Careers & Internships

At Access 21, we train residents in television production, offer studio and editing facilities for the residents’ use, and allot channel time for the residents to cablecast their programs. We also provide a podcasting studio for residents to use to produce podcasts under the Access 21 umbrella. The internship will consist of working in each of these components along with some exposure to some administrative and internal production work (The intern will complete a promotional video over the course of the internship). This is a hands-on internship. We are not news media. As a small nonprofit organization, we are unable to offer any pay or stipend.

The successful candidate will have some experience with video production as well as the concepts and philosophies of media communication. An ability to work with diverse people is imperative. Familiarity with public access would be a benefit, but not a requirement. Experience with Final Cut Pro is helpful. A professional approach to the duties and position is required. Watch our internship promo video to learn more.

Eric Cunningham-operating studio camera

Experience Gained:

  • Training/Teaching

  • Studio Camera

  • Floor Directing

  • Studio Lighting

  • Audio

  • Character Generator (Graphics)

  • Studio Directing/Tech. Directing

  • DSLR Camera

  • Podcasting

  • Editing (Final Cut Pro X)

  • Playback Programming

  • Customer Service

Woman operating audio board

How to Apply

Send resume and letter to:

James Rossi
CMPAC Operations Manager
613 Calvert Street
Charlotte, NC 28208

E-Mail: [email protected]

We offer unpaid internships each Fall, Spring, and Summer. Application deadlines are typically 6-8 weeks ahead of the projected start of each internship. Call us for more details: 704-377-8988

Frequently Asked Questions

No. We are a small non-profit, and unfortunately, we can not offer any payment or stipend at this time. We do think the hands-on experience of our internship helps make our internship attractive.

Our philosophy with the internship, and learning in general, is that getting your hands on the equipment, especially in real situations, is the ultimate way to learn. There are aspects of each position, or piece of equipment, that really can’t be fully expressed and obtained through reading or listening to a lecture. We will train you on our equipment and in each position, but the bulk of the internship is aimed for working on productions and projects.

As a Public Access TV Channel, most of the productions here are created by our community producers, so they vary depending on the specific interests of each producer. About 60% of our programming is religious in nature, but we also have talk shows, music programs, and educational programs. Many of your fellow crew members will be regular community members who are volunteering their time to help the member producers realize their goal of having a TV show.

We do not do news. Through our internship, you will get to learn different aspects of production and particularly equipment used in a typical television studio. If you are looking to be a crew person in news, this could be helpful as it will expose you to some of the basic equipment. If you are looking to be an on-air news person, we would not recommend this internship.

Experiences do vary day-to-day, but you may find yourself working on a television production (camera, lighting, audio, graphics, etc.), hosting or engineering a podcast, helping with or sitting in on some of our classes, troubleshooting or maintaining the equipment, or working on your video project (writing, shooting, and editing).

Fall internships run from late August to early December (15 weeks) Spring internships run from late January to early May (15 weeks) Summer internships run from mid-May to early August (12 weeks)

Interested in producing your own show or podcast? Do you dream about being in front of a camera or working behind the scenes?