IMC’s Joey Hollister Gains Behind-the-scenes Access at Focus Features in New York City

IMC major Joey Hollister, ’14, took part in the pilot program at IC NYC during spring 2012. Ithaca College added New York City to its choices of off-campus programs based on the success of IC campuses in Los Angeles and London.

In NYC, Joey landed an internship with Focus Features, an art and production house owned by NBCUniversal. Focus Features was established in 2002 out of a divisional merger of USA Films, Good Machine and Universal Focus. Its corporate locations are based in Los Angeles and New York City domestically and London internationally. Some of its most successful movies include “Brokeback Mountain,” “Traffic,” “Coraline” and “Burn After Reading.”

While working at Focus Features, Joey was a creative advertising/AV intern, where he worked primarily with audio and visual material. He was the youngest of the 20 interns that worked on a semester-long marketing pitch for the movie, “For a Good Time Call…,” which was set to release in September.

One of his daily responsibilities was having knowledge of all the movies Focus Features has produced. He would watch the movie, read reviews and write his own reviews to understand the movie from internal and external standpoints. In addition, he assisted his secondary boss in cutting behind-the-scenes footage for “Anna Karenina” and “Seeking a Friend For The End of The World.” He also attended the premières of “The Five-Year Engagement” and “The Lorax.”

Joey said, “All in all, Focus Features was the best experience I’ve ever had. This opportunity confirmed my interest in the movie industry, and it is a dream job of mine. If given the chance, I would go back to work for the production house in a heart beat.”

Contributed by Alexa Perlstein, IMC major, '14.