European Film Business Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year at WB, this experience has exceeded my expectations and more. I have learnt a great deal from working there for the last year, from gaining insight into how an international company operates to working in an office in London, every stage of my placement has helped me to develop on either a personal or professional level. I am very passionate about the film industry so being able to work in this area has been a fantastic opportunity for me to learn more about this field, as well as working with over 19 territories across Europe has helped me to decide my future career path.

I always felt valued by my colleagues, never made to feel like the ‘intern’, I felt that my opinion was valued at all times, for example when it came to our reactions on films, scripts and trailers, we were asked for our perspective, which I never would have expected before working here, I really did feel a part of the team.

I reported to 4 people in my department for different tasks, my main two managers were both exceptional with the support and guidance they gave me throughout the year. When I was struggling with my workload and task prioritisation, they helped me to work through this and gave me advice on how to increase efficiency in areas to save time, which was very helpful. We had regular catch-ups to ensure that I felt comfortable with my workload, as well as being able to go through questions or any worries I had. They both were fantastic, constantly encouraging and supporting me. All of the management felt approachable and willing to help, I asked lots of questions throughout the year and they were always more than willing to answer, whether it was a work-related question or if you wanted to know more about the industry. Also, they would always give you constructive feedback which has helped me grow as an individual.

On a general perspective, Mondays and Tuesdays were definitely the busiest days of the week because of handling box office information from the weekend, the rest of the week would be slightly quieter but I always ensured that I had work to do as I like to be kept busy and know that I’m adding value. Near a large-scale movie release, we would be a lot busier.

I was given a lot of responsibility in my job, such as checking the information for the box office and release dates in the 19 territories I worked with were updated correctly in our internal database, as well as updating the weekend box office results for Germany. This is important because my managers use this info in their reports that the send to executives to the WB headquarters in Burbank, so I really felt that my work contributed.

The excel skills I developed will help me in my final year of university with coursework, but also in my future career and everyday life. My communication skills I have developed this year will help me in my future career, from talking to people from different countries via phone and email, to adjusting how you speak to people depending on the different levels of management. The improvement of my task prioritisation and time management will enable me to be more organised in my final year of uni and establishing whats more important and urgent, as well as being more efficient in the completion of my tasks.

The office atmosphere was very upbeat and positive, everyone is approachable and friendly. The dynamic in every department is slightly different, but everyone is enthusiastic and passionate about what they’re doing, which makes WB a great place to work.

Extremely well organised, there was an intern training schedule sent out at the start of the year to outline the sessions. Also, there was a handover week where the previous intern taught me the job, which was brilliant as this one-to-one training helped to ease me into the role whilst having some support.

WB organised several training sessions across the year for interns, such as presenting me. a Myers-Briggs Personality test, Project Thinking and a CV/End of Placement workshop. I also attended an Excel training course which was expensed by my department. I really felt that WB wanted to help as much as possible to develop as young professionals. I do feel that there could have been a training session on assertiveness/confidence and presentation giving skills, but the training sessions that were given were helpful.

WB doesn’t have a grad scheme unfortunately, but there have been several interns that have been asked to work back there, an example being one of my managers. However we also are put onto a mailing list where we will be notified of any vacancies in WB, which will be helpful, as I would love to work back at WB in the future if the opportunity arose.

With having 50 interns working at WB, there was a strong intern community, with socials at least once a month after work. There were several events that were organised throughout the year such as an Intern Christmas meal and end of placement meal. Also placement students would sit together at lunchtimes. With colleagues we would occasionally go for lunch and sometimes for after-work drinks and a pub quiz also which was fun.

I didn’t live in Holborn as I wouldn’t have been able to afford accommodation around there with my salary. London is generally very expensive everywhere, even where I lived cost half of my monthly wages. Socialising in the area was also pricey, but happy hours in places and drinks offers in bars near by always helped with the cost of this.

Holborn is very close to Covent Garden/Soho and also not far from Shoreditch so there were plenty of pubs/bars/clubs to go to for after work drinks. There were several places that would have happy hour for a few hours after work, which was ideal as prices in London are extortionate apart from Wetherspoons.

There were a few opportunities, for example we got offered to participate in the annual SleepOut for the charity CentrePoint, where the WB team raised over £13,000.We also got the opportunity to attend several screenings/premieres of the movies that we had coming out, which was fantastic as you get to see what you’re working on. There were also fitness classes and a football team that you could participate in.