Do internships in the film industry help?

jtmoney
Thu, 12 Jul 2012 10:59:55 +0000

Confirming your thesis from a high school point of view, D had informal internship at small town local production company, the kind that pays its bills with super 8 to digital conversions, weddings, etc. Hardly a romantic internship, and you would hope the internship DOESN’T lead to a job. Just two old guys, but their contacts and goodwill led to multiple opportunities to make short videos for local non-profits, set work in Seattle, and great recommendations for college. High schoolers would be wise to pursue opportunities like this.
D is doing an unpaid internship in LA this summer, she chose it over a paid one because of potentially better contacts. It’s a great experience for the reasons digmedia mentions: traffic navigation, rent, cash flow… In hindsight, I wonder if she wishes she had taken the paid one, but here is hoping those contacts pay off.
Have heard some bad internship stories, basically exploiting kids for free labor; any other internship experiences out there?