“It’s all about who you know, in the entertainment industry.”

Most people who have tried getting a job in the film or music industry will agree with the opinion of 19-year-old film major, Christine Jones.
Employers require experience but to get experience one must have a job. A young person looking for a job may easily become discouraged when faced with this dilemma. Fear not college students, for there is an opportunity to intern at a record label such as Capitol Records or movie studios such as Warner Brothers, Sony or ABC.

“At least half of the interns are hired after their internships are over,” said Christine Kloezeman, internship coordinator at GCC.

Students must be enrolled in Internship 150 at GCC in order to receive credit for their work. With a letter of recommendation from Kloezeman, they can intern at any movie studios, in exchange for valuable experience.

“I avoid internships that deal with office errands,” Kloezeman said. Unless students get first-hand experience at what they want to do in a certain company, Kloezeman does not deal with the company.

Student are responsible for finding their own internship before enrolling in the internship program at GCC. Kloezeman suggests students look for available internships online at www.monstertrak.com. The three unit class is completed when a student fulfills a minimum of 54 hours of work, although 80 hours are recommended, said Kloezeman.

“I interned with Grant Savic Kopallof & Associates, which is a ‘below-the-line’ talent agency, literary agency and acting agency,” Jones said.

Her main responsibilities included reading scripts, setting up meetings with clients and screening new talent for the agency. “The most important thing I got out of that internship,” she said, “was the networking, the contacts I made and talking to the clients and finding out where they were when they were at my age.”

Whether a student is trying to enter the film industry or the music industry, the basic approach to a successful career is the same.

“A smart intern will see that there are a lot of open doors once you’re in the business,” said Adam Hobbs, 28, a marketing director at Capitol Records. “One of the best things that a performing musician that’s looking to get signed can do is to figure out how the business works,” Hobbs said. “The important thing is to ask questions, to always know what’s going on. If you are an intern and you don’t take the opportunity to learn all you can about how the business works, you are wasting your time here.”

“The more initiative and skills interns show, the more responsibility I will give them,” said Hobbs. “The hours are long and there is no pay but interns get to go to shows and meet artists.” Depending on what department they work in, interns also have access to free products.

Learning all there is to know may not be as challenging a task as it seems. Interns that are hired to work for Hobbs can build a long list of contacts in the industry by paying attention to detail when fulfilling their daily responsibilities. “I work across the board with independent marketing companies, event planners, magazines, press and Internet,” Hobbs said of the networking opportunities interns will receive.

He added: “I do my best to try to find interns a job in the industry if they have done a good job working for me.”

“An internship makes it easier to get your foot in the door,” Jones said.

With that being said, it does not seem quite as difficult to find a way into Hollywood.