Practicum/Summer Internships

Critical to your successful training as a future leader in the entertainment industry is the opportunity to gain invaluable practical experience through an internship.  Not only will this practicum allow to you to test and refine classroom theories and principles in a real setting, but you will also enhance your personal network of contacts and build your resume.

Though most internships in the entertainment industry are non-paid, the practicum component of the curriculum is designed to help the students develop their "soft skills" and, during the internship assignments, polish their management skills within the stressful and demanding environment of the industry.  In addition, several students have received job offers or leads from the people they meet on the internship.

First-Year Practicum (Optional)

The goal of the optional first-year practicum is to expose the MEIM students to the creative process, to make connections with people who may become their creative collaborators in the future, and to build confidence in the management skills they are learning in the classroom.

During your first year in Pittsburgh, you will have an opportunity to work in one of the entertainment-related firms or organizations in the Pittsburgh region.

Past students have interned at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, the Pittsburgh Film Office, The Pittsburgh Penguins, The Pittsburgh Steelers, Schell Games, Silk Screen Festival, Steeltown Entertainment, WQED Communications, or in the offices of a film or television show shooting in Pittsburgh.  MEIM students also may elect to work in a management-support capacity within Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama operations if the opportunity arises. In addition to those listed above, recent Pittsburgh-based practicum assignments included interning on films and television shows shot in Pittsburgh including Adventureland, The Kill Point, The Road, Smart People and Zack and Miri Make a Porno.  This past summer, some students were able to obtain production assistant jobs on the latest installment of the Batman franchise, The Dark Knight Rises which was shot in Pittsburgh.

The Summer Internship

The summer internship is intended to acquaint MEIM students with industry practices and vernacular, to strengthen the students’ professional network, and to expand their skills, knowledge and, of course, their resumes.

During the summer between the first and second year of study, MEIM students complete an eight to ten-week, full-time internship at a film/ television/ gaming production studio, company or a related agency. Though no academic credit is given for the internship, it is a core requirement of the MEIM Program.

Recent summer internship locations include:

Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Allied Live (NY), Anonymous Content, Atlas Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment, Cineapolis, The Collective, Deluxe Studios, Discovery Channel (MD), The Emmy Awards, ESPN (CT), Focus Features, Fortex Group (NY), Gargaro Productions (PA), Grey's Anatomy. ICM, In The Mo Interactive, Industry Entertainment, John Wells Productions, Late Night with Conan O'Brien (NY), Lionsgate, Mandate Pictures, Mosaic Productions, NBC Universal, Neilsen, Olmos Productions, Open Entertainment, Orb Media Group, Overture Films, Oxygen, Principal Entertainment, Principato and Young, Rogers and Cowen, Sony Music Entertainment (NY), Station 3 Management, Steiner Studios (NY), SyFy Channel, Telemundo (Miami), Trigger, Troika Design Group, United Artists, Universal Studios, Variety, Warner Bros. Studios, The Weinstein Company, Zoic Studios

Second-Year Practicum

The second-year practicum is an immersion in the heart of the entertainment industry, enlarging exponentially the benefits of the previous practica and providing the students with a critical platform for showcasing their knowledge, skills and experience.

Unique to the program is the schedule that allows our students to work nearly full-time (30+ hours/week – Mondays through Thursdays) in the management divisions of film, interactive, gaming, or television studios, production companies, agencies or related firms supporting the entertainment industry. These practicum assignments allow the students to gain first-hand knowledge of how the theories and principles learned in the classroom are implemented in the profession. They also serve as the foundation for many discussions in the rest of the program's curriculum.

A representation of past second year internships assignments include: