Internships are incredibly valuable assets in virtually any field one chooses to pursue. Whether students are aspiring to be doctors, engineers, writers or businessmen, all are encouraged to secure internships and build their résumés and become more knowledgeable about their industry. This is stressed emphatically in the film industry.
In the world of television and film making, internships are not only a good idea – they are essentially mandatory. An internship is the first step toward a career. In an industry that is so built on networking and personal relationships, obtaining that first low-profile job as an intern or a production assistant is key to meeting people who have already established their careers in film.
This summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to work for Voltage Pictures, an independent film company in Los Angeles. Although they are still fairly new on the scene, they have produced several films that have garnered widespread acclaim, such as “Killer Joe” and “The Hurt Locker.”
Working for Voltage gave me insights into the film industry that I would have never gotten had I not pursued an internship, and as a result, I now know more about how the industry works from both a studio and independent viewpoint. I cannot stress enough what an advantage it is to make career connections while still in college; whether the desired goal is director, actor, screenwriter or any of the other dozens of jobs available in film, having people to call for recommendations and assistance along the journey is vital.
The difficulty of finding an internship varies, and a big factor is location. I know of several news stations in town that offer great internships, and they are relatively easier for students to access based on proximity. If a student wants to travel to Los Angeles or another big film city, though, the job hunt becomes much more strenuous. Before I found Voltage, I was blindly sending out cover letters and copies of my résumé to multiple studios and companies, hoping to get emailed back. (A great resource for Hollywood job listings is tempdiaries.com, under the “Job List” tab.)
That process is exactly how I became connected with Voltage, and it led to one of the greatest experiences of my life. It took exhausting every resource and utilizing every connection to people in the industry to pull it off, though.
Additionally, although moving to Los Angeles or another large city for a job is the goal of many telecommunication and film students, it is important to recognize that such a move can be strenuous and costly. Fantastic opportunities are to be found all across the country, and Tuscaloosa has plenty of great resources for media production.
The crux of searching for an internship, whether local or far away, is to build credibility and experience and utilize those assets to eventually launch a career. Even if a student has no experience, telecommunication and film companies are always looking to hire interns and production assistants. All it takes is diligence and fortitude in the search.
