Regarding Student Internships

By Fred Ginsburg C.A.S. Ph.D.

Having survived both sides of the Internship Fence -- as a former student intern and, later in my career, as the supervisor of student interns – I would like to post some thoughts and advice on the issue.

The ideal internship is an opportunity for the student to observe and participate in the day to day activities of the production company. The student gets to experience what really goes on behind the scenes, such as sitting in on meetings, overhearing conversations, spending time on the set, watching over the shoulder of the editor, and so on. Maybe even the student can utilize his or her learned filmmaking skills in some manner to contribute to the project! But in any case, an internship is supposed to be a learning experience.

It is for these reasons that I warn students to be extremely cautious if ever offered a "paid internship"! It has been my observation that in most instances (note that I say "most", not "all") the paid internship turns into nothing more than an exchange of menial labor in return for some spending money.

When a production company is paying an intern, the tendency is often to regard the student as an EMPLOYEE for which the company expects to get its dollars worth. In our fantasies, the host company puts the student to work in productive and meaningful activities, such as an assistant editor, a member of the camera crew, or even as a Grip or Utility on the set. But after we awake from our slumber, we find the student being kept busy with the tasks that no one in the office wants to do themselves, from making coffee runs to replacing the pink pages in the scripts with the blue revisions.

Production tasks have evolved into photocopying, shredding, collating & stapling, and delivering sealed manila envelopes all around the parts of town that lack any adjacent parking!

Part of the problem is that the young turks who work in the offices of the production companies are fearful of new blood. Although these young execs may be highly salaried, their positions are far from secure and longterm. So when some perky, overly enthusiastic intern gets assigned to them – they see the student as a portential rival and future threat. The student is rapidly demeaned to janitorial status and prevented from showing off their filmmaking talents to the higher ups.

At least when a student intern is NOT on salary, the production company execs feels more obligated to play host & mentor. Somewhere down the line, they agreed to the university or the professor to take responsibility for the student and to teach him/her "the way the industry really works". There is less temptation to "justify" the intern’s worth back to the company.

Should things not work out as anticipated, the student should not hesitate to resign and seek a new internship. You are there to learn. You are not there as cheap or free labor. Lending a hand is one thing; but continuously being taken advantage of is entirely different.

When you interview for an internship, discuss what you expect to get out of the internship along with what the host company expects of you in return. Make it clear that although you are willing to spend a reasonable amount of time doing office chores, you also expect to devote most of your internship in a manner productive to your education.

Many students have told me that interning in the Office is often not what they wanted to do. They had visions of spending most of their time in the edit bays or out on the set, rather than in the administrative lobbies. However, they were grateful to get any internship that could get them closer to the major industry!

Why not, then, create your own internship? Rather than just calling the phone number on the 3x5 card that was posted on the "Internship Bulletin Board" and being assigned to a liason in the "front office", students should consider working the system from the bottom up.

If you want to spend time in a particular specialty, such as editing or camera or sound or screenwriting, then make contact with someone in that field. Except for a minor handful of famous artisans, the vast majority of professional craftspeople would be flattered and honored to be contacted by a student fan of their work! They are generally more than happy to invite a student to come down and observe them, be it in their edit suite or on the set. They will make the necessary phone calls to "put you on the list" at the gate.

Once you arrive, your new mentors will take you around and introduce you to the rest of the crew. After that, it is smooth sailing. You can spend all your time in one department, or move around and visit others on the set. Sometimes, depending on the union regulations, the crew will even allow the intern to assist on some shots. In some cases (rare, but it has happened), the intern has even gotten hired on to the crew!

Now that you have created a meaningful internship, it is just a matter of maintaining a student journal and doing some paperwork back at the university to turn the experience into something official that will count on your transcript.

If you are interning or observing on a film set, there are a few important rules to abide by.

Be punctual and dependable. If you say you are going to be somewhere at a certain time, be there. If you have been assigned (or volunteered) a task, complete it to the best of your ability. If you don’t know how to do something, ask for assistance rather than muck it up.

Never make noise nor talk while the "red light" is lit (i.e. during a take). Don’t even walk. Turn OFF your cell phone. Stay out of the pathway of busy crewmembers.

Never bring a personal camera to the set until everyone knows you and feels comfortable with your hanging out. Leave the director and actors alone (and skip the autographs until you become friends). Spend your time around the crew, not the celebrities or the execs (until they get to know you). Do not be mistaken for a "fan".

Offer to help any member of the crew, but do not be pushy. Eventually they will take you up on your offer. Feel free to ask some questions, but do not get insulted if someone is too busy to answer them. Make notes and re-ask when things are less hectic.

Remember to be sincere. Don’t forget thank-you cards and notes of appreciation.