Remarkably, Pitt In Hollywood has placed three Pitt students at internships at major studios within its first year of existence.

2. Determine what type of internship you want. Read books about the industry-- either contemporary "how to guides" from the library or classics like producer David Selznick's Memo and William Goldman's Adventures In The Screen Trade to determine which type of job you would be interested in ultimately.

3. Research available internships here and at other websites. You may want to check out internships.com and other sites. We do ask you to email us back at pittinhollywood@yahoo.com if you find an internship or helpful site to share.

4. Target producers, directors, managers, production companies and studios you admire. Look for their credits on www.imdb.com which will tell you what movies they have made. You may want to find out through further "google.com" searches what studio their last movie was made at and what the name of their production company is. Find out as much information as you can about the company or the individual you wish to apply to.

5. Be specific about your goals. With the help of the film studies department, Pitt In Hollywood emailed out internship information on the American Cinema Editors Internship. Though Pitt has no formal film school, John Paul Horstmann had gotten experience helping to create Creation Station, a student run TV station. He followed up on the email, applied for the internship, and contacted editor Richard Marks (Terms Of Endearment, As Good As It Gets) to learn more about editing. John Paul beat out students from across the country to get this internship. But he put in the work. Discover what aspect of the business appeals to you and go after that.

6. After researching where you want to work, compose a letter to the company. This should be a short and courteous letter. Realize that the company gets hundreds of resumes. If you address it to a prominent person, chances are it will be opened by an assistant (the job you want) and then many times, discarded or shoveled to human resources. You want to try to make a personal connection.

Sometimes it helps to go after people with Pittsburgh connections and they may have an affinity for when they were starting out. Sometimes it helps to address the people who do the hiring for production assistants which would be the line producer or the unit production manager. It is hard to distinguish who is who. If you can get a hold of daily Variety, on Friday's they list films in the future. Other days they list television shows in production. If they list a production manager and you are looking to be a production assistant, you can send the resume to them.

7. TIPS on getting your letter through. There are no hard and fast rules. Producer/film executive Bernie Goldmann told the story of how he sent a resume which looked like a "storyboard" when he was starting out. Some people thought it was really creative, but didn't hire him. Others offered to help. Others threw it out. Be creative, but be smart. And polite persistence is key. You need to learn to take rejection in this business.

-- We have had some success with people asking to interview professionals in the entertainment industry for the Pitt In Hollywood website. (See the acting page interview with WB casting person Patricia Noland and the writers page for the William Goldman interview.) It is a good way to make a personal connection and that person can realize they are not only helping one individual, but others. See any of the officers or web page editors for details on you can conduct this type of interview with someone you admire in the business.

-- In trying to establish a personal relationship, you may want to ask for five minutes of their time to talk on the phone or through email about advice. As Eric Gold said when he spoke at Pitt, he is on the phone with 50 to 100 calls a day. Realize how valuable the time of the individual you are contacting is and proceed according. Do your homework. Find out about their background through google searches, etc.... Be polite and courteous. Perhaps say that you would be willing to speak with anyone at their company if that is the case.

-- People move around a lot from film to film. It is a business of gypsies. It is a good idea to call the studios or agencies where these people are associated. Be a detective.

-- Follow up phone calls. It is appropriate to call once and ask the assistant if they received your letter. It is NOT appropriate to be a nuisance or to be too aggressive about getting calls back.

8. Be aware of various specialized internships. The Warner Brothers Writing Program helps writers starting out. The director's guild have their own internships. Certain studios have programs geared towards minorities. You can find out information by calling around. Try human resource departments at all the studios. Ask people if they know of other internships.

9. Give back. We do ask that you share you internship/job stories and helpful information you have discovered with this website. Again, you may email pittinhollywood@yahoo.com with stories for the website.

10. Here are various numbers which are helpful in pursuing internships, jobs, and interviews. You can also check local listing in L.A. and New York. L.A. has four major area codes: 310, 323, 818, and 213.

Major studios.

Disney (818) 560-1000
Fox Studios (310) 369-1000
Paramount Pictures (323) 956-5000
Sony (310) 244-4000
Universal 818-777-1000
Warner Brothers 818-954-6000

CBS (323) 575-2345
NBC 818-840-4444

Creative Artists Agency -288-4545
William Morris Agency 310-859-4000
Writers and Artists 800-235-9292
Writers Guild of America (323) 951-4000

The Right Connection (213) 657-3700 (temp agency which caters to industry.

11. Helpful industry websites.

Dga.org (director's guild site)
Wga.org (writer's guild site)
Sag.org (actor's guild site)
www.editorsguild.com (editor's guild site)
Writersstore.com (Writers Computer Store has much info about the business.)

Helpful job sites for show biz careers:

www.mandy.com
www.wbjobs.com
www.paramount.com
www.showbizjobs.com
www.entertainmentcareers.net
www.entertainmentjobsnow.com

Temp agency websites:

www.corestaff.com
www.adecco.com
www.appleone.com
www.spherion.com