Does anyone else remember the constant BLT references early into ‘The Colbert Report’? This article kind of explains that little in-joke. It also talks quite a bit about how people get to be interns, and what is involved in the internship. Very intersting stuff!
Columbia Interns Go Behind the Screens
By Lorraine White
PUBLISHED APRIL 4, 2008Every year, many Columbia students find themselves confronted with the same dilemma. They realize that spending an entire summer merely vacationing or hanging out with friends—while perhaps a good way to enhance tan lines or Guitar Hero skills—does little by way of enhancing a résumé. Conversely, they realize that the experience they stand to gain by pursuing an entry-level job or internship comes with the potential for a summer filled with drudgery, grunt-work, and coffee-fetching.
Fortunately, the testimony of media interns like Michael Grinspan and Sasha Stewart, CC ’09 (both of Chowdah sketch comedy fame) and CU College Democrats President Josh Lipsky, CC ’08, offers hope. Their experiences in television—specifically, working for bastions of fake news The Daily Show and The Colbert Report—prove that a fun summer job and a résumé-boosting one need not be mutually exclusive.
In general, you don’t need to be a film or theater studies major or have contacts in show business to land a TV internship. Though Grinspan, Stewart, and Lipsky did happen to secure their respective positions through personal connections—a former employer (Stewart), a relative (Grinspan), and a guy in the same weight training class (Lipsky)—all reported that many of their fellow interns had gotten the job simply by sending in their résumés and letters of interest. But Stewart confessed that “knowing somebody who knows somebody” is still “always a plus.” Grinspan, who, like Stewart, interned at The Colbert Report, advised that “even if a show doesn’t seem to have a formal intern program,” sending in a résumé is still “worth a shot”—most shows are “always looking for smart, enthusiastic talent.”
While the presence of several New York University film students conversing in complicated jargon intimidated Lipsky when he first joined the other interns on The Daily Show set, he soon realized that, overall, the group represented a diverse array of backgrounds. His studies in political science rendered him no less qualified to be there than anyone else. Upon discovering that tasks of television interns are meted out on a day-to-day and fairly random basis, it became evident to Lipsky that patience, flexibility, and a simple willingness to work hard have far more bearing on one’s success in such a job than does any specific technical knowledge.
To be on the staff of a show whose content is dictated by the unpredictable breaking news of any given day essentially demands that one be prepared for anything and everything. Grinspan’s duties ran the gamut from fetching Stephen Colbert’s signature sandwich (a BLT with a whole sliced tomato) from the United We Stand Deli to transporting the man’s mail to a special office where it could be scanned for anthrax, bombs, and other hazardous materials.
EDIT:
Here’s another great intern article, courtesy of tckaye41:
Take this Job and Love It
In IAAASCY, he recommends that a woman who really wants to grab a man’s attention during a dinner date should order bacon for dessert. Now I get it!
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Gah! I would love to be an intern on either of those shows. Unfortunately I’m almost 12 hours from NY, so unless I moved there, that would be a no-go.
It’s really kind of scary to think that all his mail has to be scanned for things like anthrax and bombs. And it reminded me (rather randomly) of Stephen’s appearance on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, in which he killed a woman via exploding package.
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Didn’t he also once say that his favorite sound is the popping of bacon being cooked?
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Woe, what could have been!
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That’s a whole lotta’ tomato! I think I’d like to watch him tackle a sandwich like that.
Wait. I don’t think I meant to type that.
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This reminds me … the article is a few months old, but one of the colleges I’m considering transferring to had a similar story. Hopefully it hasn’t been posted before:
http://cms.colum.edu/demo/2007/09/take_this_job_and_love_it_1.php
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Oh to be that young and an intern on TCR, what a lovely dream.
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If only.
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ugh, im still waiting on word for possible one-week “internship” w/ administrative production of TCR for the week he’s in philly. i already sent in my application, but unfortunately they’re giving priority to Communications majors and i’m a marketing major.
=(
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The jobs sound really fun.
*Not* Starbucks…;D
Good luck mrtigger001!
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Can I go back in time and be an intern again? Jon Stewart was on MTV wearing that black leather jacket back when I was an intern.
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Clarification: I did not intern for the Jon Stewart Show. I interned in a basement psych lab in the room next door to the rat lab. (Not kidding.)
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Getting off topic for a second here. Has anyone done that Doritos label joke yet? I sorta did. Go to the flickr page if you want to see it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hobogirl1/2388526374/
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If I weren’t graduating and could afford it, I would definitely try to intern at TCR (I’m a Television Production major and my professor was recommending I get an out-of-state internship).
I recently found out one of my classmates had interned on TCR. I’d ask him about it, but that would seem a little strange: “I looked you up on Facebook and saw you had interned on the Report. Stories please!”
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I am 17 and in 11th grade, live in No. west NJ, I write and do stand up, won 9th & 10th grade talent shows 1st place . took Judy carters (hollywood) course over summer graduating class played hollywood improve, I practicedoing open mics, see me at youtube kevin piastra or twitter.com/kevinpiastra I really want to intern for colbert! please advise!
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Kevin:
Thanks for your comment at No Fact Zone! Just so you know, most internships go to seniors in college, so you’ve got a few years before you’re eligible to intern. If you want to see what internships are available, go to this site:
http://www.mtvnetworkscareers.com/internships/
Have a fantastic day!
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