10 Film Internships for High School Students
If you’re a high schooler interested in the vast and exciting world of film and cinema, you should consider an internship. Film and related fields can be creative yet practical, requiring certain skills and essential real-world exposure to appropriately understand its nuances and demands.
An internship is a great way to further develop your interests, build a portfolio, and hone your skill set for a career in film — whether you’re aiming to be a director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, or pursue any other role in the filmmaking process. An internship experience can also help you stand out when applying to colleges, and potentially give you an edge when you apply for jobs in the industry.
An internship can equip you with a deeper understanding of the entertainment industry and how it functions, allowing you to gain behind-the-scenes insight. An internship experience can provide you with a platform to explore potential career paths, learn from industry experts, work on real projects and build a network that will be useful as you launch your career.
In this blog, we’ve listed 10 best film internship opportunities for high school students to explore.
This is a paid, year-long, after-school internship that prepares students for a major and a career in the performing arts. Every year, a cohort of 15 selected students get behind-the-scenes access to the workings of performing art venues, learn art management, and participate in multiple workshops.
During the program, BIAC interns learn what it takes to have a career in arts management, get support with post-high school planning, and learn critical wellness practices to help them manage life's transitions while building community. This program will make you college-ready by helping you create your professional resume, grow your professional network, improving your public speaking skills, and creating a career plan after high school. Additionally, you will also get individual support for the college application process. This internship is a great opportunity if you wish to explore your interest in areas of media, visual, performing, or digital art and aim to build a career in the field!
Location: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY
Cost/Stipend: No cost. Students will receive stipends for all three sessions – Summer 2024: $375 | Fall 2024: $450 | Spring 2025: $525
Program Dates: This program runs in three sessions (Dates TBA) – Summer 2024 (one week in August) | Fall 2024 (October-December) | Spring 2025 (February-June).
Note: Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 programs happen 1-2 days per week after school from 4 pm - 6 pm.
Application Deadlines: May 10, 2024, for summer 2024
Eligibility: Applicants must:
Be a rising senior attending a high school in one of the five New York boroughs (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens, or the Bronx).
Have an overall GPA of 2.0 or higher.
BRIC’s Youth Media Fellowship program focuses on developing and producing Concrete Stories: BRIC Youth Media Festival. The annual festival showcases short films created by NYC youth filmmakers under 21, across different genres. During the fellowship, Youth Media Fellows meet once a week in a group of 8-10, under the guidance of BRIC staff. The fellows determine the theme of the festival, manage the call for entries, create marketing materials, select the festival films, promote, and host the festival screening. The festival takes place in May 2024 at BRIC House and is free to the public.
As a fellow, you will gain training, skills, and professional insight into the planning, curation, and promotion of a short film festival. You will also learn about marketing, event planning, and video production. Additionally, you will get a chance to hear from various guest speakers and create promotional print and digital materials.
Location: Brooklyn, NY.
Cost/Stipend: No cost; Program sessions will be paid at a $15/hr rate for 2 hours a week. (Please note the payment amounts will be based on attendance).
Application Deadline: The applications typically close in September.
Program Dates: October 25, 2023 - May 29, 2024 (Wednesdays, 4 pm – 6 pm).
Eligibility: Fellows must be NYC Sophomores, Juniors, or Seniors (or ages 15-19) by October 2023.
Warner Bros. Discovery awards honorships and internship-scholarship packages to graduating high school seniors with a keen interested in the business of media and entertainment. Honorship recipients must have an inclination towards careers within the corporate and studio side of the entertainment industry ranging from traditional business functions, such as finance, human resources, operations, marketing, and communications, to more technical or creative roles such as content development, post-production, sound editing and games. Reach applicants can submit applications for the Business or Production/Studio Operations tracks.
Business Honorship Track: Granted to graduating seniors attending high school in Burbank or Los Angeles County, this track is for students interested in working in finance, marketing, communications, and other corporate and administrative roles in the entertainment industry.
