The last notes of Pomp and Circumstance are just a memory, the cap and gown have been neatly folded and stowed away and the diploma is still not back from the framers. Which means the streets are filled with former students looking for a job in digital effects. What’s the market for an intern or job seeker like these days, what can prospective employees expect when they start looking for work and, most important, what do the effects houses expect from a prospective employee? VFXWorld called on some of the busiest companies to answer these questions.
For starters, not every door is open. New Zealand’s Weta Digital, responsible for the acclaimed effects on the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the upcoming I, Robot, doesn’t have an internship program. Instead, Georgina White, the company’s publicist, says they hold occasional “trainee sessions” to check out local talent. Their hires are always locals, White explains; any outsiders must have three years professional film experience in order to meet New Zealand’s immigration laws.
Closer to home, Jeff Ross, evp at Eden FX, best known for their work on the UPN TV series, Star Trek: Voyager, and the recent Sony feature, Hellboy, also eschews interns. The small artist-based company does almost all of its work in-house, and if their workload demands bringing on extra hands, they “have a base of experienced freelancers we can call in.”
But there are still opportunities for neophytes looking to break into the industry, if they are willing to work hard. Lala Gavgavian, recruiter at Lucas Digital, says the company actively looks for interns at Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound through campus visits, portfolio reviews, advertising outreach at industry events and through referrals. Applicants must currently be enrolled as a junior or senior at an accredited college and scheduled to return to school following their term at Lucas. And given their status as one of the elite in the industry, it’s no surprise they also have Ivy League requirements for students: an overall GPA of 3.0, with a 3.5 in their major.
As important as grades, Gavgavian adds, is the presentation of their application materials. “Making certain that something as simple as the correct spelling on their resumé and cover letter goes a long way.”
Zoic’s Emile Edmund Smith (left), CG supervisor, and Kristen Leigh Branan, head of production, seek interns at SIGGRAPH and Visual Effects Society. Matthew Sagar of MPC advertises widely, works with schools and attends festivals to recruit for new applicants. MPC’s lobby (right) is seen above. Zoic Studios photo credit: Raoul Bolognini.
Zoic Studios, creators of the visual effects for Fox TV’s Firefly and the recent “Connect” campaign for SBC Business, looks to SIGGRAPH and the Visual Effect Society as their main source for prospective interns. Kristen Leigh Branan, Zoic’s head of production and Emile Edmund Smith, CG supervisor on the feature Serenity, look for “people with an enthusiasm for this field of work,” adding that while a portfolio is helpful, it is not required.
Britain’s The Moving Picture Co. does not offer formal internships but does work with schools such as the National Centre for Computer Animation at Bournemouth University and runs a graduate entry program. Matthew Sagar, head of HR at the London-based company, says MPC (whose work is now on screen in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) does advertise widely on specialist Web sites, and attends festivals and conferences. They look for applicants who display “enthusiasm, talent, passion and creativity,” but the most important factor is “that they have a good personality and will integrate into our teams and work well in groups.”
While all of the effects houses find interns from different majors and disciplines, “well rounded art and film majors,” according to Zoic’s Branan and Smith, while Gavgavian says Lucas Digital has done well with students from computer science, graphics, fine arts, film and business programs. What many people don’t realize, she says, is internships are available in many of ILM and Skywalker Sound’s departments. “For instance,” she explains, “if we are seeking an accounting department intern, we will most likely be looking at candidates that are on a path to a finance career rather than an animation career.” But whatever department you apply, she adds, “having interest in film is, of course, a big plus.”
Just about every successful applicant has to know their way around various computer software programs. Zoic looks for people who have experience in LightWave, Maya, Photoshop, combustion and After Effects. Branan says one of the biggest changes in recent years is that interns now arrive ready to hit the ground running. “It used to be that no one had access to software, but now, it is almost a given that they have a working knowledge of it.” MPC’s Sagar says that his company has a team of between 55-75 developers working on proprietary tools, so proficiency in specific programs is less important to him. “Programming skills have become a high priority,” he says, adding that “juniors with technical skills and a creative mind are very welcome.”
Everyone interviewed agrees that internships offer students what Sagar calls “as real a feel for the process as possible.” On top of that hands on experience, Lucas Digital’s Gavgavian says students also benefit from “observing professionals in the industry.” They also get to “hear the inside story” from the company’s award-winning artists through scheduled presentations and informal get-togethers, adding that “some of our most successful employees began as student interns.” Simply by being in a professional environment, students learn an enormous amount, Branan and Smith say.
But no one should expect to go directly from being accepted into a program to making an acceptance speech at the Oscars. MPC’s Sagar bluntly states that the biggest misconception of new hires is “that the industry is a fast track to high earnings and easy success.” The company explicitly does “not encourage those who are chasing the money or expect everything overnight.” At Zoic, interns are expected to wear many hats, “some of them menial,” Branan and Smith warn. They include picking up and delivering tapes, setting up the conference room for clients” and basically learning the day to day operations of the company. They are also expected to jump in and “help our artists on projects with things such as; setting up renders, scanning images, creating reference charts for shows, helping collect data on shoots with a vfx supervisor.”
And if you want to succeed, they recommend that interns perform even the most mundane tasks “with a smile.” Those menial tasks are “not there for us to get free labor, but to see how well the intern can deal with doing work they don’t want to do, and if they do it smiling or are very smug.” They also need to understand that “in the end, you have to please the client, even if that is not what you think is artistically best all of the time.”
While this sounds a long way from the glamour of high profile vfx, there is a payoff. Gavgavian says, “An internship could be the starting point for employment in a regular position with the company”; several people at Zoic have gone “directly from being an intern to a full
fledged artist position where they have excelled.” And there are fringe benefits. At Lucas, you can explore the studio’s two soundstages and walk among some movie history, and there’s always the chance you’ll be invited to a screening at one of the complex’s two state of the art theaters.
Steven Mirkin is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer. His work has appeared in Variety, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, New York Post, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and other publications.
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