administrative assistant

MTV Networks

A typical day at work would consist of me scouting locations via Google and various other search engines, for filming segments, for a plethora of productions. While at MTV I learned a great amount of how things work in production, producing and coordinating. I learned how to properly write and critique scripts, I learned the proper paper work needed to to get clearance when wanting to film somewhere, getting celebrity clearance, music clearance etc. One of my favorite things about working for MTV was my co-workers and bosses were all really enjoyable to be around. Everyone worked extremely hard, but the atmosphere was always laid back. Everyone gave me good conversation, and sometimes myself and my co-workers would hang out outside of work so I feel that strengthened our working relationships. The hardest part of the job was when I had to be on set 15+ hours five days a week. Sometimes it could get tiring but I love what I do. The most enjoyable part of the job is working in a field I am enthused about, and loving the fact I can work in a field where the growth potential is almost inevitable depending on how hard you work. Lastly I love that many of my bosses were very patient and would answer all the questions I had regarding areas of production I was unsure about. From the producers and directors I've worked for, I have always had interest in their jobs. They would always take the time to answer any questions I had and explain in detail the requirements. I loved every part of MTV

Have you seen The Devil Wears Prada? That was my life for 5 years, only my bosses were amazing and I'm red head. The management was as rewarding as they were demanding. Specifically, I often worked until 9 or 10pm when award shows (VMA's, Movie Awards, etc...) were in season, but I got to travel to the shows (LA mostly) and work with the production teams at the big award show venues. I am still close with my boss and the reason for leaving was mostly because I outgrew the position and my boss left the company (Viacom) after my 3rd year, so I had to start over as an assistant with another executive (Jeannie Scalzo). I got an internship in Costa Rica and left the job to pursue that and accelerated my masters degree at Columbia to finish earlier and focus on my studies. I was working full time and going to school for the first half of my journey at the Columbia School of Journalism. I worked with some of the entertainment industry's most talented, spirited and creative people--most of whom I am still in touch and have included into my personal life as close friends.

• Recruit for candidates through taleo software, on campus recruitment and networking events
• Prescreen, interview and place candidates for all of MTV Networks/Viacom Corporate
• Facilitate with planning of both internal and external events related to human resources, including but not limited to, new hire orientation, intern forums, and work life balance events
• Assist in maintaining relationships with interns, external organizations, internal staff, colleges/universities
• Manage employee relation issues
• Handle Human Resource systems with administration and policy and procedure development
• Track employees through PeopleSoft and SharePoint
• Improve current employee benefit programs and launch new employee benefits.
• Participation in leadership initiatives
• Conduct reference checks for verification
• Prepare new hire paperwork
• Prepare and process workers compensation, unemployment, and disability paperwork
• Participate in Human Resource meetings
• Schedule final candidates for in-person interviews with Human Resource recruiters, director and senior vice president
• Growing knowledge of Federal, State and Local employment laws
• Respectfully maintains employee confidentiality

Producing for MTV's Springfix 2013 was a different experience because it wasn't your typical lets film at the "Trendy Spring Break Hotspot". The direction MTV went for was to bring together college students from around the country who were willing to trade in their spring break to volunteer at different sites where Hurricane Sandy destroyed. Also creating a concert that featured, Sammy Adams, Timeflies, and NE-YO. 

The Project was 3 weeks of work. 

First week was prepping and casting, task include looking over video auditions, building stories for the ones who were chosen, and creating groups to different locations around the NJ/NY areas. 

Second week was getting equipment rented and geared up for the week of filming. Creating styles and techniques to fit the format of the show. Working with our sponsors on innovative ways to integrate their products into the program. Group meetings in the writing room discussing concert and musician questions. 

Third week was all filming with the students as they help with the relief for Hurricane Sandy. Capturing testimonials, emotional life changing events in the lives of the students and putting an amazing concert together for the relief.

Inept management with serious ego throughout the org. Massive layoffs and hirings throughout the year, every year, because of myopic, dated ad revenue model. Hard to reconcile America's highest-paid CEO's salary with this level of mismanagement and lack of vision.

