I spent a year getting rejected from a myriad of internships at places far less exciting than a writers office before ending up at Eureka.
The path that led me to this internship began last winter when I was in the audience of a screenwriting talk with the legendary Eric Roth. At this event, I met Nate, a talented up-and-coming filmmaker whose fantastic short thriller, “Another Life” is featured on this blog. We talked briefly and discovered we had both attended Dartmouth and were now both students at USC. Based on this connection, we kept in touch, and I attended a test screening of “Another Life”. Later, I ran into him at a party and he told me about his internship at Eureka. I was writing a spec script of The Good Wife at the time, so we talked about spec writing. I talked openly about my fruitless internship search, and listened with excitement to all the details he had to share about his internship.
Several months later, when his internship at Eureka ended, he kindly offered to pass my resume along. I hadn’t asked for this generous favor, but I believe he thought of me for a number of reasons: he appreciated that I came to his test screening and showed a genuine interest in his work, and from interacting with me in several settings, he knew I was a professional person whom he could recommend with confidence. In addition, I had previously been able to articulate my interest in television drama writing as well as my commitment to it through writing a spec. People don’t know to offer you things if they don’t know you want them, so it is important to be vulnerable enough to share your dreams and ambitions with others.
Lucky for me, the P.A. at Eureka was impressed with my resume. Two aspects stood out to her: of all things, she thought my customer service experience working as a waitress in Las Vegas showed I would have a good attitude on the job, and she appreciated my cover letter, which I put a lot of thought into and tailored specifically to this opportunity. My interview went well, and as I was able to start immediately and work the schedule they needed, I got the best internship ever a year after I started looking for one.
Where do you recommend searching for internships?
I search the usual job boards and lists that are floating around L.A. I don’t think it is so much an issue of where you search, so much as an issue of when and how. I check job boards every day, even when I’m not looking for anything at the moment, because I’d work around my schedule if possible for the right position. If I see an opportunity that might be a good fit for my goals, I send my resume immediately.
Eureka’s internship is part of the NBC internship program. This program provides great opportunities to network with other interns at all the departments at NBC. One of the best ways to get your dream internship is to take a backdoor internship at a related company. Even if it isn’t your ideal internship, if it gets you in the door of a studio like NBC, it could provide the opportunity to network your way into the internship you do want. The best internships and jobs in Hollywood are not publicized and never will be. The majority are filled by personal references, and the only way to get good references is through networking.
As an aspiring writer, what has working at Eureka taught you?
I loved watching Eureka before coming on as an intern, but I’ve never been an obvious match for Syfy. I had always imagined that my writing would be a perfect fit for any of Showtime’s half-hour dramedies, like Weeds, Nurse Jackie, or The United States of Tara, as my samples are populated with dark comedy and flawed female leads.
As an intern, I have spent a lot of time taking notes in the writers room. I am incredibly grateful I was given such an intimate look into the process of crafting episodes of Eureka. It takes an unbelievable amount of energy and collaboration between several brilliant people to create a single episode of television.
The skills that are used in creating great stories are the same at Syfy as they are on NBC or HBO. If you want to be a writer, and you have a vivid imagination and strong storytelling skills, any show would be an amazing place to work. If you tell yourself, “I’m only going to write for Mad Men,” or, “I only write medical procedurals,” you are going to limit your options, and you may be disappointed if your dream show gets cancelled or simply isn’t hiring when you are looking.
The other thing I have learned is what a wonderful opportunity internships are. At Eureka, the current P.A. was a former intern on the show, and two of the current writers started out as assistants. This industry is all about relationships. While Hollywood often gets a bad reputation for the way people are treated, I can say my experience does not reinforce that stereotype. The writers and staff of Eureka are all incredibly talented, intelligent, generous, and fun-spirited people, and I have felt very lucky to work with them all.
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