My name is Avery Grant, and I am currently a graduating Junior at Chapman. I am majoring in Communication Studies and minoring in Creative and Cultural Industries. This semester, I had the amazing opportunity to intern at Untitled Entertainment as a Talent and Literary Management Intern. 

Overview

One of the days I was in the office

I discovered this internship opportunity through LinkedIn, where I applied directly through the platform. After a successful Zoom interview with an assistant, I was welcomed to the team alongside six other interns across the country. This was a remote internship until Untitled Entertainment merged with Grandview and I had the opportunity to go in person in Los Angeles. I had two mentors; one was a recently promoted manager, and the other was an assistant to a different manager. They have both been in the business for many years, so learning from their expertise and experience was such a treat. As a Talent and Literary Management Intern, I witnessed the whole scope of talent management, from pitching, signing, and submitting clients to completing script coverage and analyzing screenplays. I had not done script coverage before this internship, so that was the most prominent skill to develop and practice. Luckily, I typically did at least one coverage a week, so it was a muscle I got to flex repeatedly. While I struggled significantly at first, I got better and understood what differentiates a good script from a bad script.

As part of the program, we had weekly intern meetings where managers at Untitled Entertainment would come and do Q&As with us. Additionally, we had two projects to complete during the internship: 1. Pitching a piece of IP that has not yet been developed, and 2. To pitch an actor/actress who is not yet represented by a manager. I enjoyed learning how to pitch one of my favorite actresses properly and theoretically bring my favorite book to life.

Right before logging into a weekly intern meeting

I saw my communication skills from the classroom directly applied to the “real world” with these projects and throughout the internship overall. I found I was leaning on the skills and concepts I learned from my Theories of Persuasion, Interpersonal Communication, and Personal Branding classes the most. As a talent manager, you are always on the phone or talking to someone new, so being personable and easy to get along with is super important. It is a common phrase in entertainment that “it is all about who you know,” and I saw this play out in actuality. Knowing how to keep relationships strong is an asset that I felt well equipped for with my background in communication.

My Takeaways

This internship was definitely a learning curve! The talent and entertainment business is incredibly fast-paced, and having a robust network is key. To future interns considering a role within talent management, my advice is: don’t be afraid to ask questions. I spent so much time worried that I was asking “stupid” questions, but I learned that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Being an intern is your time to learn as much as possible, so ask those questions!