You Gotta Start Somewhere
No one breaks into Hollywood the same way.
Letters of Recommendation
I saw this harrowing tale about an internship gone wrong recently. I recommend reading it, if you want to know how badly these things can go. But there was one complaint the poster had that I think is completely unwarranted: What really pissed me off is she wouldn’t write me a letter of recommendation. She […]
I’ll Be the BEST Intern Ever!
An anonymous reader writes: I’ve recently started working full-time as an “intern” for the president of production at a production company. I am the only intern in the office, making me an assistant really, rather than an intern. What makes me an intern is that I don’t get paid. I have given a commitment of […]
Should You Intern?
In the past week, many people have been talking about the Black Swan intern lawsuit, including The Business, Scriptnotes, and the Hollywood Reporter. Since I was an intern not terribly long ago, I figured I should weigh in.{{1}} Internships are either a great way to meet people and learn about the business, or the exploitation […]
On Set Internship
Amy commented a while back: If I were to enroll in school to be able to take internships, how would one go about getting an on set internship? I’ve watched a few credits that have “art department intern” and other credits listed but I can never find these through production company websites or other job […]
The Black Swan Interns
Last week, the New York Times reported: Two men who worked on the hit movie “Black Swan” have mounted an unusual challenge to the film industry’s widely accepted practice of unpaid internships by filing a lawsuit on Wednesday asserting that the production company had violated minimum wage and overtime laws by hiring dozens of such […]
Aliens in America
Jason writes: Do you have any idea on how the industry deals with foreigners? Do people from outside the US even have a shot at a PA (or similar) job? For higher positions I’d assume they’ll prefer resume over country of origin, but how about the lower jobs like PA? I’m from The Netherlands, currently […]
Bird in the Hand
A reader asks: I am currently working as a receptionist at a post production house in Hollywood. I took this job not too long ago, assuming that as this place is fairly renowned, it would eventually provide me with the opportunity to move on in the business toward some of my real interests: script development […]