Production and Studio Operations Honorship Tracks: Granted to graduating seniors attending high school in Burbank or Los Angeles County, the Production and Studio Operations tracks are for students interested in working in the production, post-production, or studio facilities roles in the entertainment industry.
You can check the various internship opportunities here.
Location: Varies depending on the internship opportunity.
Cost/Stipend: No cost; Stipend provided.
Awards include:
Paid summer internships at Warner Bros. Discovery Studios in Burbank, California while in college.
Reach Honorship includes a $5,000 scholarship towards college and will be paid directly to the college/university in equal ($1,250) annual installments while enrolled in school.
Application Deadline: Varies depending on the internship opportunity.
Program Dates: Varies depending on the internship opportunity. (Internships are typically offered during the summer between June and August).
Eligibility: Applicant must:
Be a graduating high school senior in Burbank or Los Angeles County.
Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 upon graduation.
Plan to attend an accredited college or university.
The Fresh Films Weekly Filmmaking program offers students the platform to create film projects, work with professional equipment, and meet Hollywood experts from Sony, Paramount, America’s Got Talent, Roku, and more. During this program, interns gain hands-on experience in pre-production (planning the film), technical knowledge (lights, camera, audio), and editing skills.
During the program, you will be tasked with filming a social video and a movie scene for a Paramount+ film, making a music video for a real band, developing a documentary with Roku—and have a chance for it to premiere on The Roku Channel! You will also get to produce a competition show and create a short film with Sony Pictures.
Location: Available at 30 locations. Virtual options are also available.
Cost/Stipend: No cost; Stipend is provided to the interns.
Application Deadline: Varies depending on the location.
Program Dates: Varies depending on the location. Internships are typically offered during the summer. The program includes:
Jan–May (Film Projects)
June (Premiere)
Summer Internships
Eligibility: All teens between the ages of 13-19 interested in film, content creation, or storytelling are eligible to apply.
Museum of the Moving Image Teen Council offers paid internships to NYC teens as part of the Museum's growing program offerings for young adults, including taking a leadership role with the annual Teen Film Festival, hosted at the Museum.
During the program, you'll learn more about working in an arts and cultural organization, meet museum professionals, and gain real-world experience in the hybrid craft of organizing and project management while exploring the history and technology of the moving image.
Teen Council is a job development program and provides a stipend upon completion. Council Members meet from November through May on select Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Location: Queens, NY.
Eligibility: Open to high school students ages 15+ and enrolled in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade (or equivalent program) as of Fall 2024.
Application Deadline: The applications typically close in October.
Program Dates: The program typically runs from November to May (2024/2025 Dates TBA).
Cost/Stipend: No cost; Stipend is provided to the participants after completion of the program.
This is an unpaid, office internship where interns get to see what happens inside of a state agency film commission. VFO brings productions to the state and helps with their pre-production.
As an intern, some of your responsibilities will include monitoring the VFO's general email inbox, managing the Hotline and post industry announcements on the VFO website, researching special requests from VFO staff or production companies, organizing and improving research for film location files, learning and performing script analysis and location breakdowns, assisting with welcome packets for film festivals, maintaining VFO's Instagram page, and participating in office activities such as organization, composing/editing newsletters, reports, press releases, photocopying, and responding to inquiries.
Location: Richmond, VA.
Cost/Stipend: None
Application Deadline: April 5, 2024 (Summer 2024) | August 5, 2024 (Fall 2024) | December 5, 2024 (Spring 2025)
Program Dates: May-August (Summer 2024) | September-December (Fall 2024) | January-April (Spring 2025)
Eligibility:
High school students are accepted on a case-by-case basis.
Applicants must have strong writing and administrative skills and a flexible, open schedule.
The Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS) is a non-profit media arts organization that specializes in film screenings, educational support, and film and media events, including an annual screenplay competition and the Academy Award-qualifying Atlanta Film Festival, held each spring. These internships can offer comprehensive experience and knowledge of producing a film festival, as well as experience working for a non-profit, member-based, media arts organization.
