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- Film/Media Program
Main Office:
Davis Hall, First Floor
Kingston, RI 02881
Phone: 401.874.9014
Internships
Hands-on fieldwork forms an important component of the Film/Media student experience. We encourage all students to explore the possibility of a semester long or summer internship. Participating in an internship is a great way to put classroom learning into practical experience. While engaged in the supportive environment of an internship you can test career goals, enhance professional skills, develop self-reliance, self-esteem, and responsibility. Furthermore, internships encourage networking with professionals and will provide increased marketability for employment after graduation.
Below are two options for earning internship credits. Consider meeting with your academic advisor before making a final decision regarding which option is best for you.
FLM 401
Logistics
Contact urifilmdirector@gmail.com 401.874.7558 Film/Media Internship Form |
ITR 302/304
and Community Engagement intern@etal.uri.edu 401.874.2160 www.uri.edu/internships |
For more information on additional experiential learning opportunities in your major, please go to www.uri.edu/internships/explore and select "Field Experience Credit by Major" at the bottom of the page.
Film/Media students share their internship experiences:
"Summer, 2012 I worked as an intern in the wardrobe department of Ben Stiller's newest film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, in NYC.
I was paid $10 an hour and most of my job consisted of running errands around Manhattan, either returning clothes or picking up new things, or organizing the wardrobe office, helping the coordinator with her paperwork (I learned a lot about budgeting) and setting up for fittings. The people that I worked for were really happy to have someone who was excited to learn so they frequently brought me to set to introduce me to different people so I could hear about a lot of different jobs in varying departments. I also got a chance to have a talk with the writer of the film, Steve Conrad, and he answered some questions for me.
Overall it was probably the most amazing experience I've ever had. Having this film on my resume, and having the connections that I made in the film industry of the NYC area, I believe has taken my potential to find work after college to a whole different level. The film comes out Christmas day 2013."
- Sarah Freeman, F/M class of 2013.
"During the spring semester of 2011, Keith Brown offered me the chance to be his teaching assistant for a new class of his -- a video production class focused on shooting a narrative short using the iPhone 4S. Between my experience in the URI Film/Media program and my role as an iPhone specialist at the Providence Place Apple Store, I happily took the position.
During the semester I became reacquainted with Aviv Rubinstien, a former BU student of Keith's and a recent MFA screenwriting grad. He had visited URI to guest lecture and screen his newest short film. By the end of that evening's class, he and his producer asked me to join them on their next film project.
The film, called The Anchorite, was very untraditional: it was a feature length film shot with no script and no real "actors," just real people in a natural environment, but with a fictional storyline, conflict and action. The film is about a band on tour, and we traveled the US in a van from coast to coast in just over a month. With three performers and three crew members, each person took on multiple roles and had creative freedom to develop the story as organically as possible.
I assumed the role of assistant director to Aviv's director/writer/actor, as well as handling the line producer duties. As the assistant director, I helped Aviv organize and construct scenes and guide the other crew members and actors via his instructions, shot on the second camera with the director of photography and worked closely with Aviv revising the story. As the line producer, I handled all the group's spending, booked hotels, maintained communication with the production manager and promoted the film through social media.
To date, this has been the best filmmaking experience I've ever been a part of. My experience on The Anchorite is priceless. "
- Rachel Mossberg, F/M class of 2013.
Check out the blog Rachel kept while touring across the country making The Anchorite!
"This summer I had the opportunity to work for two films shooting right here in Rhode Island. Both internships came about when members of the crew contacted URI looking for students to work as Production Assistants.
The first film I worked on was Backmask, a multi-million dollar project directed by Marcus Nispel, whose previous work includes Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.There I got to work in the production office, where I got hands on experience working a lot of the behind the behind-the-scenes of films. This is the stuff they don't even show you in the special features of DVDs! I even got to be an extra in the film, so look for me on the big screen Summer 2013!
The next film I worked on was called Self-Storage and starred actors Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight), Michael Berryman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and Jonathan Silverman (Weekend at Bernie's). I worked as a Production Assistant and did stuff like design sets, manage props, make fake blood, build dead/mangled bodies, work the catering tent, set up lighting, and help with hospitality for the talent. Aside from accidentally giving attitude to legendary WWE Wrestler Tommy Dreamer (he was parked in the wrong spot!), this was a fantastic networking opportunity and really helped me use skills I had learned in my production classes at URI to give a good impression to professional filmmakers. Knowing core concepts aided my ability to contribute to the production while I was simultaneously gaining a vast amount of new and useful information/skills that could only be achieved through doing internships.
Maybe the greatest part was hearing Eric Roberts talk about his old friend Heath (the late Heath Ledger) and being able to tell him about the movie I made in the URI Film/Media program. Oh, and when he told me his favorite movie was Citizen Kane, I was pretty glad I'd learned all about it in Film 101 so I knew what I was talking about! All in all this was a great summer and I cannot wait to see what comes next in my Senior year."
- Matt Digennaro, F/M class of 2013.
"My internship experience on Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012) completely changed my life. It brought me somewhere that I wouldn't have though possible before I got the chance: the set of a major motion picture.
Over the course of the three months of principal photography for Moonrise Kingdom I learned so much, and got the opportunity to work with amazing people who have since become trusted friends, mentors and advocates.
We all worked tirelessly, and through our collaboration and our commitment to the idea of independent filmmaking, created something great out of nothing. Which, to me, is what film is all about. I'm forever grateful for my experience. Since my time on this film I've moved to New York and have worked on several major feature films. My life now would not have been possible without this internship."
- Matt Hedges, F/M class of 2010.
"In lieu of taking classes during my final semester at URI I opted to pursue a full time internship in NYC. After a seemingly endless summer of applications, interviews and visits I landed at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia as a production intern for The Martha Stewart Show. My day to day varied wildly.
Some days I would work with producers doing research for the show and segments or with the art department styling the set. Other times, I'd find myself running back and forth between Martha's house in upstate NY and the studio with a cargo van filled to the brim with 400 pumpkins, a horse drawn sleigh, or something equally surreal and ridiculous.
It was a fabulous experience through which I was able to do more than I could have imagined while also making significant contacts in the TV industry. When I graduated that December I was able to leverage what I had learned at URI and MSLO with the connections I made into a variety of freelance work and full time position as the Assistant to the Executive Producer at The Nate Berkus Show."
- Peter Conn, F/M class of 2010.
"During the Fall of 2011 I had the opportunity to intern at MTV/Viacom in New York City in their International Content Management department.
As an intern, my job duties are data input, viewing material for research-purposes, and assisting in various programming projects, aiding in the archival of various media, updating information on the company database and internal website and preparing for department screenings.
As an intern at MTV/Viacom we are given the opportunity to attend various shows and informational programs. I had the opportunity to attend the Cable Mavericks Masters Forum 1 Day Degree in Cable where Presidents, CEO's, Marketing department, Sports announcers, Production department, and many more came and talked about how working in cable is a good and growing business. Also how they have departments for everyone to work in. I also had the opportunity to attend The Daily Show with John Stewart and the End of the Semester Forum at MTV, where they will educate me on how to write a proper resume and cover letter.
I did enjoy my time at MTV and recommend it to everyone."- Madali Navas, F/M class of 2012.
