Author Topic: Summer Internships For Fashion/Concert Tours/Industrials/Cruises...?  (Read 6052 times)

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DimiG

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Hi, new here!

I'm currently a student and am busy looking for internships (it's my final year and my final chance to find one for my internship requirement). I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this topic, but what the heck? So, this week mostly (but, for the past few in all reality), I've been searching and applying for internships and had a realization that I would really like to try something other than theatre.

Can anyone recommend any places to find summer internships for fashion/concert tours/industrials/cruises and such? I've googled just about everything and most of the major companies and have just turned up tons of dead ends or nothing to be found. Does anyone with more resources have any advice? I've searched the forum and couldn't really find what I was looking for either. I really feel lost at the moment and don't want to miss the peak of application for internships.

Much help would be appreciated. - D

ljh007

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I my experience with the genres you're asking about: fashion/industrial/cruises/tours, there aren't a lot of internships - just jobs. You either do these gigs or you don't. There is not that training position for newbies still learning. Maybe this is because they are so fast-paced and on demanding schedules, there is not time to train or care for an intern. But maybe it's just the way it is. If you really are interested in getting into projects like these, just go for it! Try to find an entry-level job and rock it. Know that people will not hold your hand through the production.

You might also consider event work (at gala/event companies, where you'll do a bit of loading in/out, setup, and maybe some SM-style execution of entrances and lights/sound, all usually in non-theatre venues) or concerts. Summer is a great time to jump on a local concert or even a small music tour (concert tours - as opposed to show tours - might be closer to roadie work, but it's still good experience). If you can find a municipal or city concert/festival in a local park, for example, these gigs usually pay extremely well!

For any of these gigs, you'll work very hard, under constant tension and time pressure, possibly outdoors in the summer sun, for long hours, for several days without rest. But, hey, that's part of the fun, right?  ;)

centaura

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Places like tours and cruise ships, I don't know of any internships available.  Since crews are limited, they are generally only hiring experienced folk - people who can who can wear several hats at the same time.  There is a huge expense in housing and travel that it would not be worth their time to pay it for training purposes.

If you're interested in the concert tour scene, see if you can get on the call list of your local IATSE.  Or ask about at some of the concert venues, though the venues themselves probably won't have internships, they can get you in touch with where they get their crews from.  I don't want to sound negative, but there's no place on a tour for someone in an internship type position.  That's not from a being mean perspective, that's from a 'we have so many bunks available on the bus, they all need to be filled with bodies that have vital crew functions'. 

Most show tours only carry department heads with them, and already depend a lot on locals to be their extra bodies.  They spend each day training in new people to do the day to day work of the tour, since its impossible to carry all with them all the hands a show needs. 

Fashion shows I could see being in a position to accept interns, though I don't have any links to offer for you.  Anything that is stationary and doesn't  have to deal with travel and housing is going to be your best bet.  Try for work with a local IA - that will get you experience in different types of events, and might be a foot in the door for a job on a tour.  Try to find an event or decor company - I worked at a decor company as my summer job and it was good experience in creative trouble-shooting.  Talk with the local convention center and see if they do internships - that would be a foot into industrials.

-Centaura

 

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