Columbia College Hollywood believes that internships are an important part of our student’s education and a determining factor in their future success in the entertainment industry. We have a strong pool of young filmmakers who understand the importance of internships and their hands-on education makes them instant assets in your development office, on your set, or in your post-production department.
Please read below to learn more about our internship program and how to post your internship opportunity at CCH. We look forward to hearing from you soon to begin partnering our internship efforts.
Q. How does Columbia College Hollywood define an internship?
A. An intern is a student who is performing the duties of an apprentice in a working environment.
Q. What duties do interns perform?
A. Interns want to work and learn, and they are there to help you get a job done that you might not otherwise be able to do. And while a certain amount of basic duties are to be found in any internship, the intern should also have some industry access and higher responsibilities, such as performing story coverage, observing story or production meetings, logging tapes, and shadowing/ assisting on-set, whatever you feel is appropriate.
Q. Do I have to pay an intern?
A. Many internships in the entertainment industry are unpaid, however the more skilled internships, i.e. editing/vfx internships, usually offer some nominal pay for student interns. Most internship companies these days at least provide interns with a gas stipend (especially if errands are part of their duties) and lunch or lunch per diem. You should however try to remain in compliance with all applicable state and federal labor laws related to internships per the Department of Labor guidelines.
Q. How do I list an internship opportunity?
A. Use the “Post Jobs and Internships” link and fill out the requested information. Your opportunity will be emailed to all active students, posted on the campus’ internship boards and, whenever possible, the Career Development office will directly match a qualified CCH intern with your internship.
Q. Does CCH provide internship credit for paid or unpaid internships?
A. Yes, a student may enroll to apply his or her internship for class credit at CCH. Once you have selected one of our student interns,our Career Development office will confirm by letter that the student intern has notified the college of the internship and is eligible for college credit.
Q. How many hours does an intern have to work to get class credit?
A. You and your CCH student intern may continue your intern relationship for as long as you mutually choose to do so but for academic, class credit purposes, the following rules apply.
- In order to receive 2 units of credit,the intern mustlog 96 hours on the job.
- To receive 4 units of credit, the total number of hours worked must total 192 hours.
Q. Do you require any special documents in order to provide internships to CCH students?
A. The internship supervisor at your officewill need to fill out an “Advisor Evaluation of Student Intern” form upon completion of the requisite internship hours to verify successful completion of the internship in order for the intern to receive class credit. CCH willemailyour internship supervisor the evaluation form once an internship is confirmed. This paperwork, and the student’s3,000 word essay to the Collegedetailing their internship experience, will determinewhether the student gainsclass credit for the internship.
Q. How many hours a week does an intern typically work?
A. Unpaid interns usually work two or three days, approximately 8-16 hours per week, but an internship assignment should not exceed 8 hours a day without overtime pay, nor exceed 20 hours per week, unless it is a paid internship.It helps if internships can offer some flexible hours around a student’s course load, however CCH students often have classes at night, leaving them free to intern during regular business hours.
Q. Are tours available of the campus?
A. CCH cordially invites entertainment industryprofessionals to visit CCH and enjoy a tour of our unique film and television campus with one of our talented, student filmmakers as your guide. We’re located in the former world headquarters of the Panavision building in nearby Tarzana that has been completely retrofitted and expanded as a fully-functional, working film school, complete with fixed sets, a sound stage, shooting gallery, well-equipped camera cage, professional ADR/Foley room, editing bays, HD TV studio with green screenand more.We hope to see you soon!
If you have further questions regarding the academic internship program at Columbia College Hollywood, please feel free to contact us.
