Sebastopol native Jamie Potter chosen for CBS Studios ‘Star Trek’ internship

When Jamie Potter, a proud Trekkie, was chosen in August to intern for a “Star Trek” program at CBS Studios, their dream came true.

The Sebastopol native is one of 12 students chosen from a national pool for the Television Academy Foundation’s 13-week “Star Trek Command Training Program.”

“When I found out, I was overwhelmed with joy and felt so grateful,” said Potter, 20, a media arts and culture major at Occidental College in Los Angeles. “Being recognized by the foundation was super impactful.”

The program provides college students with paid internships at top Hollywood studios and production companies. It’s offered through a partnership between CBS Studios in Los Angeles and the Television Academy Foundation, which focuses on nurturing youths interested in the television industry.

Potter’s internship focuses on the massive “Star Trek” franchise, which includes TV shows like “Strange New Worlds,” “Discovery” and “Picard,” and animated shows, such as “Lower Decks” and “Prodigy.”

Aside from office tasks, Potter engages in the writers rooms, with wardrobe design, on-set production, animation and post-production for the shows. It’s a perfect scenario for the aspiring sci-fi writer, who grew up watching “Star Trek” as a kid.

“Seeing how much joy the writers, producers, and costume designers feel for the work they do has been inspiring,” said Potter, who uses the pronouns they/them.

Although Potter is absorbing every bit of the internship, their favorite part is sitting in on meetings and picking member’s brains on their process and work.

“Hearing people’s stories about being on set has been really cool,” Potter said. “The experience has solidified that I want to get into this industry.”

Potter, who’s reached the final week of their internship, will finish their last semester at Occidental College. Then it’s time to search for the next opportunity, which Potter is hoping will be a production assistant job in Southern California.

“The team talks a lot about being a family, that really drove things home for me,” Potter said. “My goal is to build a creative family to work with in the future.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mya Constantino at mya.constantino@pressdemocrat.com. @searchingformya on Twitter.