Summer Games

Olympics interns will share their experiences online

by Christine Baksi

July 12, 2012

The iconic Saturday Night Live studio in New York’s Rockefeller Plaza now serves as a production studio and broadcast backdrop for NBC’s remote coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. “It’s pretty incredible to think that they will be providing play-by-play commentary an ocean away,” says NBC Sports intern Peter Costanzo ’14.

Peter Costanzo ’14 and Eliza Flood ’15 have front-row seats to all the behind-the-scenes action at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as interns for NBC Sports. They will begin their London assignments later this month and will share daily photos from the games, which run from July 27 to August 12.

Flood, who will serve as a production runner for the beach-volleyball event in Hyde Park, anticipates an atmosphere teeming with global camaraderie. “The world is coming together to celebrate a common interest in sports,” she says.

Internships of global proportion

The first leg of Costanzo’s internship began in May in the New York production studios of NBC Sports. In just over a month, he amassed an impressive portfolio of experiences working alongside Olympics producers and directors, testing audio, screening footage and logging taped coverage of some of sports greatest events, including the French Open and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

He also was given a coveted seat in the control room of Costas Tonight, observing a technical orchestra as Emmy Award-winning host Bob Costas interviewed tennis legend John McEnroe and New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan live in studio. Simultaneously, producers secured televised phone interviews with talk-show host Bill Maher and New York Rangers Head Coach John Tortorella.

“I was amazed by the technology and the intensity of the control room,” Costanzo recalls. “There were producers walking around with communication headsets conversing with Bob Costas and giving him direction and information. There were about a dozen people—the director, producer, editors, graphic designers and Costas' writer—all working together while attending to their specific tasks. Everything had to come together within a designated time frame for the program to air the following day.”  

Costanzo, an international business & management major from Short Hills, N.J., says the New York leg of his internship provided experiential learning that he’ll apply to his London assignment at the International Broadcasting Center, which serves as the Olympic headquarters for world broadcasters, and to a future career in sports management and sports entertainment. “This internship is unique because it combines international experience with the opportunity to learn as much as I can about the sports production industry.”

Flood agrees. The rising sophomore from Ridgewood, N.J., who plans to declare a major in European studies this fall, has had several opportunities to work abroad on major sporting events, including Wimbledon. “Working abroad is an incredible experience that forces you to adapt in situations you would not normally encounter,” she says.  “I got to meet so many people from diverse backgrounds who all wanted to produce a great show.”

Costanzo and Flood will share their experiences at the Olympic Games online.