Access Theater, New York, NY
I spent this summer as a film intern for writer, producer, and director Jacqueline Christy at Access All-Media/Theater. While working out of Access Theater in Tribeca and NYU Tisch, I, along with another film intern, focused on post-production for Jackie’s feature film debut Magic Hour and pre-production for her short film Starcatcher. Working directly for a filmmaker on a project that she wrote, directed, and produced from inception to finish was an enriching learning experience that allowed me to view the inner-workings of the industry.
Prior to working on the feature film Magic Hour, an indie comedy-drama starring Miriam Shor, I had some experience in videography including short films, music videos, and documentaries; however, they were all amateurly-scaled and took place in a high school video production class setting. I could not have predicted the sheer amount of information and lessons I’d learn from working for eight weeks on this film. There were two film interns, Cate Osborne ’21 and me, along with Jackie and Laura Lee ’17, an Assistant Producer who publicized this internship opportunity to current Williams students.
For Magic Hour, we completed many small tasks like researching post-production professionals and planning screenings for audiences. I found myself enjoying the lengthier research projects more than day-long ones. This included creating a spreadsheet of over one hundred comparable films, creating another spreadsheet that served as a database for all the raw footage and audio, and researching potential business partners like sales representatives, executive producers, distributors, and production companies.
In consideration of the many tasks we undertook for Magic Hour, researching film festivals was particularly exciting. There is something mysteriously intriguing about film festivals to me. The impetus of an event where creatives, business professionals, audiences, and other groups converge to enjoy the art of filmmaking is incredibly wholesome and inspiring. After creating a database of over thirty film festivals for Jackie to submit Magic Hour, I found myself interested in the politics and economics of film festivals. I asked myself questions like how do connections improve chances of a successful submission to Sundance Film Festival, for example? How does violence, graphic content, and explicit language affect a film’s success rate? What are the particular themes and discussions that judges look for when curating their festival, that is do they want apolitical or political filmmaking?
At the same time, we began pre-production for a short film, Starcatcher, which won a grant from the Sloan Foundation. This consisted of pricing out equipment, actors, asking Jackie and Laura’s friends who are also filmmakers for assistance on the project, and location scouting. Finally, at the summer’s end we completed pre-production for a pickup day of shooting for Magic Hour, which was similar to the Starcatcher tasks, however it was more urgent and large-scaled in nature, as festival submission deadlines were approaching fast.
One question I often asked myself over the summer’s course was: how is my work furthering Jackie’s goals for the projects? Retrospectively, I think they helped more than I thought while completing them. There were of course tasks that did not seem to make an impact but a majority of them at least sparked a dialogue between the interns, Laura, and Jackie about how to shape the film, market it, and the path that should be taken in future months to achieve her goal of film festival premieres and theatrical distribution.
After spending the summer in New York and meeting other individuals in the industry or studying film in college, I seemed to find a niche that I was comfortable in. I’m now seriously considering the film business for a post-graduation career and know what roles I’m broadly interested in and which ones I have no interest in (editing and pre-production). After talking with others who interned in the independent film realm, I realized that my experience was unique, for I was able to get a first-hand glimpse into the project and its processes due to the small nature of the team. For that, I’m very grateful that my first summer internship in the art world took place within a small group.
Moving forward, this experience will guide my course selection, future research, and career endeavors. I plan on taking more courses at Williams with an emphasis on film theory and videography while majoring in art history and comparative literature. I’m also planning to produce a short film at Williams within the next couple years, perhaps even applying for funding for a Winter Study or summer project. Finally, I plan to stay within the art field next summer and more than likely will look for internships in film. I plan to continue fostering connections with Williams alums in the film industry who can tell me their stories. I’ve found the alumni network to be one of the most beneficial aspects of my experience at Williams thus far.
I’m honored to have had the privilege of working, learning, and exploring in an industry and city that I love this summer. I learned invaluable lessons about my career interests, academic interests, and creative interests all while forging new friendships and growing my professional network. This opportunity would not have been possible without the wonderful support of the ’68 Center for Career Exploration and the Friends and Family of Louise J. Ober ’64. I cannot thank you enough. This was an enriching experience that will influence my future decisions in myriad ways.
Megamenu Social