALLY! The surf was up and running. Men’s Round 3 would be on! You could sense in everyone’s attitude and demeanour that they were stoked that it wouldn’t be another lay day. Could the ASP Head Commission Kieren Perrow fit the rest of the men’s surfing and the finals of the women into three days? We were about to find out.
I was again assigned cutting and editing duties by the team. I was happy to do it, and I now felt fully comfortable with what I was doing. I was receiving frantic E-mails from the ASP Analyser manager Ziul again, getting me to cut this and that for the team. The surf was very good this day, and the entire team was glued to the television. Round 3 was completed without a hitch, and the word at the end of the day was that they would run the start of the men’s finals tomorrow and then have both the Roxy Pro Champion and the Quiksilver Pro Champion crowned on the Wednesday if mother nature would co-operate. Below is another few photos I managed to get during Round 3.
Day 10 – Tuesday 11th March, 2014:
Day 10 begun like every other day. Up early, driving to the event half asleep, hoping that the surfing would be pumping and on. It was. Day 10 saw the completion of Round 4 and Round 5 of the men’s. It was an action packed day, and the beach was absolutely jam-packed with spectators. There were several upsets with Kelly Slater being knocked out of the competition and also Mick Fanning. However the day was the same as every other day for me. Editing and cutting footage and posting it directly to ASP while keeping one eye on the television screen watching the heats. There was a lot of playful banter between the Americans and Chris and I. It was a good atmosphere and work environment, and I felt very comfortable. As the day drew to a close we all realised that tomorrow was going to be the best day of all.
Day 11 – Wednesday 12th March, 2014:
The final day arrived like the rest, except I was leaving mums house and knowing I would be heading straight onto Brisbane once the day was over. The event had flown by, even with the five lay days in the middle. As I was driving to Tweed Heads I started to get very excited for the day to come, and hopeful that maybe an Aussie could take it out. I also began to think how lucky I was to land an internship at one of the best surf competitions in the world.
Finals day did not disappoint. We were flat out all day, and it was by far the longest day of the event for me. I arrived at 630 and didn’t leave until 7 that night. I clipped all the men’s finals and all the women’s. Stephanie Gilmore won the women’s in an epic heat and Gabriel Medina triumphed over Joel Parkinson. I, and several other ASP team members believed that Medina was very lucky.
The reason for Finals day being so long was because they ran both the Finals of the Roxy Pro and the Finals of the Quiksilver Pro. And of course, following the Finals was the presentations. The presentations took quite a while and I had to stay to clip them out as well. Once finished Chris, the rest of the Production crew and I had a few cold beers and reflected on the event. Overall the final day was, in one word, EPIC.
Below is the both final E-mail I received from Ziul and a few snaps of Gabriel Medina during the presentation. Ziul seemed happy with my efforts and the entire efforts of the team and he stated that he hoped I could come back the following year.
Conclusion:
Overall, I was extremely glad I was given the opportunity to do this internship. Although I missed some important University lectures and tutorials I feel that it was definitely worth it. I not only managed to gain some great first hand experience, but I also made some good contacts with ASP. I can think of no better place or organisation to work for than ASP, travelling the globe following the surfing competitions. What a life! Maybe one day in the future I would be lucky enough to get a job like that.
As previously mentioned, I was initially disheartened that I would not be working directly with the media team throughout the event as I am doing a Bachelor of Journalism. However I still managed to get an understanding of how the event is run from behind the scenes and I learnt a lot of production skills which is still a pivotal part of media coverage.
Jack Davison 