Megan West (R)

Arts Events Assistant Producer Intern

As an intern for Making Waves Film Festival, I have been working under the role of ‘assistant events producer’, alongside a second marketing intern. The opportunity for the festival to take on interns was provided by Artswork Breakthrough program which supports young people in developing their creative careers. The position within MWFF, who place high value on community and creativity, really appealed to me and my career goals. Having graduated from an arts degree this year, this internship has been a fantastic chance to start to learn relevant skills and build a network in the creative and cultural industry, within a community I care about.

The internship is based around the crux of the festival in March 2024, when all the events will be held. We are planning a few live cinema events, a type of event I didn’t know anything about prior to starting the internship, but have since learnt about by attending a great event hosted by MWFF about the production of live cinema events. It detailed everything you might need to know and think about when producing immersive events.

Live cinema is a spectrum of immersive experiences, from something simple like screening a film in a unique location or with a live soundtrack, all the way to the most extreme immersive model set up by Secret Cinema. This involves actors, sets, scripts, costumes, music, all centred around the world set up in the film. It sounds like a fantastic day out, and I’m excited to be working on a project based on that style.

The main event of Making Waves Film Festival, will be an immersive screening of ‘The Commitments’, which has a hugely stylised world that we are recreating in a brewery in Portsmouth.

Through the Artswork Breakthrough internship, I am picking up the relevant skills and connections I will need to assist in the production of this screening, as well as produce a smaller screening in partnership with other community organisations in the city.

 

Imogen Palmer (L)

Arts Marketing Coordinator Intern 

As the marketing intern for Making Waves Film Festival (MWFF), my role is centred around audience perception. Working within and bringing together communities is at the core of MWFF’s values, so being a recent graduate myself, I find that my skills can be targeted to the large student population in Portsmouth.

Whilst my background is in photography, I’m interested in the production side to the medium rather than curation. Having worked on either side, I can see that I’m able to bring a broader perspective that can add value to outputs and intentions. Utilising this creative output, I’ve been able to explore my identity and I’ve consistently been fascinated by how others do the same. Having the opportunity to do this internship allows me to gain a better understanding of how art can help individuals become more confident.

I’m excited by the kind of cultural cinema that brings communities together. I’ve consistently been interested in learning of people’s heritage through film and I love being a part events that give individuals that opportunity. The community created through culture films pushes new filmmakers, producers and writers to the centre stage, giving individuals the space to speak about their lived experiences. Having such involvement in an artistic body like Making Waves allows me to pursue these interests in a professional manner, working on my previous skills and learning new ones to further my knowledge of creative practices.