Film & Media Arts Students Spend a Semester in Hollywood

This past fall, four Film & Media Arts majors drove across the country to spend a semester in Los Angeles, learning about the Hollywood entertainment industry. Completing two different internships in their areas of interest while taking a course taught by entertainment professionals, students experienced studio tours, attended special events, watched film screenings, and networked with industry experts.

Education and Experience

Every Monday, students met with different industry professionals. Senior Brynn Smarrella said, “The experience was a perfect time absorb all the information and wisdom and knowledge.”

Students didn’t just learn what it means to thrive as a Christian in the entertainment industry. Every other weekday, students were living it out as they interned at real companies. Smarrella worked for a casting director and also at Longevity Pictures, an international film and television production company.

Senior Greg Compton interned at Scissor Films, a virtual production studio, and AbelCine, a camera rental house. At AbelCine, Compton worked with professionals who came in to rent gear every day. “Starting a career in LA is all about who you know,” Compton explained. “Through the connections that I made, I was invited to be on a few film sets and was even invited to return several times.” Before Compton, the record number of film sets a student had worked on had been three. Compton worked on fifteen.

Life in LA

Besides working and learning, students experienced life in LA. They lived in apartments in Pasadena, a city northeast of downtown Los Angeles, where they cooked for themselves and experienced what life after college could look like.

As part of the semester, students are required to go to twelve different events, which can be anything from movie premiere screenings followed by a director talk to an education workshop or touring the Warner Bros. lot. Taylor has a program coordinator in LA who finds these events for students and can help them get into other events they learn about there. 

One such event was a Q&A with English cinematographer Sir Roger Deakins. Compton mentioned to a professor that it would be a dream to speak with Deakins, and the professor helped make it happen while Compton was in LA.

Returning With Purpose

“LA was fantastic. It was one of the biggest highlights of my Taylor career,” said Compton. “I was expecting a lot out of it, and it still surprised me and was better than I could have hoped for.” Compton shared that he feels prepared to enter the workforce after graduation and pursue his calling. His semester in LA showed him that the skills he’s learning in the classroom are applicable to his future career.

Similarly, Smarella was grateful to make connections and experience the diversity of the film industry. “There are people who go into corporate work, those who go into videography for missions or for churches, and then there are some who are more drawn to film and entertainment, like me,” she shared. “After this semester, I’ve learned so much that will help me make decisions in the future about where I can go and what my life could look like.”