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The Real Beginning of MY Life After Film School by Lauren Slusser

This summer the real beginning of MY Life After Film School has been amazing!  I'm interning at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, working on the preschool show Dora the Explorer.  My dream has been to work in children's entertainment, and this internship is the start of it coming true!  I'm doing your standard unpaid intern work of burning DVDs, making copies, and data entry, but I also get to sit in on a lot of production meetings and see all the writing, art, and research that go into every show.  I've already learned a ton.  Plus, the people are so nice, welcoming, and creative.  I feel like I'm really going into the right industry!

One of the coolest parts of my "Nickternship" is the opportunity to take classes and have meetings with some of Nickelodeon's top executives and artists.  In these situations, I've gotten to use many of the skills I learned on Life After Film School.  It is always intimidating to meet one-on-one with a super-successful person you admire.  You want to go into that meeting totally prepared and composed, with plenty to talk about.  Working on Life After Film School, where I've gotten to interview big-time directors, I got a lot of practice doing background research and composing interesting questions for them.  I also learned how not to freak out and get flustered when you're in the same room as one of your idols!

These same skills have helped me so much in meeting with executives during my internship.  I walk into the room armed with the knowledge of that person's life story, interests, and every television show or film they've worked on.  I can immediately engage them in something they want to talk about.  And, most importantly, I know that it helps to SMILE.  Thank you, Life After Film School!