Taylor media students do internships all over the country and around the world, typically during or after their junior year. Read a few internship reports below:
Matt interned with Focus Features, producers of Corraline, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Lost in Translation and many other Hollywood films. Matt coordinated a marketing presentation that all interns make to the management. His boss was so impressed that he called it the best intern presentation ever. With a response like that, it's not surprising that Matt got hired by Focus Features right after graduation.
Jonathan interned with Disney Imagineering, focused on theme park media production. His internship was a direct result of placing as a finalist in Disney's ImagiNations competition for which he designed a prototype theme park ride. For Jonathan, as a lifelong Disney fan, this internship was a great launching point for his post-Taylor career in entertainment.
Nathaniel interned with Discover the Journey, a nonprofit organization comprised of journalists and documentary filmmakers, passionate about children at risk around the world. Nathaniel's passion for Africa was a perfect fit for the organization, and they commented on Nathaniel's servant heart and willingness to learn new production tools and techniques.
Neil, a recent grad, interned with Universal Pictures as a Development intern, working with people who identify new scripts and film projects for the studio. He made the internship contact with Development insiders while he attended the Sundance Film Festival with Taylor in 2008. Now Neil is employed full-time with Universal! His supervisor said they "loved him right from his cover letter! Whatever you're teaching at Taylor--keep doing it. This guy just gets it. He understands what we need in this industry, and he outperformed the people we hire regularly from L.A. temporary agencies. I can't say enough good about Neil!"
E'Lise interned with the Los Angeles Film Festival hosted by Film Independent. E'Lise worked in the Development department, working with sponsors and dealing with logistics and research. During the film festival she worked in the box office and at festival sponsors' events. Her supervisor said, “Elise was a great addition to our team at Film Independent and the Los Angeles Film Festival. If we had a position open here, we would have loved to keep her past her internship!”
Eliza, interested in combining public relations and the music industry, worked as a Marketing & Promotions intern for radio station WYEP, Pittsburgh, PA. Her boss said, "Eliza has been a great asset to our Marketing and Promotions dept. We couldn't have been happier with her performance. She demonstrates great commitment, character and pride in her work. We'd love to have other students from Taylor if they're anything like Eliza!"
Randy, a recent grad, spent his first month after Taylor working on a feature film. His height earned him the spot as stand-in for the star, so he walked through the actor's moves and allowed the lighting crew and director to get things set up for the next shot.
Randy said, "Taylor did a great job of teaching me the proccess of filmmaking so that I could be on the same page with everyone from the director on down. But I think more importantly, Taylor taught me to love what I do and the people I'm working with. I've had so much fun working with my classmates (at Taylor), and I took that attitude to the set. When I told the grip guys that I was leaving the shoot early for my mission trip they said how much fun it was having me around. One of the guys pulled me aside and said, "Hey man, if you can keep up this positive attitude, you'll go far, bro."
Sarah, a senior, worked for San Francisco's Center for Digital Storytelling, a not-for-profit community arts organization that assists youth and adults in using media tools to share, record and value the stories of their lives. The goal is to use media in ways that promote artistic expression, health, well-being and justice--goals that fit well with Sarah's vision to use media in positive ways.