Internships at Kartemquin

In keeping with our tradition of nurturing emerging documentary talent, interns at Kartemquin have the opportunity to see first hand how social-issue documentaries are made.

We strive to keep our interns busy and engaged with the work we do. Tasks vary depending on the films in production during a given term, and each intern experience is unique. One day an intern may transcribe a tape of an interview shot in Kenya, and the next assist on a shoot at a local school. Throughout the term, interns attend brown-bag workshops with staff members and producers who teach and answer questions about their given project or area of expertise. These seminars include: camera and lighting, sound, dubbing, project fundraising and financing, and the intern favorite, "lunch with Gordon."

Kartemquin internships are unpaid.

Downloads

Experiences

I especially enjoyed the work atmosphere at Kartemquin and the amount of attention given back to the interns. I never felt like any tedious work I did was taken for granted but felt truly appreciated by the staff. Having weekly training days focused on teaching us important skills to have in the documentary world reinforced the feeling that everyone cared about us learning and succeeding beyond our time at KTQ.

— Summer 2009

I regularly was impressed and put at ease by the way in which the interns were approached. Everyone was clear and approachable when asking tasks of us. We were often free to trade jobs and to collaborate. The workshops enabled us to better understand what was needed of us and how to best approach tasks.

— Summer 2009

I wish I could work for Kartemquin for free forever! I entered the internship hoping that it would help me decide whether or not I was really passionate about documentary filmmaking and I ended the summer positive that I would be working in documentary production in some form or another.

— Summer 2009