Neon Hum Media, in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, announced the launch of its second annual free Editors’ Bootcamp, which will began accepting applications starting December 15, 2021.
Created as a free podcast training bootcamp for aspiring podcast editors from underrepresented groups, the eight-week course led by Neon Hum’s Executive Editor Catherine Saint Louis is designed to provide an opportunity for Black and Indigenous storytellers, LGBTQ, Latino, AAPI, people with disabilities and all communities of color, to help drive their rarely heard, yet critical, stories in podcasting.
The eight people selected for this year’s course will learn and develop relevant skillsets from some of the industries top editors and experts. At the conclusion of the course, one graduate will be offered a staff editor position at Neon Hum. The program is designed to develop the selected students into top candidates for employers and to also consider hiring as editors after graduation.
The eight prospective editors for this year’s bootcamp will be announced in early 2022 and the course will run from mid-March to mid-May 2022. The application portal for prospective editors is open now through January 21.
The first bootcamp series in 2021 received an overwhelming response with more than 250 applications from longtime producers, print reporters and editors, documentary filmmakers and people in public radio interested in switching to narrative podcasts. After participating in the course, Nevada based journalist Stephanie Serrano joined Neon Hum as a staff director in June and has worked on several top series for the Company, including Smoke Screen: The Sellout and the upcoming season of Spectacle. Other graduates of last year’s program went on to work on hit shows across the industry, including Snap Judgement’s Spooked and Witness Docs and VPM’s Seizing Freedom.
Catherine Saint Louis said, “The audio industry still lacks representation from so many groups and voices, so we are thrilled to be bringing back the Bootcamp for another year and creating a way for people to become story editors.” She added, “It’s free and an incredible opportunity to learn from peers as well as the industry’s top editors. And at the end of it all, one lucky graduate will get a full-time job working at Neon Hum.”
Funding for the bootcamp is made possible by Sony Music Entertainment. To learn more about Sony Music’s commitment to supporting communities globally and locally, click here.