The makings of a ​production coordinator

Sarah Barlow

I have recently been notified of an ​upcoming opportunity at T-​Mobile in Bellevue, Washington. A ​production coordinator role will ​be opening soon, and I want to ​showcase why I would be an ​excellent fit for this position. ​Beyond my passion for ​storytelling, and my degrees in ​strategic communications, I also ​have firsthand experience of ​corporate production at T-Mobile.

experience

In the summer of 2022, I took part in the T-Mobile internship program. I ​was assigned to the Senior Leadership Production team as a ​production assistant. Immediately within my first few days in the role, I ​was assigned to a large production for the Equity in Action plan at T-​Mobile. This production included several dozen colleagues from T-​Mobile and it highlighted their inclusion of several varieties of ​disabilities. Several of the talent were deaf, one was blind and another ​was both deaf and blind. This production not only tested my abilities to ​adapt to a new environment of working on sets, but it also challenged ​my ability to adapt to an even more challenging environment to ​consider the needs of those with disabilities. Throughout the ​production I was responsible for clearing the routes for the sets, ​because we were using the Bellevue campus, transporting valuable ​equipment from location to location, and tending to the needs of the ​talent like providing meals and a safe location to store their belongings. ​By the end of the production, I was exhausted but exhilarated. I had ​completed my first day in the production field, and I was ready and ​eager for more.

“Storytelling is the ​most powerful way to ​put ideas in the world”

-Robert Mckee

Each intern was required to complete a project ​during the duration of the internship. My mentor ​assigned me the responsibility to spearheading ​the intern headshot production. There was a total ​of almost 200 interns present at the Bellevue ​campus, and each of them were given the ​opportunity to have our production team take ​their professional headshots for future use. I was ​responsible for making sure the production went ​off without a hitch. This meant creating and ​distributing the call sheets for my team, ​reserving our studio for a multi-day production, ​managing the floor and talent during the ​productions, and ensuring all photos that were ​gathered were organized and distributed back to ​the interns.

By the end of the summer, I had assisted with ​countless productions ranging from interviews of ​Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile and Marcus East, ​former Chief Digital Officer, to T-Mobile Business ​productions with Apple. I learned how to create ​and distribute call sheets and manage triaging ​upcoming projects. My team introduced me to ​lighting and managing audio for a set, and ensuring ​that all talent is comfortable and taken care of. ​Most of all, my team at T-Mobile made a ​tremendous impact on my confidence on a set, ​and provided me with the foundation to further my ​production career. You couldn’t ask for a more ​dedicated and passionate individual to re-join the ​T-Mobile team as a production coordinator.

Get in ​touch