Highly political, fear-driven culture where change is impossible. Hard to cross pollinate with peers in other groups which is a huge loss. Talent tends to be mediochre, uninspiring to work with and comes from similar old school media companies, which doesn't help with fresh blood/new ideas either.

The only thing keeping anyone there are the benefits and bonuses (full timers only) or if they're into seeing Jersey Shore cast in the elevators.

Careful about the terms of your offer - if you're freelance or "permalance" you may not even get paid, ever. They treat outside vendors terribly as well.

When I first started working for MTV it was a fun creative company that believed in the value and diversity of it's employees. The staff felt great love and loyalty to the company and on most days looked forward to going to work.

In the last few years the culture has changed dramatically from creative to strictly business oriented. In my opinion, it seemed that someone higher up tried to fix something that wasn't broken. The focus became how to get/ make more money, instead of creating innovative content and sending the right message. The morale was at an all time low when I left and those that stayed behind have nothing but complaints about the current culture.

Isn't the reason why this company was so successful for decades was because of it's innovation and creativity? Wasn't it the love and loyalty of the employees what made it a great place to work and therefore a great brand?

When most of the original people that created MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon find reasons to leave after being there 10, 20, 30 years you have to wonder why.

MTV Networks was my home for over twelve years.

I started my career in the MTV Tape Library.From there i worked at VH1 for the Vogue Fashion Awards live show. Having it been a two month project, i quickly found myself landing a PA job at MTV on air promos. And the sky was the limit from there. I learned how to edit by staying after work and going in on the weekends. I was quickly promoted to Jr Editor. I assisted a Senior Editor on multiple episodic's on a weekly basis. Some of them were The Real World, Road Rules, to name a few. From there i went into the Producer world. My first month was consisted of some heavy hitters - Video Music Awards was the first. Needless to say, I handled everyone with attention to detail and i had pulled through. From there i started producing different genres of spots. From tours, to PSA, campaigns, image spots, contests, radio, movie promotion, etc. I was then promoted to Associate Producer and then finally Producer.

MTV Networks brings creativity and promise to those who look for it.

Try and try and it will pay off.

One of a kind experience that only a handful of people have been lucky enough to have.  I advanced from being an intern for 2 years up through senior director of programmer of the channel.  That's the equivalent of the biggest radio station in the world (at least back then!).  I was also lucky enough to be there during a time of resurrection of corporate and commercial music.  Britney, Xtina, Backstreet, N'Snc, Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit, etc.  A typical day was spent programming the next days programming, tomorrow's TRL countdown or perhaps that weekends 120 Minutes.  The studio was always a daily stop as well.  Spending time with the guests was very obviously quite important.  I learned more than I can type here.  My co-workers are still lifelong friends.  We were in the trenches together and worked 18 days!  It's hard to forget that.  Mgmt was exceptional, kind and complimentary.  I miss the place and those times all the time.

MTV News pushed me harder than any workplace I've been at so far, which at times was great — we had access to incredible resources, talent, and opportunities, and I produced some of my best work there. However, I was also hired as a permanent full time freelance employee with no job security and no health benefits, which was a constant source of stress, particularly when coupled with long hours and a large corporate office culture that seemed cool on the surface but felt extremely alienating at times. 

Ironically, just after our team was told we were bringing in the most web traffic of any department, the entire site was restructured and the majority of us were laid off. I'm sure the culture of the place is entirely different now, but if they still aren't giving ALL their employees health benefits then I'd say don't bother.

• Interfaced and maintained connectivity of G5 Macs with DV, Digibeta and Betacam decks and external hard drives via FireWire and Ethernet in a full post- production studio.
• Supervised satellite transcoded, Internet, broadcast and test-footage transmissions via Mac and Windows of PAL and NTSC footage.
• Edited, color corrected and applied bit/ frame rate adjustment to telecined footage with Final Cut Pro and After Effects. Improved settings for telecined footage with vendor.
• Encoded and transcoded footage on Mac platforms with Compressor, Quicktime and MEncoder to H.264, MPEG2/ 4 and Betacam output formats.
• Managed project communications requirements and communications between production offices. Streamlined communications using VoIP telephony and AppleShare.

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