Significant Career Lesson From a Media Analyst at Variety Intelligence Platform
Tyler's significant career lesson is to "be willing to volunteer for any assignment," even seemingly menial tasks, as this proactive approach unexpectedly yielded opportunities like covering Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine's court testimony and researching the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences library, ultimately boosting their portfolio and career trajectory. This willingness to embrace diverse assignments propelled their advancement through internships at Entertainment Weekly and the Hollywood Reporter.
Media, Journalism, Entertainment, Networking, Career Development
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Tyler Aquilina
Media Analyst
Variety Intelligence Platform
Loyola Marymount University
None
Film, Media Arts, Visual Arts
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Data and Analytics
Honors Student
Video Highlights
1. Be willing to volunteer for assignments, even if they are not the most interesting or high-profile. This helps build your portfolio and can lead to unexpected opportunities.
2. Build your portfolio by taking on a variety of assignments, from writing obituaries to covering events. This demonstrates your versatility and willingness to learn.
3. Network and build relationships with colleagues and mentors. This can open doors to unique opportunities, such as attending court cases or conducting research in archives.
Transcript
What is one lesson that you've learned that has proven significant in your career?
Really tying in directly to my answer to the previous question, I would say be willing to volunteer for any assignment. When you're starting out, you'll have to write a lot of things that may not be the most interesting in the world to you, or that might be just kind of lower profile. You're not going to get into this business and be interviewing your heroes from day one.
But just being willing to step up is a huge thing. That was the big lesson I learned in my internship at Entertainment Weekly. They needed a lot of digital news coverage, and my willingness to raise my hand for pretty much anything really helped me rise up the ranks there.
This could be anything from a random obituary to event coverage. You might get picked to go to weird events. I did that a lot at The Hollywood Reporter. That's a great way to build up your portfolio with bylines.
You'll also get some interesting opportunities. When I was at THR, I got to go to court and watch testimony from Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine in a copyright infringement case about Beats headphones. Just being able to sit there in court, with a full-time reporter from the LA Times there to cover the case, was an example.
You never know what opportunity you might get. Another time, I was asked to go to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Library to do research on international films nominated for Best Picture. This was around the time that was starting to expand a little more. I spent a lot of the day going through old newspaper clippings.
So, just be willing to take on anything. I think that's the best advice I would give to anyone starting out in journalism.
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