Category: Film/Video Production

“You need to be your own advocate, your own agent, your own corporation.”

 

Episode 11 of Select+CT with Derek Amrosi, National Emmy Award-Winning Editor, Gary Cohen, Triple Threat Television 

 

 

Listening to Select + CT, I’ve realized there is more to CT than suburban homes, medium-sized office buildings, and Dunkin Donuts on every corner. I’ve discovered that those medium-sized office buildings are Connecticut companies’ regional and national headquarters. And that means we have lots of opportunities to engage and participate in CT-based internships!

From Atlas Technica to Vineyard Vines, the most random companies you can think of have something going on. This discovery raises an essential question for all undergraduate students: how do you, as a student, land an internship and a paid internship at one of these companies?

A good intern is bound to be hired for a bigger role in the company. Sometimes if you’re too good, you can earn the title of an Emmy award winner! That is just what Derek Amrosi, National Emmy Award-Winning Editor & Gary Cohen, Executive Director from Triple Threat Television, have done! Both interviewed by David DesRoches back in 2020, Gary and Derek unraveled how to get to where they are today by starting with an internship, engaging a network, and securing good mentorship.

See Also: University to Hollywood

As a kid, all Derek did was make movies & videos. I’m not saying that has to be the case for everyone, but it certainly helps to have that background or past activity. When he graduated high school, he couldn’t find any jobs related to the industry. That was until he realized a specific corporate headquarters was only a few blocks away from his house! Derek wrote them an email and was offered a paid internship! 

He worked from their database, which slowly got him closer to a job in the film industry. He now hires interns regularly. With an internship, you get to prove yourself and perform at a high standard, which can move your career forward. This is what Derek seeks: interns who outreach. If that outreach is a certain level of creativity, ingenuity, and ambition, you will “ rise above the noise.” He says you have to have self-respect for your work, but you also need to take criticism and improve it to move up in the industry you seek. 

Although this episode focuses on Film/Video production, I think it offers advice to all undergraduate students who want to leverage internships for growth and long-term career opportunity.

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When pursuing undergraduate degrees, students should identify and engage the internships available to students at that institution. Connecticut College has multiple internship opportunities for undergrads, and they are paid! Social media, 3D animation, virtual reality, and web design, to name a few. You can learn more about these opportunities here. 

DMCT Micro Credentials

If you are unsure of how your skills connect to Connecticut’s growing Digital Media industry, I encourage you to enroll in DMCT’s first micro-credential course, The Emerging Practitioner. I am a graduate of the program and learned many things to assist my transition from University to a Career in CT and beyond!

“We have cityscape, we have countryside, coastline, the only thing we can’t shoot here is a desert.” 

 

Episode 6 of Select+CT with George Norfleet, Connecticut Office of Film, Television, and Digital Media, and Danielle Bibbo from ITV America.

 

 

Working through these podcasts, I’ve come to see Connecticut as a state with a lot more opportunities than the average student might assume. Yes, we might recognize it as having good school systems, high average wages, and being super close to two major US cities (i.e., New York and Boston). We might also see it as a place where a person can experience all four seasons too! However, as I’m quickly learning, there are many career opportunities in Digital Media for people like me. In this episode, I explored how the State supports these opportunities through its tax incentive program.

See also: University to Career

Tax incentives are being used to encourage productions to come here. There is also an Infrastructure tax credit program for companies willing to relocate to Connecticut. Digital media and motion picture tax credits offer to rise as much as 30% in some cases. The point: Economic Development! A.K.A: trying to encourage production companies to come to CT and spend money.

More detailed information about this program is available in a Select+CT podcast episode featuring guests George Norfleet (CT Office of Film Television & Digital Media) and Danielle Bibbo (VP, ITV America). In the discussion, both explained how the state’s tax incentive program works and how it encourages companies like ITV America to relocate to Connecticut.  

“They’re renting cars, buying hotel rooms, food, renting equipment, there’s a multiplier effect for every dollar they spend, trying to pump up the revenue-generating gauge” Said George. Because Connecticut is not quite NYC or Boston, there is more CT needs to do to attract successful businesses or turn those businesses into successes, and this tax incentive program seems to be doing just. Already, existing companies like WWE and ESPN have re-affirmed their commitment to Connecticut and new companies like ITV America and Wheelhouse Studios have relocated here. 

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Yale University dedicated a program to film and media studies. This, of course, is also in Connecticut. Most recently, a student of this program was featured in an article for expressing the power of family photos in a black history month film series.

Also, don’t forget to check on the course below, which offers an entire unit about CT-based career opportunities. 

DMCT Micro Credentials

If you are unsure of how your skills connect to Connecticut’s growing Digital Media industry, I encourage you to enroll in DMCT’s first micro-credential course, The Emerging Practitioner. I am a graduate of the program and learned many things to assist my transition from University to a Career in CT and beyond!

“[It’s not] ‘oh no I have to include a woman’ it’s maybe she’ll talk about something that nobody ever thought of before.”

