Hello everyone! My name is Alexis Clark. I am a rising senior attending Tulane University, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Public Health. I have a particular interest in digital media production and during the school year I work as an intern for an on campus, women’s media lab. This summer I will be interning for a production company called TuckerGurl. Specifically, I will be working with TuckerGurl on the creation of their feature length film, Paper Chase. Some of my responsibilities include acting, editing, advertising, as well as keeping the website up to date. I am very excited to work under TuckerGurl’s founder, Angela Tucker, and look forward to learning the process of creating a feature length film.
The five learning objectives I look forward to achieving by the end of my internship are:
- To be more knowledgeable about the skills and resources required to plan and execute the creation of a feature length film
- To master the duties of a personal assistant, while gaining a better understanding of the responsibilities other positions hold on set
- To learn the editing process of a feature length film from picture, to music, to sound effects
- To become a more confident and well rounded actor
- To learn how to budget a film/project from start to completion
TuckerGurl’s current project, Paper Chase, follows the journey of an unpopular young woman as her plans for college are put in jeopardy due to an outstanding housing balance. Throughout the film she must rely on her mother and best friend to raise funds by any means necessary, even if that means reaching out to her eccentric community. This film is breaking down many barriers, the first of which, it will be the first feature length teen comedy to star women of color. Secondly, this film is set in New Orleans, a city that, ever since Katrina, has either been depicted as pitiful and suffering or simply used as a cultural backdrop for many major productions. Through the use of Paper Chase, TuckerGurl plans to highlight New Orleans as the vibrant and complex city that it is today. With focus on racial and gender representation, TuckerGurl hopes Paper Chase will serve as inspiration for future films to star women of color whose lives are not filled with anger, violence, and suffering (which is what is typically seen in the media), but instead with friendship, scholarship, humor and drive.
In preparation for my internship on June 1st I am rehearsing my lines, sharpening my editing skills and maintaining communication with my boss to make sure I arrive on my first day with everything I need. I am very excited to begin working and learning the ins and outs of the company. I am most looking forward to our first day of shooting. I have never been on a movie set before and I am anxious to see all the work required behind the scenes to produce the on screen product. I am confident this job will start me off on the right path to a lasting career in the digital media industry. I look forward to writing about my first couple of weeks on the job soon! Until then, enjoy your summer!