Director's assistant
Tiana Edmonds' Bachelor of Arts gave her the practical experience she needed to land her job with Mediaworks.
Key facts
Career: Director's assistant
Programme: Bachelor of Arts
Subjects: Media, Film and Television; Māori Studies
"I'm a directors assistant for Mediaworks and help produce some of their studio shows for Three, including Newshub, Prime News, The AM Show, The Nation and Hui.
"My role is to work with the producers and director to get the show bulletins ready and prepped for live to air.
"Physically being in the control room and getting the show on air is by far the best part of my job. And when there's breaking news whilst on air it is a crazy ball of adrenaline.
"I had literally already learned how to do this job through one of the practical courses I took during my BA. This course gave me a good general knowledge of the role and studio/control room protocols.
"If you're thinking about working in media/film/television, there are practical courses in your second and third years that give you the experience you need for this industry.
"You can also mix it up a bit and study some other things that interest you also — for me this was continuing my Māori studies, picking up Spanish as a new language and getting some music and anthropology in there also.
"The lecturers in the Faculty of Arts are awesome, and they'll go out of their way to help you out."