[APPLAUSE] Hi. My name is Elizabeth Gottshall, and I am a computer science and studio art double major. And I am pursuing a job in film in the future. 

This summer I was a video production intern in New York City. I was an intern at a company called Emporia Entertainment, which is a 360 production company that does everything from photo shoots, renting out equipment and studio space to video shoots, music videos, everything. 

Their main target audience is a Spanish speaking people and Latinos and Latin Americans. 

They own four properties, which include a fashion magazine, an entertainment news, and radio, a physical studio space in New York, and a television show called Top Model Latina. 

Recently they worked on Almost Like Praying with Lin Manuel Miranda, which is for Puerto Rico. 

At my internship they had a lot of interns. So they had photo interns, marketing interns, fashion interns, and a lot of video production interns. 

The video production interns were split off into two groups. So there were people who did post production. So they handled all of the footage, and processed it, and then edited it together into a final piece. 

I was part of the physical production side. So I did more of the handling equipment, talking and guiding the talent on the set, using cameras, setting up the green screen, working with the lights, and sound, and everything. 

And so you can see some of the shows we were shooting and videos that we were shooting right here. 

I also worked on events. So we went to different events and helped prepare the venues. We captured footage and video for it to be edited into a video later. And then I also worked with their social media accounts. 

So we went to galas. We had parties that were hosted at this physical studio space. We worked at weddings, and some networking events too. 

I also did an episode of their television show Top Model Latina, where the models all came in. And we shot the whole episode in a day and worked on some of the one on one interviews that they had with the contestants, as well as the judges. 

I also worked on creating product reels for Emporia Entertainment. So they had a fashion stylist come in and bring in products like facial masks, shampoos, other makeup products. And we would put it together and create videos for Instagram and YouTube to help advertise and promote the company. 

I also did a lot of the behind the scenes footage, which was important, because they wanted to take the behind the scenes footage to use for future videos, promotional videos, and other commercials that they work on. 

I created original content for their entertainment channels. So [INAUDIBLE] did a lot of entertainment videos, as well as their news and radio. 

So some of the entertainment videos might have been things like Buzzfeed produces, like can you tell the difference between waters? What kind of Spanish slang is there? 

So we would create the videos. So we would generate the idea. And then we would go through and shoot it. And then we would send it off to our post production division. And then they would edit it together and post it online. 

Lastly, my biggest responsibility was working on my own commercial for the company. So everyone who was a physical production intern worked on a commercial that they created themselves. So we were learning about pre-production, physical production, and then post production, and the division of labor. 

So we all pitched our ideas. And then we pitched them. And once they were approved, we would start creating them. So we created a shot list and then shot them. 

Then we handed it off to our chosen editors who would put it together. And then we presented them at the end of summer. 

So I am going to play a little bit of mine right here. 

[VIDEO PLAYBACK] 

- I'm a fashion model and an actress. 

- I'm a director slash videographer. 

- I'm a fashion director and stylist. 

- I am a fashion and commercial photographer based in New York City. 

- And we have been shooting for anything. 

- I come to Emporia Studios to take my head shots. 

- Portraits. 

- Fashion shoots. 

- Commercials. 

- [INAUDIBLE]. 

- Or whatever you want. 

- Emporia Entertainment offers quality, commitment, and attention to detail. 

- They're very visionary, and they're not afraid to do anything new. 

- The space is available for any kind of photography or video that you need to shoot. 

- They have a great team. They have the equipment. They have everything. 

- They're willing to take risks just to try something different. 

- It's like a one stop shop. 

- This is a 360 production company. Here you come to do one thing, and they do everything. That is amazing. 

[END PLAYBACK] 

And that was the commercial that I worked on. 

[INAUDIBLE] 

[CLAPPING] 

These are some of the employees. And it was really great working with them because it was a very diverse group of people. Everyone was really interesting. Everyone was very nice. It was a very positive environment to work in, which is very important when you try to look for a job. 

I learned a lot this summer, which mainly included adapting to an environment, because New York City is much larger than my own hometown. 

So learning how to maneuver and do things on your own was very important. I learned how to network with people, how to handle and maintain all the equipment that I was using, which was very important, because you need to know how to use the equipment. Cause once you're out in the world, you're expected to do it all on your own. There's not as much teaching. 

I also learned how to work with a team on projects, which was also important, because you needed to learn how to do things very efficiently and quickly, but have it still be quality content by your deadlines. 

And lastly, I learned how to balance work and free time, which is also important, because you don't want to overwork yourself and burn yourself out. 

So sometimes you just had to figure out when you needed to take a step back and take care of yourself, or when you had free time to just have fun, or when you needed to stay in and do your work. 

[LAUGHTER] 

Do your homework. Sometimes you still kind of have homework. 

These are pictures of what I did outside of my internship. I went to The Jimmy Fallon Show. I went kayaking with the company. Just doing overall exploring New York was a lot of it. 

Here are some more pictures. I went to the Seth Meyers shows. I went to the Museum of the Moving Image. And I highly recommend it if you're interested in film. 

And then how I got the internship. Mainly it was through Google. So mainly it's just Google searching everything, and applying to everything that you can. A lot of it is getting to know people. So networking is a big deal. 

I didn't think it was at first. But it really is. You have to really talk to people. Because you never know who's going to respond, or who hears things through another person. 

So just keep applying, and someone will eventually get back to you. 

So here's all my fellow interns. This is not everyone, but most of them. 

So yeah. It was a great opportunity. I'm very grateful that I had this opportunity and that I was able to find it, and that Mount Holyoke provided me with the skills, and then the funding, because otherwise it wouldn't be possible. 

So I wanted to thank everyone for coming out and listening to my presentation. 

[CLAPPING]