<p>I'm going to be in the Writing for the Screen and TV program this fall, and I know that SCA will be able to give me the resources necessary to get great internships in the film industry. I am, however, planning on pursuing a minor in songwriting because I do love music too. I was just wondering if I would be able to get an internship in, say, a music studio (or somewhere music-related) through USC, despite not being a music major? I don't mean to sound as though I don't want to be in SCA, I'm so honoured and I LOVE writing and movies, but I also love music and I don't want to rule that out as a career path. So, to get back to the initial question, would I be able to get a music-related internship through USC even though I'm a Writing major?</p>
<p>Hey! First of all congrats on both the writing and the music programs! I know that a lot of marshall student get film internships, so I’m assuming that the trend of getting internships in other areas carries on to music as well. But if you are passionate about music than you should definitely pursue it! If you go and ask someone in the music department about internships, I doubt anyone will tell you no. Good luck!</p>
<p>Hey canada! PM me. I was a WST major and Music Industry minor and did music-based internships. I think I can be of some help!</p>
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<p>This is one of SCA’s big “smoke and mirrors” tactic they use to draw students to the school. SCA does VERY LITTLE in setting up its students – especially the WST students – with applicable, useful internships. You get access to a job board with the UTA joblist, there’s an occasional “career” event…but most of these are useless for WST who are looking to intern or PA on TV shows or in writer’s rooms. SCA won’t get the internship for you; it’ll throw a joblist at you and say, “Have fun applying!” No guidance, no help.</p>
<p>When you graduate, it’s even more of a joke. I went to the SCA career advisor and the meeting was basically this:</p>
<p>“Do you get the UTA joblist?”
“Yes.”
“Are you applying to jobs?”
“Yes.”
“Well your resume looks really good, so just keep applying! Have a nice day!”</p>
<p>Like, REALLY!? REALLY!?</p>
<p>With all the alums, SCA should be setting students up with good companies; I know so many students who got crappy internships at no-name production companies making coffee and copies all day. Hardly useful, hardly something SCA students should be subjected to.</p>
<p>[/two cents]</p>
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<p>As someone who works in the film industry (and has had many an intern cross my path), I can attest that the competition to get coffee and make copies, even for “no name production companies,” is fierce. There are plenty of USC and NYU film grads fighting for those jobs, as well as Harvard law school grads and MBA’s for that matter. Even more so to get a job in a writer’s room (every EP and writer in that room has someone they’re trying to get in). </p>
<p>A can-do/will-do attitude is definitely one of the key necessities, as well as cultivating connections from any corner of your life, school included, and making the most of them. Expecting SCA or any other school to “set you up” with a “good company” in this business is a bit naive and likely to lead to disappointment (or bitterness).</p>
<p>And an internship is often what you make it. I know many people in high places who began with “crappy internships” at “no name companies” as well as “no name companies” that quickly become major players.</p>
<p>I was more referring to the shady companies that post listings on the UTA list that have no projects attached to their name and really can’t “teach” the students anything and completely take advantage of their time and talents. A lot of internships take advantage of students as “free labor” and do little to show them what working in the industry is like.</p>
<p>SCA doesn’t really do a good job of helping students differentiate “beneficial” internships from the really sketchy ones that violate California labor/internship law. (Which happened to quite a few of my friends at USC, one of whom actually sued the “company” she interned for. She ended up winning!)</p>
<p>A bit off topic, but I think it applies to most students looking for internships. If your program doesn’t help you figure out if the company/position is useful, ask around! (Old students, people you know who work in the industry, the Internet.) It’s just a tad harder for SCA students because some really great production companies have no websites and you need an IMDB pro account to see some/most of their production credits; it would just be…nice (?) if the school said, “Yes, many students have worked here and they’re a trusted employer” or “We have heard not so great things about company XYZ for internships.” Find out what you’d really be doing in the internship – maybe see if they can get you in touch with old interns, because that can help, too.</p>