Jeffrey Gothard
Media Design Production Specialist
Santa Ana Unified School District
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
First I loved photography and making movies even as a kid. Read everything about photography / film.
Built a movie theatre in my garage (age 11), started a magazine about what we were showing there.
Joined a Media Task Force workshop in NYC, learning from pros about film and photography.
Moved to Hollywood as a teen, went to Hollywood High School, learned more from film classes and life.
Started an independent magazine called Young People's Informer, wrote a lot and took photos.
Graduated high school and went to community college for Journalism and Business.
Went to Cal State Fullerton for TV film degree and teaching credential.
Worked in school as an internship, got hired, then became manager of the district TV channel.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Hollywood
Hollywood
Career
Media Design Production Specialist
I create video and multimedia for a large urban school district and operate their cable TV channel.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Television
Education
Communicating / Sharing Stories
Day to Day
Students shadowing me might see me traveling to a location or school site interviewing students, teachers, parents, school administrators or community members about issues and topics related to education. They also may be watching me set up a video shoot in our green screen studio with the superintendent of Santa Ana Schools, or other major education stakeholders. They might see me doing really boring stuff like scheduling the programs that run on our 24 hour cable TV channel.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for middle school students
Get as much time with cameras as possible. Work on the newspaper or blog at your school. Write ALL THE TIME. Get as much journalism practice as you can. Join a video or film club on your campus, or take video workshops outside of school and make movies with friends as much as you can, even with your phone. Watch TV and movies and think about why they are good or not. Play and have fun with all kinds of media and web video.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Teachers:
"You are a poor kid with limited resources...good luck becoming a media specialist. Where will you get the money to do a creative career? The competition is fierce. (Half of this noise was in my own head, and no one even said anything)"
Challenges I Overcame
Financial
