Jason: Summer’s Coming to an End

Wow. It’s pretty crazy that the summer is almost over. As you all know I stayed in Boston for a few different reasons.

My internship at WGBH has been a great experience. I have enjoyed working with the production team behind the upcoming JFK documentary and the rest of the American experience team. It has been a great opportunity because not only was I doing work directly related to the film but I know my colleges and other contacts I made in the last four months will be beneficial to my career.

The graduate thesis film I am producing is in post production and I am currently working with my director on financing. Unfortunately we did not have time before production to secure a budget so we are now working on fundraising. The film will be complete by the end of the fall semester so I should return from Spain in time to attend the screening.

Speaking of Spain, in the last few weeks I’ve found out my internship and the family that I’ll be living with. My family is a mom, dad, and son who is 20 years old, and 3 dogs. The housing form for abroad programs that involve homes-stays is great because you can include a preference of the type of family that you would like to stay with. I will be interning with a documentary production company called Lopez-Li Films. One of my friends participated in the summer version of the Madrid internship program and she was happened to be also be at Lopez- Li Films. She said she had an incredible time with the 8 person team and was heavily involved in the company’s work.

It’ll be tough to not have my friends and family so close by for the four months that I’ll be away but I’m extremely excited for the four month adventure that is to come.

Jason: Life of a Producer

As I write this blog I’m listening to calm Hawaiian music because it feels like I have been working non stop since the summer began.. well not really; but I have been very busy.

So first on my list is my internship at WGBH. As you guys know I’m a production intern at the PBS show, American Experience we are still in the pre production phase but I’ve enjoyed getting to partake fully in the process.

But what’s really been taking over my life is the film I’m producing. This Saturday we’ll begin production for a graduate student thesis film called Flesh Eaters. It’s about a boy who thinks his first communion is actually a zombie initiation rite and that he’ll turn into a zombie when he takes communion. Pretty funny stuff if you ask me. Anyway, my role has been pretty much all of the administrative work. That means finding the actors, extras, locations, budget, and the list goes on and on. It’s definitely a lot bigger of a monster than I had expected but I’m so excited and thankful I’ve been able to tackle such an important role so early on in my college career.

My piece of advice for you guys is to get an internship or a job up here if you can during the summer. It is by far the best place to be. You have such easy access to the Charles River and the endless waterfront activities, a not too far escape to mountains in New Hampshire and other parts of Massachusetts, as well as of course, the entire city of Boston minus all of the students who are usually here crowding the streets.

I’d love to hear what you guys are doing and how you’re enjoying the summer! Tweet at me @jasonkashdan to say hi or ask any questions you have. Hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Jason: The Last Month of School

Jason ImageSo it looks like the weather won't be getting warm any time soon, but I figured I'd talk a little bit about what I'm looking forward to as we enter the last month of school. Coming up next week is a Boston holiday when the Boston Marathon comes through the streets of Boston. You guys may recognize it from an episode of last seasons COMlife. But this isn't your regular old marathon. There are runners from all over the world and the entire city of Boston (including the schools) close down to celebrate the big event.

Just before that though we've got our first open house for COM! On Saturday many of you will be coming to Boston to hear about all the awesome things we've got going on in COM. It's a great opportunity meet and chat with current students, faculty and staff! You'll get to have lunch in Warren Towers and hang out with the COM ambassadors and fellow perspective students. It's going to be great weather and I'm looking forward to meeting you all.

Looking ahead to the summer, I'll be staying in Boston and continuing my internship with WGBH. By that time we'll be underway with production of the JFK documentary so I'm excited about that. Also by the time you read this I should have found out whether or not I'm going to Madrid for the documentary film program!

Anyway, that's all for now! Hope to see some of you in the next couple weeks at our open houses!

Jason: Interning at WGBH

Jason ImageBoston University is a great school in itself, but as a COM student the education would not be complete without the number of great internships the city of Boston has to offer. Whether you’re studying to become the next Anne Curry, Lizzie Grubman, or Scorsese there is an internship in Boston that is perfect for you. For broadcast journalists we’ve got Channel 5, NECN, NESN, for PR majors there’s Boston Medical Center and CONE Communications, and for Film/ TV TD Garden, and a number of production companies that are making films through out the year.

Just last week, I was offered an internship position at WGBH, Boston’s member station of PBS. The opportunity came up on me rather quickly after the documentary that I had been planning to make with my sociology professor was put on hold because of a funding issue. Nevertheless, I’m now excited to say that I’ll be working on the production of a new American Experience Documentary on JFK.

My first day was Monday and I’m already in awe. I have my own huge cubicle with a brand new IMac, a WGBH email address and phone number extension. The cafeteria has everything from sushi to steak and I’m surrounded by Emmy’s and numerous other awards that American experience has won.

For the beginning, I’ll be logging all of the stills and video related to JFK that WGBH already has in their database. After that’s all sorted through, we’ll being production and film new interviews, B-roll footage, etc. For now I work there four hours on Mondays and Wednesdays but once the summer starts and production gets into full swing I should be there five days out of. I’m so pumped about this and will definitely keep you guys updated on the happenings for this project.