Gannon Knight ArtsLeisure

     Students looking to take part in an out-of-the-ordinary summer internship, take note: the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation is now accepting applications for its summer program.
     The Academy’s program provides more than 40 industry-wide internships to college and graduate students from across the country.
     The program brings students to Los Angeles for eight weeks and provides interns with hands-on experience with leading entertainment companies and professionals. Each student is placed with a host company and mentor that have agreed to guide the internship.
     Students involved in 2009’s program worked with Cartoon Network, HBO, the Disney Channel, CBS, ABC and the Discovery Channel. While 2009’s pool of interns worked with various illustrious companies, Nancy Robinson, manager of Education Programs for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation, said that students shouldn’t expect to work with those same companies, but they will work with some of the same caliber.
     “We don’t want students applying with the intention of working with HBO or Cartoon Network,” Robinson said.
     A $4,000 stipend is awarded to each participant as the internships are unpaid. Interns must ork a full 40-hour week. The assignments for each intern are determined by the host companies and coincide with production schedules so that students can get the maximum amount of experience during their internships.
     The Television Academy summer internship program offers opportunities in various sectors of the television industry including: Agency, Animation, Art Direction/Production Design, Business Affairs, Casting, Children’s Programming/Development, Cinematography, Commercials, Costume Design, Development for Television, Documentary/Nonfiction Production, Editing, Entertainment News, Episodic Series, Live Event Production, Movies for Television, Music, New Media, On-Air Promotion, Post Production, Production Management, Programming, Public Relations & Publicity, Sound, Special Visual Effects, Sports Production, Syndication/Distribution, Television Directing, Television Scriptwriting and Unscripted Television.
     Some programs require work samples as part of the application. The program’s Web site, Emmysfoundation.org, lists the necessary materials.
     While the process is extremely competitive – Robinson said last year there were more than 12,000 applications and only 41 slots – students should note they are competing with each other by categories. Robinson said that, for example, students who apply for the Cinematography program are competing against those who applied for the same program.
     Applications must be postmarked by March 15. Television Academy members will choose finalists for each internship at the end of April.
     Robinson described the process that potential interns undergo. Once students are selected, they have to submit an interview tape answering questions that are given to all finalists. She said that the interviews are boxed up with their application and other paperwork – this is what goes to the host companies. The host companies look at the applications and videos and choose the interns. “The host companies decide who their best match will be,” Robinson said.
     Winners will be notified in May or June, based on the host companies’ schedules. Most internships are expected to start in late June or mid-July. Students who win a slot will determine their exact start date with their host company. The exceptions to this schedule are the Music and Live Event Production categories – which start in late July or early August – and Episodic Series and Multi-Cam Directing, which also starts later in the summer.
     Robinson delivered some advice for potential applicants.
     “Visit the Web site and read the testimonials,” she said. “Look at the host companies and categories. If this is the business you want to go into, you shouldn’t pass up this opportunity.”
     Interested students can visit emmysfoundation.org or call 818-754-2800 for more information on how to apply and for answers to frequently asked questions.