Year: Senior
Major: Advertising with Straus Institute Certificate in Conflict Management
Zodiac Sign: Virgo
Favorite Food: I love all kinds of food, but I need my Korean food.
Favorite Movie: I like Disney animations, like Zootopia.
1. What was your first internship in the entertainment industry? [It] was with Disney-ABC Television Group, and I worked with the Disney Media department as an Innovative Marketing intern.
2. How did you choose to pursue an internship in the entertainment industry? To be completely honest, I was just looking for any internship experience and especially in the field of marketing because that was my interest, at the time. An entertainment internship opportunity came during my junior year, so I just applied and then I was luckily able to take that opportunity and start my entertainment internship experience from there. The funny thing is I’ve always wanted to work for Disney, so I was very happy that that was my first entertainment experience. But I’ve always been involved in the entertainment field because my mom and my sister are both really into it, so my sister has a lot of experience in entertainment [and has run film festivals], and I’ve also volunteered at film festivals… My mom is really into photography and film, so it’s always been around in the house, so it’s not something that was new.
3. Which companies have you interned for and what were you doing for them? One of my first internships, I interned for a magazine publishing company in Florence, and I conducted interviews and research articles. Then I had an internship experience in Korea, where I interned as a marketing intern for a cosmetics startup company. Then I went to Disney, then Lionsgate, and now I am back at Disney again. They were all generally in the field of advertising/marketing.
4. What has been the most valuable lesson you have learned at your internships? The most valuable lesson that I’ve learned in not being afraid to ask. When I first started at companies that were international, or very big, corporate companies, like Disney, I felt intimidated, at first and a little pressured to know everything and have things figured out, but that’s really not the case. Each company has different functions and different set procedures for the projects and assignments that they want me to do, so it’s been really valuable that I asked [questions] when I needed to ask. Another thing is being able to do any and every assignment that they give you with a positive attitude because, as an intern, you are not at a level where you have as much control over the different projects that you have, so showing them that you can do even the small, mundane things is a very important aspect for an intern to have.
5. How have your experiences with Disney, Lionsgate, and others shaped you and the plans you have for the future? Interning full-time, 9am-6pm, Monday through Friday has helped to get a better scope of what it’s like to be a full-time employee. And, two things that I’ve learned that I want to consider in my future career are that I want to find passion in what I do and find meaning because I don’t know however many years that I’m going to give in to that role and to that company, and I realized I need to have passion in my work in order to fuel myself. Another thing that I definitley learned is that it’s important to consider the people you’re going to be working with, the environment that you’re going to be in, and the type of work that you do. I’ve learned that I work well in a corporate setting, and I also like startups.
6. What is your favorite memory from your time at each of your internships? My favorite memory at the magazine publishing internship in Florence was being able to interview the local gelato shop-owners and understanding how they make the gelatos, tasting the gelatos, and meeting the locals. Then, my favorite memory in Korea, at the global startup company for cosmetics, was being able to [work] for a company that did a lot of new things; I also got free cosmetics and skin care products that they have. Then, at Disney, I really liked going to this commercial shoot they had and that I was invited to; I got to meet some of the cast of Pretty Little Liars. At Lionsgate, I got to take part in the media planning process of a lot of the films, like La La Land, so it was fun and cool being able to see that what you’re working on is being shared with the rest of the world.
7. What advice do you have for other students who may want to pursue working in the entertainment field? This is a difficult topic because I think the entertainment field is very broad, and there are a lot of different roles. But from an entertainment marketing perspective, I think that, if you’re looking for your first entertainment internship, it’s okay to not be in entertainment [before]. What they’re looking for is experience, so getting any kind of marketing experience is important. Once you get your foot in the entertainment world, it’s very important that you are out there networking, not only with your peers, but also with people who have positions that you’re interested in potentially pursuing; maintaining your network is probably one of the most important things.