As part of my recent US trip I ended up in Dallas Producing GOD TV’s LIVE coverage of the Teen Mania Battlecry event – an event that I have to say is outstanding.
I have worked a number of times over the past 2 years with Teen Mania and have ALWAYS been impressed by the standards of what they do and the quality of the people involved – from the top of the organisation all the way down to those with the most menial of tasks.
In the UK over the past couple of years within television there has been a big debate raging over the “slave labour” issue of work experience training etc. where people are brought on for extended periods of “training” expected to do the same kind of work as those being paid – but get treated like slaves. I’ve never quite had a peace on the issue of this and the more I hang around Teen Mania the less I have. Let me tell you why.
From what I know most of the people involved in the events that Teen Mania put on (I’m talking specifically on the Production side) are effectively students who actually pay to attend a 2 year training course at the Centre of Creative Media (www.centerforcreativemedia.com) on Teen Mania’s campus in Texas. As part of this training course they are deployed on Teen Mania’s events (such as Battlecry) to run cameras, assist on sound etc. and in fact bar a small team of “professionals” they run the show – staffing pretty well every area. It’s interesting that despite these kids (most I would say are under 25) working like dogs almost every weekend – Teen Mania often will run 40 odd events per year across the US – I have rarely ever seen or heard a complaint out of them. In fact if anything totally the opposite – it is usually the case that NOTHING is too hard or too much for them – their desire to serve AND learn is incredible – FAR surpassing that of most people I work with who are PAID to do the job. Why is this? Is it because they know they will get a great job at the end? Is it because they are crazy? What is the reason?
Well the first thing is that there are NO guarantees they will get jobs at the end – although many do, in fact I understand their hit rate is VERY high. Also they are not crazy, in fact most I have met are incredibly good, stable kids – BUT they have a passion for Media and for God and want to find a way to work that out.
They really are a breath of fresh air and I love being around them and working with them – BUT is it slave labour? There is no doubt that Teen Mania probably couldn’t do half the stuff they do without their reliance on their “students” as it would cost them a fortune to replace them with paid staff – so in that sense maybe it is slave labour. However for me the major difference between what these guys do and the usual work experience scenario is that they genuinely receive GREAT on the job experience and training AND also have REAL responsibility in the productions – they are not there just to get the coffee – though I must say they do that very well too.
I have been incredibly impressed by the way the students work, behave and their skills – they really do seem to have a great REAL understanding of the industry and unlike most people in the UK who come out of “Media College” with NO grasp of the real world and the pressures of deadlines, budgets etc. these guys are well trained and equipped for the future.
Perhaps we need to change our practises when it comes to work experience etc in the UK and start offering a solution more akin to the Centre of Creative Media – PARTICULARLY for those of us in the Christian Media scene who are not just looking for capable people BUT also fully committed Disciples of Jesus – this would be a great solution for our dearth of staff in the UK and would also provide a much needed “youth” injection into our organisations and ministries. I don’t think at the moment any of our organisations are big enough to do this by ourselves BUT I wonder if we could do something collectively with the right structure and training in place – we all need new younger trained staff, grounded in the Gospel and this could provide a solution – what do you think?
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Hi All
Jon Bellamy (from Cross Rhythms) sent this to me by e-mail - worth you all seeing it.
When I started at Cross Rhythms I was a volunteer. It wasnt even for work experience or training, but although I didnt get paid if it wasnt for being there I would not have come into what I believe is God's call for my life. The way I see it, you cant serve God and Mammon, and if we only weigh things up and make our decisions based on Mammon's voice we will miss the greater gains that God may do in our lives. I saw it as a call as I was seeking to do what God wanted and be where God wanted me to be. By trying to make my decisions based on God's voice I wasnt weighing them based on Mammon's voice, and how much I 'should' get paid.
As such I came into the call for my life.
This verse to me talks of the benefit to a God focussed worldview rather than a Mammon focussed worldview: 1 Timothy 6:6-10, "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content."
Anyway, just to say that the kind of Training Centre you are describing we are loking to develop at Cross Rhythms. We are inviting the first 7 or 8 interns to join us from September for a combination of hands on involvement in the life of the ministry, specific training seminars and sessions, and living in community with myself and Heather, with a focus on character and discipleship. We will be trialing it for three months and hoping to keep developing it from there. It will be called Cross Rhythms Media Training Community.
If you come across anyone who may be interested in this then let them know!
Jon Bellamy
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