Vincent Andrews
Sophomore, Eleanor Roosevelt College
Company: HEILBrice Marketing Communications
Location: Newport Beach, Calif.
How He Got the Job: Admittedly, connections got me in the door, but I had to apply and interview just like everyone else.
General Responsibilities: Though my main role was to assist a
handful of account executives, or “AE’s,” much of my time was spent
doing research, sitting in on meetings and proofreading. Toward the end
of my internship (with a little more experience under my belt) the
company entrusted me with co-management of our account with the Los
Angeles Visitor’s Bureau and a greater involvement in our dealings with
San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino. Those new responsibilities included
negotiation of contracts with talent and modeling agencies, acquisition
of music licensing for some of our commercials and monitoring of
accounts to make sure we didn’t go over-budget.
Perks: Perks grow on trees at a successful advertisement agency.
Who could resist the beautiful coworkers? Or looking important during
on-location shoots, all-expenses-paid ‘power lunches’? Or working in
one of the most exciting, ever-changing industries around? Plus all the
free stuff we had strewn about the office — from Clippers tickets to
Ketel One bottles to pies from Marie Callender’s — was pretty cool too.
Bitch Work: Surprisingly, almost none.
What He Learned: I got a priceless, intimate glimpse into the fast-paced world of making things look good.
An Interesting Anecdote: When I had first arrived at HEILBrice,
the account executive for Ketel One was working on a campaign destined
for Quebec. Opportunely, I speak French, and I put my skills to work in
dealing with the representatives in Montreal and making sure the
creative department’s French language brochures were accurate. It was
the moment in which I realized I was finally doing something that
didn’t require brawn or a heartbeat to do — and I was getting paid for
it.
Advice to Students Also Looking for an Internship in This Field: Advertising
is an understandably popular industry, and as such the internships are
coveted and competitive. My advice is to be persistent and presentable.
As they say: to succeed in marketing you have to market yourself, too.

Devin Askounis
Sophomore, Sixth CollegeCompany: Sound Arts Recording Studio
Location: San Francisco, Calif.
How He Got the Job: Over Winter Break I scoured Google.com for
recording studios in the Bay Area, I e-mailed almost all of them and
got a reply back from Sound Arts. When I got back for the summer I
drove up to San Francisco, and was called in for an interview.
General Responsibilities:
Setting up microphones for the sessions, helping out with on-the-fly
edits, essentially doing anything that needed to be done to keep a
steady flow of recording at the session. I help set up and take down
instruments between takes and would move mics to different places in
the live room for a couple different layers of ambient noise.
Perks: I got in-studio experience and access to gear that costs
way too much for me to ever have in my home recording studio. I also
got to work with Bay Area musicians like the Otherside, Sparklebritches
and On 3 Go.
Bitch Work: Wrapping cords — apparently all my life I have been wrapping cords the wrong way and relearning was super hard.
What He Learned: I am now positive that I want to be a part of
the recorded music industry for the rest of my life. I also learned
about the proper way to set up microphones for different instruments
[and] about setting up proper signal chains, using compressors, preamps
and equalizers.
An Interesting Anecdote: For one of the sessions, we needed a preamp
that one of the studio engineers, whom I had never met, had at his
apartment. It was my mission to drive to the intersection closest to
his apartment, pick this big piece of equipment up and come back. I got
to the intersection and realized that there was absolutely no person on
any street corner holding a preamp. I called and got no answer from the
number given to me.
So I parked, put the one quarter I had into the meter and ran around
this intersection, looking for anyone with a backpack or duffel bag. I
ended up making a complete fool of myself by asking random people if
they had a preamp. I called the studio and they said that the guy was
down the street. I found him, loaded up the preamp and got back to my
car just before the meter ran out.
Advice To Students Also Looking For An Internship In This Field: Be persistent.

Brendan Bailey
Sophomore, Eleanor Roosevelt College
Company: Pressman Film
Location: Hollywood, Calif.
How He Got the Job: My mom, who is an actress, talked to her manager’s assistant, who talked to his friend, who hired me.
General Responsibilities: Everyday I walked into my office, sat
down and my boss had a nice big script or two for me. I read the
scripts, wrote synopses of them and accepted or rejected the script.
While I was reading the scripts and forming my synopses, I was also
answering phones.
Perks: Most people would not think that a company intern would
have any power because an internship is an entry-level position.
However, despite being low on the totem pole, I had a decent amount of
responsibility. Everyday a script was put in front of me; most were 100
pages or more that a writer had slaved on for weeks, writing and
revising constantly. And I had to accept or reject the work and explain
my decision to my supervisor. I was essentially one of the first
hurdles a writer had to get past if he or she wants their screenplay
made into a film. Another major perk is seeing that your work matters.
Two scripts I recommended are going to be produced, if all goes well.
This is important because I think I only recommended two or three
screenplays while working for the company.
Bitch Work: Usually there isn’t any. Sometimes I did some filing, or help the accountant, but most of the time I read scripts.
What He Learned: The main thing I have learned is what allows a
screenplay to become a movie. There are many things a writer has to pay
attention to in order for a script to be accepted. The way we rate
scripts at Pressman Film is by looking at several things: storyline,
premise, marketability, characters, dialogue, artistic elements and
visual elements. And if a script does not rate well on these standards
then it’s rejected.
An Interesting Anecdote: There was one weird script that I read
which got the green light to go into “preproduction”, the next stage in
movie making. It was called “Little Green Men,” and it was about a talk
show host realizing the plans of an insect alien invasion; He has to
stop the invasion before the aliens destroy the world. There’s more to
the story, but that’s the gist of it. I didn’t recommend nor reject the
script, but checked “consider” on the rubric I was given. If I were to
base my decision solely on the story, I would have rejected the script.
But what attracted me to the screenplay was its commercial value. In
the story, the protagonist uses pesticides like ‘Raid’ and ‘Blackflag’
to fight against the bug invaders, and — if I recall correctly — even
the presidents of those two companies make a cameo in the script. That
is product placement, I thought, rivaled only by the movie
“Transformers.” If Pressman Film made deals with those two insect
killing companies and others, it could mean big bucks for my production
company.
Advice to Students Also Looking for an Internship in This Field: If you want an internship in the entertainment industry, do yourself a favor and know someone in the entertainment industry.