This session offers an in-depth look at working with small, independent organizations in media and the arts. The panelists will present their experiences interning for an art gallery, an independent filmmaker, a political publishing company, and a feminist poetry press. Through building editorial and marketing skills, curating, and community-building, each gained a deeper understanding of creative labor and new insights about career potential.

Moderator: Elliot Montague, Assistant Professor of Film Media Theater Film Production

Navigating Independent Publishing in the Political Realm
Gemma Golovner ’25, English & Politics double major

Art and Community on Main Street
Esme Freeman ’25, Art History & Religion double major

Supporting Indpendents in the Arts
Nat Werthamer ’26, Film, Media & Theatre double major

Building Small Press Utopias
Kelsey Warren ’25, English Major & French Minor

Speaker name: Gemma Golovner
Title: Navigating Independent Publishing in the Political Realm
This past summer, I was an intern for a small political publishing company. Through this internship, I gained experience with editorial tasks, such as indexing and copyediting, as well as with marketing on social media, largely Instagram and TikTok, and in research. Through these tasks, I was able to gain the skills required to go into publishing and witnessed how the industry worked on the smaller business side. The internship also allowed me to experiment with working in a specific aspect of the publishing industry, namely political book publishing, which gave me greater clarity on what part of the industry I want to work in for my adult life. My presentation will display my experience and what I learned through it.

Speaker name: Esme Freeman
Title: Art and Community on Main Street
Working at a small, independent gallery in Midcoast Maine, my experience spanned three primary exhibitions: the publication of an art book, a collaborative show of many artists and mediums, and a solo exhibition of large, abstract oil paintings. Working in close collaboration with the gallery owners, I pieced together the extended process a small gallery goes through beginning to end – from finding an exhibiting artist to repackaging their work and sending it back out – along with the day to day minutiae required to keep the space up and running. Not only was I able to explore the ways in which art can be uniquely intermeshed in the local community, both inside the gallery and out, I was able to get close and personal with the topics that I have been studying for nearly four years.

Speaker name: Natalie Eve Werthamer
Title: Supporting Indpendents in the Arts “Observe a detailed look at the work that goes into supporting film and media in the arts. The panelist will present their experiences doing an online internship for an independent filmmaker, and will focus on the importance of knowing what you both like and don’t like when entering a field. Whether interested in performance, production, or analysis, the panelist will show how learning about each and every role that goes into your craft will help build the kind of artist you wish to be. Through building marketing, outreach, design, editing, organizing, and social media skills, the panelist will showcase important ways to build community and mentorship when looking to build connections in your field.”

Speaker name: Kelsey Warren
Title: Building Small Press Utopias
I will present my experience working for a unique literary organization, and the insight I gained into the publishing industry at large. While there are many avenues to a career in publishing, I was particularly interested in seeing behind the scenes of a small press. Through my summer internship, I gained an appreciation for the care, commitment, and innovation which keeps contemporary poetry on our bookshelves. Inspired by my organization’s collaborative approach and emphasis on community, I came to see small press publishing as a space for advocacy, transformation, and cooperation in the wider literary landscape.