The Chicago International Film Festival
October 6-20, 2011
At the AMC River East on Illinois Street
By BLAKE GOBLE
On October 6, 2011, The AMC River East on Illinois Street opened up for the 47th Chicago International Film Festival. At the very least, Chicago owes the Festival a small thank you for the diverse art brought out each year. But before sending letters to Michael Kutza, founder of the Festival, let’s take a moment to appreciate the unsung heroes of the Festival: the yearly round-up of unpaid interns.
“I’m getting paid in experience!” said Amanda Blumeyer, a current Marketing Intern.
Blumeyer is one of many unpaid interns working with a goal of bringing art to the masses. “The Chicago International Film Festival is the longest running competitive film festival of its kind in North America. I think it’s unique because they really try and bring films from all over the world to Chicago so we can see what people in other parts of the world are watching” said Blumeyer.
It’s a tough job market, but interns are grateful. “I’m really looking to gain experience right now, and CIFF was a good fit for me when I was job-searching.” according to Blumeyer.
Kara Leslie, a recent Loyola graduate, is the CIFF’s Front Office Manager and is also an unpaid intern. From putting stickers on 2,000 short film DVDs, to assisting programmers with watching movies, Leslie represents the hard, honest and sometimes seemingly trivial work that comes with an unpaid internship. “I don’t know if I can speak on behalf of all internships … but I definitely think that interns can be taken advantage of sometimes. At Cinema/Chicago, I definitely don’t feel that way. I feel respected for the work I do, and am treated extremely well.”
It is valuable experience, but it can be demeaning or draining at times. An un-named former Features Programming Intern shared that “My boss bought me lunch on my last day. That’s it. I’m almost certain no one in the office with equivalent seniority went without a dime.”
“I watched 50 feature-length submissions and typed up evaluations and recommendations for each one. In the end and despite my campaigning, no film I reviewed was screened to the public” according to the former Intern. “I think unpaid internships like mine are fairly exploitative of humanities students.”
“My time was already stretched thin, and one day I was particularly burdened with school and festival work. Weeks in advance I had been assigned to introduce one of the more prominent films and moderate the Q&A afterwards with its semi-famous director” said the Intern. “Finally after months of working I could do something somewhat important!
“When my film was ready to start, I went over to its theater. I saw my boss standing there and asked her when I should go in. She checked her timetable and told me I wasn’t scheduled to do anything, that someone else was going to introduce the film and moderate the Q&A. When I reminded her that she had assigned that job to me, she shrugged and said it was unfortunate but the other person had the job now.” Ouch.
Recently, interns from “Black Swan” filed a lawsuit against the producers over disputes involving the workload, accreditation and lack of actual pay. Fox Searchlight, the film’s distributor chose to ignore the suit, but the questions raised were heard clearly. Are interns under-appreciated? Do they deserve different or more substantial compensation?
A total snub, or a harsh truth about interning? Either way, the next time a movie is screened at the CIFF, take a minute to think and appreciate the intern that may have likely been behind it.
October 6-20, 2011
At the AMC River East on Illinois Street
By BLAKE GOBLE
On October 6, 2011, The AMC River East on Illinois Street opened up for the 47th Chicago International Film Festival. At the very least, Chicago owes the Festival a small thank you for the diverse art brought out each year. But before sending letters to Michael Kutza, founder of the Festival, let’s take a moment to appreciate the unsung heroes of the Festival: the yearly round-up of unpaid interns.
“I’m getting paid in experience!” said Amanda Blumeyer, a current Marketing Intern.
Blumeyer is one of many unpaid interns working with a goal of bringing art to the masses. “The Chicago International Film Festival is the longest running competitive film festival of its kind in North America. I think it’s unique because they really try and bring films from all over the world to Chicago so we can see what people in other parts of the world are watching” said Blumeyer.
It’s a tough job market, but interns are grateful. “I’m really looking to gain experience right now, and CIFF was a good fit for me when I was job-searching.” according to Blumeyer.
Kara Leslie, a recent Loyola graduate, is the CIFF’s Front Office Manager and is also an unpaid intern. From putting stickers on 2,000 short film DVDs, to assisting programmers with watching movies, Leslie represents the hard, honest and sometimes seemingly trivial work that comes with an unpaid internship. “I don’t know if I can speak on behalf of all internships … but I definitely think that interns can be taken advantage of sometimes. At Cinema/Chicago, I definitely don’t feel that way. I feel respected for the work I do, and am treated extremely well.”
It is valuable experience, but it can be demeaning or draining at times. An un-named former Features Programming Intern shared that “My boss bought me lunch on my last day. That’s it. I’m almost certain no one in the office with equivalent seniority went without a dime.”
“I watched 50 feature-length submissions and typed up evaluations and recommendations for each one. In the end and despite my campaigning, no film I reviewed was screened to the public” according to the former Intern. “I think unpaid internships like mine are fairly exploitative of humanities students.”
“My time was already stretched thin, and one day I was particularly burdened with school and festival work. Weeks in advance I had been assigned to introduce one of the more prominent films and moderate the Q&A afterwards with its semi-famous director” said the Intern. “Finally after months of working I could do something somewhat important!
“When my film was ready to start, I went over to its theater. I saw my boss standing there and asked her when I should go in. She checked her timetable and told me I wasn’t scheduled to do anything, that someone else was going to introduce the film and moderate the Q&A. When I reminded her that she had assigned that job to me, she shrugged and said it was unfortunate but the other person had the job now.” Ouch.
Recently, interns from “Black Swan” filed a lawsuit against the producers over disputes involving the workload, accreditation and lack of actual pay. Fox Searchlight, the film’s distributor chose to ignore the suit, but the questions raised were heard clearly. Are interns under-appreciated? Do they deserve different or more substantial compensation?
A total snub, or a harsh truth about interning? Either way, the next time a movie is screened at the CIFF, take a minute to think and appreciate the intern that may have likely been behind it.
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