MSU junior Bradley Coster spent the summer in northern Michigan interning for the Traverse City Film Festival (TCFF). Majoring in Media and Information and minoring in Fiction Film, Coster is striving for a career in videography.
TCFF presents a week-long festival in the beautiful Traverse City. The festival presents films from all different genres and features discussion panels with international and domestic filmmakers. The non-profit organization has dedicated itself to saving the cinema. In other words, TCFF wants people to enjoy films again. TCFF was founded by Michael Moore, Emmy and Oscar winner, and an MSU supporter.
Behind the Scenes
Coster was given daily tasks related to various events during the film festival. His assignments included interviewing festival attendees and people within the film industry, editing footage, and uploading his “dailies” to the TCFF Instagram page. Some of his assignments even brought him face to face with his idols.
“I had the opportunity to interview Leonard Maltin. It was the highlight of my internship,” said Coster. “He is an iconic critic in the film industry, and it was an amazing experience to talk to him.”
Each assignment came with a tight deadline. Coster admitted that keeping up with the schedule was quite difficult, but managed to accomplish everything on time thanks to his strong work ethic.
“In film, you have to plan and be organized in order to meet deadlines on time,” said Coster. “Most days had very long hours in order to get things. I would have to interview, edit the film, and get it posted by that night. We really wanted to feature what was happening on a daily basis to our followers.”
Finding an Internship
Applying to internships can be overwhelming for a student, but you don’t have to do it alone. Coster met with his advisor and took advantage of the MSU network.
“It is so important to start looking and applying [to internships] as soon as you can. Always apply way before the deadline,” Coster stated. “Know what you are interested in, and do your research.”
Coster is currently a student intern for the MSU football team. He films and edits football promo videos, which are featured on various MSU social media channels, like their Instagram. Coster hopes for another film-related internship the summer of 2018, and a full-time videography position upon graduation.
By Brooke Segal