My First Real TV Job

Well, I call it my first real tv job. It was my senior year in high school; my parents moved to a town called Valdosta, GA. The tv bug bite was still itching pretty bad. In fact, so bad that I somehow got brochures sent to me from Frontline Commuications about their live trucks and one, as well, from BAF which is another manufacturere of live trucks. I would look at them all the time. How weird is that?

Since it was all I could think about, I was determined to somehow become part of the tv news business. I figured that I would call around and see if they would take a high school intern. If I only knew then what I know now, I would have never made the call. However, the sucky part was that little ole Valdosta did not really have a tv station. BUT, two tv stations from different markets had bureaus in Valdosta so I grabbed a phone book and made calls. The first one I called was WCTV 6 which was based out of Talahasse, FL. The guy, Brian Shumans, said he would have to get back to me because he did not know station policy. I took that as a "get lost kid, I'm in tv and don't have time for you!" So I called the other tv station. It was WALB TV 10 based out of Albany, GA. I called the number listed in the phone book. The gentleman answered, "Newscenter 10 Valdosta Bureau." His name was Greg Loyd. He was the sole reporter based in Valdosta. I gave him my proposal of wanting to come and work with him learning to be a photog. Boy was I surprised at his answer.

To be continued.........