Name: Jennifer Yang
Internship Company: FilmNation Entertainment
Title: Business Intern
What did you do before Stern?
I worked at a PR agency (FleishmanHillard) as a consultant in the corporate practice for seven years. I helped Fortune 500 companies plan, manage and execute on integrated communications programs.
What was your role r?
My role contributed to two areas: driving forward diversity & inclusion initiatives and working with my supervisor in Strategic Planning & Finance to analyze box office trends.
What were your responsibilities?
For the data analysis project, I provided insights from analyzing box office performance over the past five years for a specific film segment. I did this by compiling and analyzing box office data and presenting insights to the company on film trends. For the diversity and inclusion project, I structured research around industry best practices and developed program recommendations to integrate diversity and inclusion practices into company initiatives moving forward.
How did you spend your time preparing for recruiting and interviews?
In addition to learning about the entertainment and media industry through an academic context and by following industry news, I connected with industry alums whom I thought held interesting roles. Not only was I able to gather incredible perspectives on the industry, I was also able to learn about opportunities across a variety of organizations and functional areas of interest.
What experiences (if any) helped prepare you for this internship?
During my first year, I sought out classes and experiences that would give me industry knowledge and build relevant technical skills. This included my participation in several entertainment and media initiatives such as the Time Warner (now WarnerMedia) immersion program and learning from industry executives through panels, workshops and one-on-one conversations. My summer internship experience at American Express also gave me an opportunity to advance my data analysis and Excel skills.
What was the best advice you received during the recruiting process?
If you’re thinking of pursuing a career in entertainment and media, consider the framework of building your experiences from either the content, function or industry perspective (or a combination of the three).
Movie/TV recommendations:
Mad Max: Fury Road is a favorite from recent years.