Hi! I’m Azat Sayadi, a rising junior Communication Studies major and Sociology minor. The summer of 2022, I was lucky to work as an intern in the Home Entertainment division of Warner Bros. Discovery. My internship lasted nine weeks, and I was exposed to the inner workings of the entertainment industry and gained valuable knowledge in franchise planning, corporate presentations and partner deals. This experience built upon the education I’ve already received at Chapman and will inform my further studies. 

 

I am so grateful and fortunate to be a member of the Reach Honorship Program, which provides four summers of internships for Burbank and Los Angeles students at Warner Bros. Discovery. I became aware of this program through word of mouth – it was essentially a best-kept secret among high school seniors in Burbank, and I applied during the first lockdown of 2020, not at all expecting to get an interview, let alone a position. While my first summer internship was essentially canceled due to COVID complications, I was able to spend last summer at the DC Books for Young Readers division, and this summer as an intern at Home Entertainment, Theatrical New Release & DC Franchise Marketing. 

 

During my internship, I was able to sit in on meetings surrounding franchise strategy, digital and physical film sales, branding and partner deals, socials and many other components that go into Home Entertainment. I had two main projects that I worked on over the summer –  the 2023 DC franchise plan and social calendar. The franchise plan required me to compile a slide deck that provided information on the theatrical drafting and Home Entertainment release plans for the 2023 DC slate. I gathered information on release dates, retail offers and comparable titles. For the social calendar, I created a calendar of significant dates and holidays that could be leveraged in 2023 to best promote DC releases and characters on social media. In addition to these projects, I also worked on a solo project concerning on how best to leverage TikTok for Home Entertainment and touched on different aspects of the department, like YouTube content and NFT brainstorming. I was able to develop both creative marketing skills as well as a more business-minded knowledge surrounding profits and losses. 

 

I was able to employ skills and strategies from my Communication Studies classes at Chapman. In particular, I highlighted the use and effectiveness of subtle messaging in Home Entertainment TikToks, as I believe subtle messaging, rather that overt advertising is much better leveraged on TikTok than other social media platforms, due to the platform’s unique bent towards authenticity and short-form content. I hope to expand my knowledge of social media and franchise this Fall in my Influencer Marketing class. I also will be using skills surrounding presenting and public speaking, which I also hope to further develop in my Public Speaking class this year. 

To any students hoping to intern in the entertainment industry, and particular marketing and Home Entertainment, I would recommend making lots of connections and soaking up as much information as possible. Departments in the industry are so interconnected and it’s a great opportunity to be exposed to new and different positions and career paths that you wouldn’t have thought of before. I had such a good time this summer and learned a lot and I’m excited to take what I learned into the rest of my education at Chapman and my future career path.