 

Episode 5 of Select+CT with Heather Elliot-Famularo, University of Connecticut / Karyl Evans, CPTV

 

 

We’ve either participated in or at the least heard about the rise of feminism at some point and those in the industry can probably relate to the challenges of women in film.

Recently, women in certain states have had their rights taken away, which has rightfully flooded socials of those in and out of the United States. Tiktok was how I heard about it (I write that un-proudly), for example, but, the media itself has aided in the movement for women’s rights long before platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Now it seems that news outlets and journalists walked so that Elon Musk could run away with Twitter.

See also: Activism through Social Media

Two years back in 2020, CT-based podcast: Select+CT covered what it is like to be a woman in the media now and then. At the time of this recording, there was not a looming threat of abortion rights being stripped away. The podcast was however able to land guests Professor Heather Elliot-Famularo, University of Connecticut, and Karyl Evans, CPTV who spoke on women’s issues prior to the current ones; that being women in film. Particularly how film productions were actually more inclusive to women just a couple decades ago.

This was due to those women being paid less to do more. This is not exactly the reason one would want to be included, I imagine.

Fast forward to this decade, and you’ll see that when the term “Women in film” is mentioned, “It’s not ‘oh no I have to include a woman’ it’s maybe she’ll talk about something that nobody ever thought of before.” said Heather. Both Heather and Karyl did work in documentaries. Heather won film awards for her coverage on the Holocaust, and Carol won 6 Emmys for documenting African American history.

See also: University to Career

Karyl: “This is my art form, because you’re talking to real people”. Her take on success in the film industry is to simply keep working on projects and eventually you will ‘level up’. Karyl herself started as an intern and hung around until she was hired somewhere else to work on a production. Through this experience, she found that there were more women involved in the production than men. This was not for the good-graces of these women, but because back in the day women would be considered “safe” with less money. That is why more women were able to get into the documentary film world, because it was less money being taken from the production (even if they had real talent).

Featured Program

If you have read this far, Southern CT State University has an entire women’s and gender studies program that might be of interest (read more about this program here).

DMCT Micro Credentials

If you are unsure of how your skills connect to Connecticut’s growing Digital Media industry, I encourage you to enroll in DMCT’s first micro-credential course, The Emerging Practitioner. I am a graduate of the program and learned a bunch of things to assist my transition from University to Career in CT and beyond!

“The job market is more demanding as the years go by, what is required of one person used to be a job done by 8 people.”

Episode 2 of Select+CT with Todd Barnes, Sacred Heart University, Wayne Edwards, University of New Haven

 

 

We all have the same question – how do we successfully transition from University to Career?

According to some online data I located graduates in nearly every corner of the United States, 53.2 million say they’re unsure of how much value the degree they’ve just earned actually holds. As of February 2021, 14.5 million of those graduates are unable to find a job in their field of study (read more here). Whatever your viewpoint on degrees or whatever path you pursue, many share the same goal – securing an entry-level position that can launch a career.

See also: Careers in Motion GFX

Digital Media CT, and the Select+CT podcast are committed to sharing information that helps students achieve that goal. 

In my latest throwback to Select+CT episodes, I had the opportunity to reflect on some of the strategies to support my next steps from college to my career. Of course, the path will change, but having advice from professionals is always helpful as we make adjustments along the way. Episode 2 of Select+CT, features Todd Barnes: Artistic Director at Sacred Heart University, & Wayne Edwards: Lecturer at the University of New Haven. Both educators gave us insight as to how successful graduates like themselves were able to find entry-level work in the place they once studied: college. 

Of course, going into education is not the only option and wasn’t the only topic of discussion. So, if you’d like to know how to go from classroom to corporate (or whichever field you’re aiming for), I suggest you keep reading!

Wayne emphasized that the tech industry is changing, and roles and responsibilities are becoming more combined. Students need to have larger skill sets to succeed. You simply can’t focus on just one particular skill, but many, many skills which need to fall under the umbrella of the field you’re studying. “We see that when people graduate from college, there are some jobs and not all the jobs.” Todd added. The job market is more demanding as the years go by; what is required of one person used to be a job done by 8 people.

See also: Woman in Film

This information doesn’t just apply to the digital media industry, it has impacted the entire economy disproportionately in comparison to other sectors. The problem is, that digital media is so demanding now, that the same demand falls onto those seeking digital media-based jobs. Your degree acts as a stepping stone to access the other skills you can possess, but if you don’t do anything to acquire them, you may end up like those 14.5 million graduates who are still searching. 

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“The advantage of having instructors like Todd and myself is that we’ve been there, we’ve been through tech changes, and understand that the fundamentals of everything is still there,” said Wayne. The University of New Haven, where Wayne instructs, has an office of marketing and communications which aims to promote the university’s reputation through “award-winning strategic and creative efforts”.  (You can learn more about that here).

DMCT Micro Credentials

If you are unsure of how your skills connect to Connecticut’s growing Digital Media industry, I encourage you to enroll in DMCT’s first micro-credential course, The Emerging Practitioner. I am a graduate of the program and learned a bunch of things to assist my transition from University to Career in CT and beyond!