High School Film Intern Wanted


Summer Film Internship in Ecuador for One Lucky High School Student

Sustainable Summer (www.sustainablesummer.org) is accepting applications for a film intern to direct and shoot a series of short videos about our summer program in Ecuador for high school students. Sustainable Summer is an environmental study abroad program that teaches high school students about sustainability. Students participating in Sustainable Summer’s 2013 programs travel to Ecuador to study concepts such as organic farming and sustainable development while also exploring a foreign culture.

[pl_alertbox type=”info”] This post was initially published in April 2013 and has been updated to reflect the fact that we have restructured the internship as a fellowship through our scholarship program. If you’re looking for information on 2014 high school film intern opportunities with Sustainable Summer, please review the information about our new film fellowship program here. Our high school film intern last summer, Joe Kelson, produced a wonderful video for us. Please visit our homepage to watch the video. If you’re a high school student interested in pursuing this exciting opportunity, please click here. [/pl_alertbox]

Important Dates

On Location Dates: June 28 – August 2, 2013 Post-Production Deadline: September 15, 2013

Remuneration:

50% of the tuition for the program will be covered by a grant.

Responsibilities:

Produce a few short promotional videos:

  • A 1-2 minute overview video explaining Sustainable Summer’s mission and approach to teaching high school students about sustainability while traveling internationally.
  • Two slightly longer videos for each of our 2 programs in Ecuador (2-3 minutes in length)
  • Perhaps one or two additional videos centered on important topics, like safety or food and accommodations
  • Perhaps more of a short documentary style piece on a specific sustainability issue, like the Coca Codo Sinclair dam project or the politics of seed saving in Latin America. This would certainly be a bit more ambitious of an undertaking, but the opportunity could be there to capture some impressive footage and turn out an interesting piece for more widespread distribution

You…

  • Are a high school sophomore or junior that wants to pursue a college degree and/or career in film production.
  • Have a portfolio and experience producing short films
  • Have a DSLR camera, audio, and post-production equipment (Final Cut Pro, etc.)
  • Have the ability to use this equipment in a semi-professional capacity
  • Are emotionally and physically capable of traveling in a developing country
  • Are keenly interested in environmental sustainability
  • Are able to integrate well with a group of your peers
  • Are able to get a passport and any required vaccinations

Important Considerations:

The experience needs to be beneficial to you. You’re starting to put together a nice portfolio and it’s important that this project will help you continue to develop your professional skills. We will put together a clear internship plan with specific goals and deliverables, taking into consideration your objectives. You’re not expected to be a professional; this is a learning experience. However, you need to be committed to turning out a finished product that you will proud of and will form the centerpiece of your portfolio.

Our program needs to align with your personal interests. We would like you to participate as much as possible in the program in the same capacity as other program participants. We will need to capture a lot of raw footage, but it will not be so much that you aren’t able to participate actively in the program. As long as you’re interested in learning more about sustainability, we’ll be in good shape on this one.

You’re able to turn around the post-production of at least the “overview” video by mid-September.

Your parents need to be okay with this.

About Sustainable Summer:

Sustainable Summer is a program run by Sustainable Learning Inc., a Brooklyn-based environmental education non-profit. Sustainable Learning’s mission is to cultivate the next generation of environmental leaders. More info at www.sustainablesummer.org.