Jakobe Anderson, Sophomore

Leadership & Business Management/Communication

Aspiring film producer Jakobe (Kobe) Anderson had a plan from the start when he set foot on campus as a freshman last year.

“I would try to make Dean’s List, connect with the media technology professor on campus to make myself known and get an internship.”

Kobe met all of those goals. Through connections that he made with Luke Walden, communications professor, and Paul Dunn, coordinator of Integrative Career Development, he landed an internship at the Coast Guard Academy (CGA), recording videos for sports teams.

“Paul Dunn was looking for someone with technology experience for an internship. I had done some video production in high school, and I had already shown Professor Walden videos that I had made. He advised me to apply for the internship at the CGA. Paul helped me through the internship process.’”

Now a sophomore, Kobe is continuing his internship at the CGA, filming team practices and producing one-minute spotlights of players for the Bears Club Alumni Center, which supports sports teams through financial donations from parents and alumni.

 “I record team practices to produce videos and post them to the Bears Club Alumni Center’s Facebook page. Money raised through the Bears Club helps provide equipment and travel for the sports teams.”

In his internship last year, he typically filmed on Tuesday, edited on Wednesday, and was ready to share his final product on Thursday, a schedule that taught him to meet deadlines. This year, because of COVID-related restrictions, his routine at the CGA has changed a bit; he gathers film footage there but completes the editing process back on the Mitchell campus.

Kobe credits the hands-on nature of his internship with improving his camerawork, using both a tripod and a gimble, an apparatus which makes running scenes smoother and is used in both the sports world and Hollywood filmmaking alike.

He has also learned to advocate for himself.

“When I don’t like the way something looks in production, I tell my boss. I want to improve the message. Sometimes it works when I give my opinion.”

Kobe loves the creative process of the work he is doing with his internship.

 “Editing is my favorite part. It’s creating. You’re telling a story and making it easy for people to understand. That’s what I do with all my videos. I love the excitement I get from editing. When I finish, I just sit back and enjoy what I made.”

A member of the Mitchell College Film Club, in which students watch films and critique them, Kobe is studying communications with a concentration in film production. In his spare time, he creates videos to post to YouTube and dreams of one day being a film producer with his own production company, producing “the best Hollywood films.”

His favorite genre is horror and he counts as inspiration Jordan Peele, whose movies “Us” and “Get Out” caught Kobe’s attention.

“He’s a big inspiration because his movies have a message to them.”

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