Georgia County Internship Spotlight

Lewis’ internship included many firsts: her first involvement with local government, her first documentary, and her first time in Monroe County. Lewis, who is not originally from Georgia, had limited time to explore the state outside of college. However, she did not let her inexperience limit her and instead took on the challenge to learn as much as she could about the county and its residents. 

Before beginning filming, Lewis completed over two weeks of dedicated research and planning. Her supervisor, county grant specialist Tammy Selman, helped Lewis get her bearings and introduced her to essential contacts around the county. Though Selman provided some direction throughout the internship, she noted that Lewis "really took charge" of the work and pushed herself to meet with "all types of people."

As filming began, Lewis clearly understood her direction and goal for the final film. What initially felt like a daunting challenge – encompassing the history of a county and its residents in a 20-minute short – grew more manageable as Lewis decided to concentrate on individual stories. “I wanted to give subjects a chance to tell their story and perspective on the county and its history," she said. Through her research, Lewis said she learned Monroe is "very big on community and taking care of all the people who live there." She hoped that focusing on individual stories and voices would best represent the county and the history of its people over time.

During filming, Lewis interviewed over 20 people. She managed locations and contacts, created a shooting schedule, and independently set up shots and operated the camera during interviews. She also captured “b-roll,” or additional footage, of the county. Lewis organized the daily footage and edited the project in Adobe Premiere Pro. During the editing process, she created drafts to review one-on-one with her supervisor before finally settling on the finished documentary.

Reflecting on her internship, Lewis said she noted both personal and professional growth. "I learned more on how to gather research, get locations for filming, and taught myself more about editing,” she said. The experience gave her a unique opportunity to apply what she learned in school to a complete, final product for herself and the public. "This was a great way for me to not only learn about a new area but also practice the skills I already had before doing the internship," Lewis remarked.

Lewis completed her internship at the end of the summer, but her work on the documentary will carry forward through the county. Selman said they plan to screen Lewis’ film at the annual Forsythia Festival in the spring. Not only do they hope to have a full premiere with Lewis present to introduce the documentary and do a Q&A, but the film will play continually for patrons throughout the festival. Lewis also is not yet done telling stories about local communities. Through a contact she made while filming the Monroe County documentary, she will soon start production on a documentary on the city of Culloden. In the future, Lewis’ GCIP experience with Monroe County will serve as the foundation for her career as a filmmaker.

To learn more about the GCIP, please visit our website at https://www.accg.org/caf_index.php.