海角视频

During the fall 2009 quarter, two 海角视频 film and television majors got a chance to intern with American Zoetrope, the film production company of legendary filmmaker and Napa Valley local Francis Ford Coppola. Seniors Ryann Pulido and Tim Wolfer were accepted into an internship working at Coppola鈥檚 Napa Valley studio in Rutherford, about 20 minutes from PUC.

The work itself was not very glamorous 鈥� like many internships, it mostly consisted of cleaning and organizing around the office and making coffee. Through these low-level tasks, however, the two were able to gain some valuable insights into their future careers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually the best place to watch from,鈥� says Wolfer. 鈥淵ou really don鈥檛 know anything and they have no expectations of you, so you can actually learn and soak it in.鈥�

鈥淪eeing filmmaking firsthand instead of reading about it was valuable,鈥� says Pulido. 鈥淚t takes you from what you think it will be to what it actually is. When I first went there I was kind of afraid they were going to be mean or bossy. But everyone there was extremely friendly and it was like a family atmosphere.鈥�

That wasn鈥檛 the only illusion that was shattered by this real-world experience. For Wolfer, the internship pulled back some of the mystique of filmmaking. 鈥淧robably the biggest thing I learned is that this is all real,鈥� he says. 鈥淗ere鈥檚 this famous film maker that people worship all over the world 鈥� and he鈥檚 a real person that made these movies.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 even more excited about filmmaking now,鈥� adds Pulido, 鈥渂ecause by experiencing it you find out that it is doable.鈥�

Wolfer was encouraged to dig deeper into his field. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those things you鈥檝e read about in a book but once you see it you鈥檙e like, 鈥楿hh, I probably should have paid more attention to that book,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淭alking to the people that worked there, I realized most of them had at least one bachelor鈥檚 degree. Most of them spoke at least two languages. And some of them have technical training on top of that.鈥�

Wolfer and Pulido were originally hired on for just a short-term internship, but their performance was good enough to get them a job offer working on an actual film project 鈥� Sofia Coppola鈥檚 upcoming film Somewhere.

While the students' tasks may have been simple, the experience was valuable 鈥� and there were some exciting moments as well. They both got a chance to meet Coppola himself, and during one studio cleaning session got to handle the original film reels from the Coppolas Vietnam War epic Apocolypse Now.

The students鈥� internship supervisors were clearly impressed. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e hard workers and they were very good at listening to instructions and were always eager to learn during the internship process,鈥� says Zin Cohen, post-production manager at American Zoetrope. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to get some more PUC students in here next quarter.鈥�

鈥淲e plan to start working with American Zoetrope again in spring quarter,鈥� says PUC's film and television program director Rodney Vance, who recommended Wolfer and Pulido. 鈥淚鈥檒l be hand-selecting more students for this internship.鈥