Fame, fun and minifigs: The Assembly's Dylan interns with Compass

The Assembly's Dylan Lamb hoped to gain three things from his ABC internship: fame, filmmaking skills and funds for Lego.

You may remember Dylan and his inquisitive volley of questions to some of the nation's biggest names on Season 1 of The Assembly. His question for Hamish Blake was a series highlight.

Knowing Hamish is a fellow brick enthusiast, Dylan showed him a picture of his own substantial Lego collection before posing two questions we all wish we could ask:

The Assembly series followed a group of autistic journalism students as they interviewed six high-profile Australians including Hamish Blake, Delta Goodrem and PM Anthony Albanese. The ABC's Leigh Sales was their mentor.

The students undertook a unique journalism course at Macquarie University and then had the opportunity to continue their development through a paid ABC internship.

When he arrived at Compass for his internship, Dylan combined his new-found media stardom with his creativity and Lego-building expertise. I was appointed his work buddy and we sat side by side for three weeks.

Compass is the ABC's flagship religion and ethics show. The half-hour weekly documentary program explores life's big questions — our beliefs, ethical dilemmas, social justice and hope.

Surely we could find a creative way to align Dylan's love of Lego with the Compass remit?

As luck would have it, a 4,383-piece Notre-Dame Cathedral set was released earlier this year. Luckier still, we were able to secure one. My brother Ged is a well-connected ex-Lego Store employee.

So Dylan's first task with Compass was to research and answer some big questions about the real Notre-Dame.

How long ago was the cathedral built and what is its purpose? What happened to the medieval structure in 2019? What's happened since?

Most relevantly, how long would it take an intern to build the masterpiece of Gothic architecture, and just how famous could said intern become in the process?

Ahead of day one, the Compass team reviewed materials from Employ for Ability who provide managers and neurotypical staff with autism awareness training and coaching. Employ for Ability ensured ABC teams could adequately support and embrace The Assembly interns.

In preparing for Dylan's time with Compass, we considered his strengths, experience and interests.

Having mastered on-camera work with The Assembly, Dylan told us he was interested in learning about the behind-the-scenes of television production.

"I'd like to learn about lights and I'd like to learn about cameras," he said, before clarifying, "but I prefer [to be] filmed, because I like to be the star of the show!"

With this in mind, we created a plan for Dylan to produce and star in a video reel for social media, shot on the Compass camera, about his Notre-Dame research and the process of building a replica.

Having come to terms with the office's hot-desking initiative, wrestled with the ABC's requirement for a 14-character computer password and batted away friendly email reminders about an overdue online training module, Dylan got to work.

Dylan's time at Compass overlapped with another internship in our team. UTS Media Business student Isabelle Tang completed her final year university placement with Compass.

With guidance from Compass series producer Kim Akhurst, Isabelle documented Dylan's work on camera.

We collected a participation release from background actor Bruce the Catalyst Shark, Isabelle called "Action!" and (excuse the Legolese), Dylan clicked together a 2x8 Plate and 1x8 Tile.

The foundation stone was laid. Step 1 of 393.

As part of the project's feasibility analysis, I asked Ged how long the set could take to build. He estimated that for a "proficient builder", the Notre-Dame would take eight to nine hours to complete.

Dylan, as it turns out, is a proficient builder.

"It was very easy because there were a lot of instructions and pictures to follow," Dylan said.

My colleague Christy Hill and I made a subtle attempt, one afternoon after Dylan had wrapped for the day, to contribute to the cathedral's internal structure.

Our efforts were less than impressive. We will be sticking to our day jobs.

Dylan rounded out his work experience in the Ultimo building when an emergency evacuation drill impeded our shoot schedule one morning. For the record, we didn't cause the evacuation!

No pyrotechnics were used in the construction of this Notre-Dame, and no Notre-Dames were harmed in the making of Dylan's video.

Despite the distraction of regular breaks for pieces to camera, finicky continuity adjustments and interruptions from admiring neighbouring colleagues (mostly from Media Watch), Dylan delivered the build right on target.

During his internship Dylan also attended an information session with his colleagues from The Assembly about further TAFE study options in the media industry, shadowed a film shoot with Compass comedian Maddie Stewart and oversaw the edit of his video.

What else?

"A lot of research on the internet. I joined with team meetings and helped the team to get jobs done," Dylan said.

Dylan's time in the ABC office was divided between Compass and our megafauna-minded neighbours at Catalyst.

Dylan told Catalyst's executive producer Penny Palmer he loved watching funny cat videos on the internet.

"We tasked Dylan with finding viral videos of aquatic animals for a new series of How Deadly, the highly successful strand presented by Dr Ann Jones on our YouTube channel @ABCScience," Penny said.

"We knew he'd found a good one when you could hear him giggling from his desk. It's a super infectious giggle!"

"Dylan presented his selections to us and told us why he liked them, and thanks to him we now have a good head start on our next series."

And Dylan's key takeaway from his time at Catalyst?

"I learned that Dr Karl was fun to film."

Can't say we're surprised!

Dylan's mum Theresa noticed Dylan gained a lot of confidence during the internship.

She said the greatest benefit of Dylan's time at the ABC was "the connections he has made with people that understand and embrace his differences."

"It has given Dylan the opportunity to practice travelling on public transport, meeting new people and working in fantastic, fun, inclusive environments where he felt he was a valued and contributing member of a team," she said.

But this internship worked two ways. Dylan learnt media skills and we learnt from him.

As commissioning editor Julie Hanna reflected, "Dylan was able to teach us all so much about the importance of diverse voices in the media. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him."

ABC host Leigh Sales loved Dylan's "playfulness and ability to make everyone laugh every day" on The Assembly set.

Even Leigh conceded Dylan's 'money' question to Hamish was a stand-out.

"People thought that was a great question. That's the question most people have raised with me of Dylan's moments," she said.

We couldn't let Dylan wrap up his time at the ABC without turning the tables and asking him a few questions of our own.

Compass: What sort of show is Compass, and what did you learn about it?

Dylan: I learnt that so many people have very interesting stories and backstories.

Compass: Which parts of your internship did you enjoy most?

Dylan: Spending time with the team and building the Lego Notre-Dame.

Compass: Finally, did Hamish Blake give you the roundings from his bank accounts like he said he would on The Assembly?

Dylan: No, he has not done it yet. I think I should try and find him to remind him that I would still like to have some of his money.

Hamish, if you're reading this, just know you're not the only one in pursuit of fame, fun and funds for minifigs.