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Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Philip Boudreau (right) works in one of the editing rooms with producer Emilie Callan

by Philip Boudreau

As Christmas and the New Year approach, a reflection of my past year here at Salt and Light TV (S+L) felt necessary. To remember what I have learned both professionally and technically. To recognise the things I have learned about Christianity and the Church and how it would be completely different without S+L. As I take in my surroundings and remember the past, the next most necessary thing to do is look to the future, find the next steps, and proceed to take them without hesitation or worry for the present.
Coming into S+L, I thought my skills in editing and production had almost been complete, but as I stepped in, my thoughts were dwarfed by reality. Thankfully, with the help of amazing co-workers, I have begun to shorten the distance between thought and reality. By being given opportunity after opportunity, I have sharpened my editing skills and refined my work process to the point where I am trusted, left alone in the editing room to shape-shift chunky blocks of footage to a flowing river of shows and episodes. With the approach of the Lord's birthday, even more work must be done: in one sense, to produce more shows on the themes of Christmas and Advent but, in another, spiritually and mentally, to improve myself. Without the exposure to the Church through S+L, and without S+L itself, I don't believe I would be working on myself as much as I do now. Instead I would probably be just stumbling through life, tripping into the same holes and forgetting to climb out.
If I had never worked at S+L, my knowledge and opinion of the Church would be completely different. Through S+L I have been exposed to the tremendous amount of good Christianity does for the world, from huge donations of fund-raised money to front-line labour in all sorts of struggling countries and even struggling people inside of well-founded countries. The words of wisdom the pope gives: words of environmental responsibility, words of problem solving in poverty, in immigration issues, in world peace. I don't have to imagine the opinion of those outside the Church because they’re loud with hate and misjudgment because of the sexual abuse crisis rotting the Church. I know for a fact that I would be in the same category if I didn't work here, knowing next to nothing about the Church and reacting with disgust when the word is mentioned. I wish I could offer a solution, but the only thing I can offer is a reflection of myself if I didn't work here and who I am now. Maybe a solution can be found somewhere in between.
S+L has granted me insight into the inner workings of the Christmas season and the shows you enjoy. When you watch the wonderful content leading up to Christmas, the work behind the camera is not so apparent. And this is on purpose to allow you, the viewer, not to have to worry about scheduling recording times, preparing hosts, writing the scripts, setting up the cameras, making sure audio is being picked up, delivering footage to an editor, finding the time to edit the footage, delivering the finished product. You get the idea. But through all this extra work is a spirit of holiday cheer and sense of family here at the S+L offices. I'm proud to be here. I am thankful for the opportunities, the second family, the eye-opening learning in production and the Church, and so on. Now it's time to look to the future, continuing the journey forward here at S+L, and to look for new experiences and knowledge.

Philip Boudreau is an intern working for Salt + Light.



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