From the Mouth of an Intern

This afternoon I sat down with Tommy Evans, a student who began his internship with my company three weeks ago, to do a short interview. Tommy aspires to be a director or producer in longer format films. Whereas I am with this company for the public relations side of it, he appreciates the value of the directing and producing we do.

I asked Tommy what his motivation was when he decided to seek a summer internship. “I wanted firsthand experience in the field,” Tommy said. He also mentioned the appeal an internship will add to his resume. “I want to get into a really good film school, and I know they will look at that [the internship].”

So far Tommy has participated in four film shoots with the company. He works five days each week with most days clocking in at six hours. On film shoots he can be on set for fifteen hours at a time.

When asked, “In your internship, what has been your most valuable lesson?” Tommy replied, “My most valuable lesson has definitely been learning how to work with other people and contribute to help the team out.” Tommy has worked with directors, candidates, cinematographers, sound engineers, editors and many other individuals who fill important roles in getting a piece from start to finish.

Internships, which are often unpaid, require a lot of time, dedication and hard work from the intern. I wanted to know if Tommy felt his contributions were worth it. I asked if he now feels better prepared to enter his field now that he has accumulated such experiences with this company. His response? “Definitely.”