Interns assist with administrative duties, membership, and event planning and coordination. Internship opportunities are available in the following fields:
Business Development
Outreach
Film Programming
Screenplay Programming
Speciality Programming
Media/Video/Tech
Marketing/Communications/Design
Operations
Festival Intern (Hybrid)
Community Relations/Content Writer
Check for further detailed internship responsibilities here.
Location: Atlanta, GA.
Cost/Stipend: No cost; Internships are unpaid but free membership is granted.
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis in between sessions.
Mid-December (Spring)
Mid-April (Summer)
Mid-August (Fall)
Program Dates: January-May (Spring) | June-August (Summer) | September-December (Fall)
Eligibility: Applicants must:
Be at least 18 years old (internships for High School Seniors are available on a case-by-case basis).
Work at least 10 hours per week (office hours are Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM).
The Austin Film Festival offers a number of student and volunteer internship opportunities for anyone keen on gaining insight and experience in the film industry. These internships will help you build foundational career skills in planning, execution, customer support, and team collaboration. Each festival department has different qualifications and requirements. All Internships are unpaid and consist of a regular weekly work schedule within a particular AFF department.
Internship opportunities are available in various departments - development, event planning, conference, office management, script competition, film competition, editing, production, archive, operations, young filmmakers program, summer film camp, marketing & PR, marketing design, photography, data management, and more.
Location: Austin, TX.
Cost/Stipend: None.
Application Deadline: Varies depending on the internship opportunity.
Program Dates: Varies depending on the internship opportunity. Internships are offered during the summer, spring, and fall semesters.
Eligibility: Student Interns from any accredited university or Volunteer Interns for the same positions who do not need to be enrolled in any school or university are eligible to apply but the qualification requirements vary for different internships.
A4L is a non-profit organization that works to advance teaching and learning through the arts. A4L offers Artworks: Internships in the Arts, which is designed for students looking to gain real-world experience in the arts, while creating and producing art themselves.
You can choose to intern in areas such as film, theater, animation, visual arts, and more as part of the program. You will work alongside professional artists to create your own works of art, while developing skills that will be essential to your chosen profession. The experience will enable you to take on projects, hone your interests, and meet like-minded peers. This is a paid opportunity that will last six weeks and allow you to grow personally and professionally while engaging in your area of interest.
Location: Lewis Arts Studio or the Koubek Center, Miami, FL
Cost/Stipend: No cost. Interns will be $12 per hour
Program Dates: June 17, 2024 – July 26, 2024
Application Deadlines: Applications typically close in April.
Eligibility:
Students who are 14 years old and currently in grades 9 and 12 are eligible to apply
The student must be a Florida resident and meet I9 work eligibility requirements.
The San Diego Film Consortium offers internship and volunteer opportunities to students who are passionate about film and wish to network with like-minded peers, industry professionals, and film veterans. As an intern, you will gain valuable experience by getting the chance to contribute to events like the San Diego Film Awards and San Diego Film Week. Your internship is flexible, and can be customized to include areas of your interest such as production, event management, and more. Interning with the consortium will help you build your skills in management, production, and communication, while preparing you for a career in the film industry.
Location: San Diego, CA
Cost/Stipend: No cost. There is no information on pay.
Program Dates: Spring Semester, between January and May
Application Deadline: No specific deadline, on a rolling basis
Eligibility: High school or college student with an interest in film and media production
Looking for an immersive internship experience?
Check out Ladder Internships!
Ladder Internships is a selective, virtual internship program where students work with startups and nonprofits from around the world! The startups range across a variety of industries. As part of their internship, each student will work on a real-world project that is of genuine need to the startup they are working with, and present their work at the end of their internship. In addition to working closely with their manager from the startup, each intern will also work with a Ladder Coach throughout their internship. Apply now!
One other option - Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you are looking to start your research journey with 1–1 mentorship from a top Ph.D. scholar in arts and culture, check out the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, a selective online high school program for students founded by researchers at Harvard and Oxford. You can find the application form here.
Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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