Internship teaches students about “the Showbiz”
The Sundance Film Festival, among many other festivals, was a time of networking and marketing for the film industry.
Showbiz data, an Internet based entertainment market research company, gave 10 Utah State University students the opportunity intern at The Interactive Lounge, which was hosted at Harry O’s, a bar in Park City.
The Interactive Lounge was a central point where people from all festivals ranging from the Sundance Film Festival to the Slamdance Film Festival, could mingle and learn.
“I think we achieved our objectives of creating a cool, informative and educational event to participate in.
Crowds were larger than last year,” said Neil Roberts, business development and marketing senior vice president for Showbizdata. “We gave it more of a focus with film makers. It wasn’t like a trade show … people would want to come back. A big ingredient was e-mail functionality – we doubled our computers.”
All types of people walked through the door at Harry O’s and were greeted and welcomed by an energetic and upbeat atmosphere and a central bar where everyone could chat, mingle and grab a drink at Zenway, a Brazilian restaurant.
Among those who shared in the lounge experience were media, celebrities, sponsors, USU Journalism and Communication Department interns and the public. The media appearances included CNN, Fox News, E!, MTV, and plenty of other Web-based television networks. Cameras, digital that is, lights and a lot of action are just a few words to describe the experience.
Many celebrities made an appearance, were interviewed and did celebrity Web chats with Yahoo Chat each afternoon.
Aside from the music, the people and the atmosphere, there were laptops and Dell Computers setup throughout the lounge so people could check e-mail, surf the net or learn more about a sponsor’s Web site.
“We were doing marketing for the name, to get more people to know who we are and what we do,” said Todd Iscovitz, producer of MrShowbiz.com, an entertainment magazine Web site. “Like anything with advertising, it’s hard to know how successful the effort was. I hope it was.”
Another popular event at the lounge was the panel discussions. From directors and producers to marketing managers, the lineup of panelists dealt with issues such as financing films. If some of the festival’s films were too hard to see while in Park City, the Lounge offered Short films in the morning, called “Breakfast Shorts,” which featured films with a running time of 30 minutes or less, each morning at 9:30 a.m.
There were also VIP Digital Screenings held each day downstairs in the VIP Digital Screening room, equipped with beanbag chairs for comfort while viewing the screenings.
Almost everyone was guaranteed to walk away with some promotional item, which ranged from hats and T-shirts to yo-yos and chapstick. Throughout the long list of sponsors, marketing managers, maintenance crew and restaurant workers, there were the interns.
Ten students from USU had the opportunity to make connections, work on a marketing level and assist in every way possible from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for 10 days. An opportunity of a lifetime can best describe their experience.
“It was really frightening at first because I didn’t know what to expect and we had to go to press headquarters,” said Kim Barraclough, a senior and intern majoring in public relations. “It was awesome because we were taking invitations and putting stuff in their mailboxes. To have Rita Wilson’s face not far from me was cool. This experience has been one in a million.”
Many of the interns faced hands-on public relations experience.
Unique experiences are what kept the Interactive Lounge alive.
“It’s been a once-in-a-lifetime experience because as far as us being young, people came in who are more in gear towards our crowd,” said Brandon Boone, corporate communications graduate and intern. “The highlight was meeting Carmen Electra, interviewing some of the “Real World” people and having an experience in Park City with films booming or busting and actresses getting found and left behind. It’s the everyday life of the entertainment world.”
Showbizdata offered the opportunity for all of the students at Utah State University who took the internship.
“We wanted to give the students an opportunity to network with people and come in contact with people who [they] usually wouldn’t and give an experience of a lifetime,” said Tony Klish, Showbizdata director.
The Interactive Lounge was one of the many attractions found at the independent film festivals hosted in Park City, Jan.18 through 28.