Focusing on diverse early career opportunities within the film industry, our panel will delve into how we managed our unstructured time, the importance of networking, and the differences between remote and in-person work. We will discuss working in both pre- and post-production film work, different styles of collaboration, and how to navigate the film industry as students. We will cover internship experiences spanning pre-production, marketing and distribution, and film festivals. We invite you to join us to learn more about filmmaking at multiple phases of production and the experiences of aspiring film students.

Witches and Cougars and Grandmas, Oh my! My Experience in Documentary Development and Pre-Production
Max Paster ’25, Film Media Theater major & Computer Science minor

Film Festival Flashbacks
Sophie Frank ’26, Film Media Theater major, English minor, & Journalism, Media, and Public Discourse Nexus

Early Career Opportunities in the Film Industry: Distribution and Digital Marketing
Jasmine Samuloni ’25, Sociology & Film Media Theater double major

The Pre-Production of Queer Documentary
Oak Pryanichnikova ’25, Film Media Theater & Psychology double major

Speaker name: Max Paster
Title: Witches and Cougars and Grandmas, Oh my! My Experience in Documentary Development and Pre-Production
In my summer internship, I worked on the development process for a documentary about older women and sexuality. Under the supervision of longtime filmmaker Deirdre Fishel and in collaboration with another intern, I researched topics related to the film (such as stereotypes and ageism!) and helped with early pre-production tasks, such as scheduling the first shoot date at the end of the summer. As a film student hoping to go into post-production and editing work, this internship gave me a new perspective on filmmaking in the early stages. While much of my internship featured interesting research topics and write-ups, I also got to watch some related films and apply my film analysis skills to noting techniques used in those documentaries. My presentation will cover the skills and knowledge I gained, how I got this internship, and the challenges I navigated this summer.

Speaker name: Sophie Frank
Title: Film Festival Flashbacks
Last summer, I worked as an Editorial and Event Intern at the Woodstock Film Festival, an independent film festival based in my hometown of Woodstock, NY. Assisting the Editorial Director and the Marketing and Personal Relations Director, I worked in a wide variety of fields, learning about diverse opportunities within the film world, and emerging with a passion for film festival work.

Speaker name: Jasmine
Title: Early Career Opportunities in the Film Industry: Distribution and Digital Marketing
My presentation aims to discuss the different aspects of remote intern work and introductory avenues into the film industry as a college student. This summer, I interned for the documentary film “Trust Me" through Mount Holyoke’s partnership with New Day Films. I will explore how I secured my internship, what my duties were as a digital marketing intern, and reflect upon a summer spent working remotely. I will connect my internship to broader career goals and my next steps in planning post-grad work after this opportunity.

Speaker name: Oak Pryanichnikova
Title: The Pre-Production of Queer Documentary
This presentation will overview my experience as a Production Intern for the documentary Mississippi is the Queerest Thing (Working Title). This film explores the history of segregation and homophobia in Mississippi through the lens of Christie Herring, the filmmaker behind the project. Over the summer, I worked with Christie Herring on the pre-production of this film with my main goal being to work with transcripts of interviews and archival footage and use them to discover through lines that would inform the film’s structure. I also got the opportunity to assist with the post-production of the documentary Singing for Justice, a historical account of the life of folk singer Faith Petric. The experience allowed me to use my organizational and creative skills to get a start in the film industry.