Since launching our Reconciliation Action Plan, Paramount has secured an ongoing partnership with Career Trackers, a national program that creates paid internship opportunities for Indigenous students that create lasting employment opportunities.
Recently, we were joined by two awesome interns – Joshua Medra (working with the Marketing team) and Will Shepherd (working with the Social team).
The Water Cooler caught up with Josh and Will this week to find out a bit more about our new additions!
Tell us a bit about yourself. Give us the Josh Medra story!
My name is Joshua Medra and I am a Gunditjmara man from Melbourne. I am currently completing my Bachelor of Business (Marketing) at RMIT, where I will be graduating at the end of this year. During my career I have worked in the public service, and in hospitality, where I worked at one of the worlds best hotels. I am very passionate about sports and entertainment, these interests led me back into the classroom to follow a career in Marketing. My father is from Bali, Indonesia. I have been lucky to grow up with strong cultural values. I love to do things for my family over there and always love a trip to Bali.
Why did you want to intern with Paramount?
Being passionate about sports and entertainment, the opportunity to work at a network which specialises in both arenas was super appealing to me. With the rise of streaming and on demand TV, combined with the chance to get involved with some of the sport projects within the company has been something I am super excited for and have enjoyed thoroughly. Working with the team in Melbourne, being back in the office after a couple years in the classroom, has been refreshing to say the least! I am super happy to be given the opportunity and to bring something new to the team.
How has your experience been so far?
My experience has been great. I have been welcomed with open arms into the company, and it is great to get an insight of what goes on behind the scenes within the studios. Everyone has been super nice and welcoming and I cant thank them enough. It is great to be guided by those who have similar career aspirations.
What areas are you most interested in?
I am enjoying my time in the Marketing team, its been great to work with those in the other states, to see all the great work that is done to keep viewers engaged and excited about upcoming events on the Network. With Paramount being a global company, I am also interested in all the activities that are happening internationally, such as the launch of Paramount+ overseas.
What do you love to do outside of work?
I am heavy sports fan, there is only a handful of sports I don’t watch. My favourites are NBA, AFL, Combat Sports and Football (Soccer) 😝. I am also a heavy music fan, I have played the drums since I was young. Spending time with my family, especially my 90 year old grandmother who has been an influential person in my life.
What shows are you loving at the moment?
I am super keen for Hunted! A big star wars fan, so I have been all over the new Obi Wan series. Since I have been at the Network I have been watching The Project (Mum and Sister are big fans) and Cheap Seats!
Give us the Will Shepherd story!
I was born in Armidale in 2002 as the youngest of four. When I was in year three, I moved to Newcastle and finished school there in 2020.
At the moment, I’m living on campus in Camperdown, and I’m in my second year studying Arts in Philosophy and History, which I’m really enjoying. This is my third internship, and my favourite so far.
Why did you want to intern with Paramount?
Having done two internships for the state government already, I now know that career isn’t for me.
I chose to do arts at university because I have a passion for writing and naturally this relates to media and journalism.
Working for somewhere like Paramount has always been a goal of mine so I can see if a career in media or journalism is what I want to do in the long-term. Besides career reasons, interning for a media company is so interesting. To see the behind-the-scenes process of television and social media is super interesting, fun and exciting.
How has your experience been so far?
My experience so far has been great. I’m in my second week now and I’m enjoying every day more and more. Particularly, I’m enjoying being in the social media team, everyone is so friendly and helpful, and are always up for a coffee. I’m also really loving the work and the skills I’ve already gained in video editing and photoshop.
What areas are you most interested in?
I’m really interested in both the social media side and the journalistic sides of the internship. Learning how to edit videos and photos is great and seeing how to engage with audiences online is super interesting. I’d also like to explore the journalistic side of the company and do some writing and research.
What do you love to do outside of work?
I really love music. All through school I played in the orchestra and jazz bands. I’ve played the trumpet since I was about 10 and I’ve played the guitar for about six years as well. At the moment I don’t play too much trumpet, but I do play quite a lot of guitar.
I also watch quite a lot of footy, and I go for the Knights!
What shows are you loving at the moment?
I’ve been watching quite a bit of The Cheap Seats after dinner.
Having edited snippets of Five Bedrooms over the past week, I might start watching that!
I recently watched the Elvis at the movies which was insanely good, and I recommend it highly.
