EVOLVE ENTERTAINMENT FUND INTERNSHIP PROGRAM BLOG SERIES

BLOG #1 – CURRENT STUDENT: ABRAHAM HERRERA

We’re thrilled to share our first blog in a series celebrating our students’ and alumni’s accomplishments in partnership with Mayor Garcetti’s Evolve Entertainment Fund (EEF). Eight Columbia College Hollywood students and recent alums are working or have worked at different sites across the city as part of the EEF Internship Program. The Evolve Fund is a public-private partnership aimed at creating new opportunities for communities that have been historically excluded from the entertainment industry.

With the 92nd Academy Awards around the corner, we are excited to share this guest blog that current student Abraham Herrera wrote about his experience with creative powerhouse, Rideback, lead by CEO Daniel Lin who is also an EEF Advisory Committee member. Rideback Ranch houses Daniel Lin’s production company that is best known for the IT movies, The Lego Movie, Disney’s Aladdin (2019) and most recently, produced Two Popes, which is nominated for Oscars in the categories of Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jonathan Pryce), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Anthony Hopkins), and Best Adapted Screenplay. Best of luck to all nominees!

Stay tuned this weekend to read about recent graduate David Legel’s experience with Rideback as well. 

Getting involved with the Evolve Entertainment Fund is an ongoing opportunity for CCH students. EEF is beginning their recruitment process for their paid summer internship program. Our Career Development Team will be hosting a workshop for students on the requirements and how to apply on Friday, February 14th at 1PM in the Main Theatre.

I am a current student at Columbia College Hollywood studying cinema with an emphasis on directing. I am unsure of my graduation year since I am a transfer student but I probably have two more years remaining.  I was accepted into mayor Eric Garcetti’s Evolve Entertainment Fund in fall of 2019 and am currently still involved in their program. I believe what sets me apart from other applicants for this program is my passion for cinema and determination to reach my dreams. A lot of people enter the film industry just to make money, thinking that because it is a large industry that releases multiple feature films every weekend there should be a large and easy payoff involved. I don’t think this is the right mentality to have in any business where the goal should be making art that has the potential to touch audiences. An enormous amount of hard work is required to succeed in the film industry as well as an even greater amount of love for what you do. If you plant a seed and water it daily as well as nurture it with love, eventually a large tree would grow with many succulent and abundant fruits you can enjoy and share with those around you.

This past fall I completed an internship for Rideback, the company behind films such as The Two Popes, The Lego Movie, It, Aladdin, and Sherlock Holmes. Since Rideback owns a large campus called The Ranch, where they lease spaces to other companies such as Warner Animation Group, Margot Robbie’s Lucky Chap, David Ayer’s Cedar Park Entertainment and Animal Logic, some of my duties included making sure everything around the Ranch was operating smoothly as well as help out for events that were occasionally hosted there. Other responsibilities included reading screenplays or IP and writing coverage, setting up for meetings, making and organizing lists, answering phone calls, and assisting everyone in completing their duties efficiently. Some of the things I learned during my time here was how to balance the business and film aspects of a production company, identifying the value of IP and how to create a franchise out of that, and the various ways a production company could network with other companies and filmmakers. Since one of my long-term goals is to start an indie production company that supports the works of auteurs and new voices, the knowledge gained here was priceless.

Balancing life, school, and internships could be a challenge but a strategy I use to maximize efficiency is creating a daily priority list to organize my urgent tasks and manage my schedule. Since I currently use the public transportation system to travel to and from work or school, I try to find ways to use this time to complete tasks whether it is something creative like planning for a short film or something relating to homework from class. Finding a balance between life, school, and internships is totally possible, but it requires adapting to a new pace of productivity and prioritizing your time to what is truly important.

As I am starting my education at CCH, useful knowledge I am gaining that could apply to my internships is the ability to communicate with other people in my field from courses such as fundamentals of oral communication. I chose to attend CCH because it is a school where every other peer around you is studying the same subject and have goals in the film industry that align with my own. Here, I can make friends and collaborators that have the potential to benefit me as I continue my journey.

Additionally, being located in California allows me to study while pursuing more internships or film-related opportunities. I believe CCH will help prepare me for future internships because of its very helpful career development resource center where they help you improve your resume, cover letter, and teach you strategies on how to network and set goals. Advice I would give to other students is that they should find their passion and pursue it. The film industry needs unique, new voices so I encourage everyone to tell stories that only they could tell and to use their differences to their advantage. Since everyone at CCH studies film, I urge them to dive deeper into cinema and explore works from across the world and throughout the decades. Only by seeing the world told through different perspectives can you grow as a storyteller and only by feeling for characters different from you can you grow as a person.