Guest Blog by Lucas Cohen-d’Arbeloff ’27
Note: The MCS NYC Summer Internship Program is generously funded by the Harvard Club of New York Foundation.
This summer, I spent my time interning at two independent film companies in New York City — FilmNation Entertainment and Cinetic Media. FilmNation is a production and international film sales company, acting as both a studio and co-financier for indie films like Anora and Conclave, while also selling movies to distributors worldwide. I served as a development intern, primarily reading scripts submitted by producers and agents and providing written coverage, including synopses and comments. I then advocated for the scripts I enjoyed in weekly meetings, discussing their merits with FilmNation staff members and executives. In addition, I attended intern seminars in areas such as film finance, distribution, and podcasts, a growing area at the company.
Cinetic is a diverse media company with several departments, including marketing/PR, management, a law firm, and domestic film sales, which was the area where I interned. The sales group’s job is to represent movies, often documentaries and foreign films, to be sold to U.S. distributors. Much of their focus is on the film festival circuit, especially during the summer as the fall festival season approaches. As a sales intern, I managed an Airtable tracking database. I kept tabs on Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and New York Film Festival lineup announcements, tracking unrepped movies, films repped by competitor sales agents, and films already set up with distributors. I also monitored publications such as Variety and Deadline, as well as Production Weekly reports, to track movies in various stages of production. My other primary responsibility was to watch film submissions, many of which were also festival selections, and provide recommendations as to whether Cinetic should represent these titles.
I was motivated to pursue internships at FilmNation and Cinetic because together, they cover many different aspects of the indie film world, an industry I see myself pursuing after college. Through tasks such as tracking and coverage, and seminars organized by these companies to expose us to various areas, I gained invaluable knowledge about what a career in film production, sales, or distribution would look like. I was particularly drawn to Cinetic to get a sense of the legal side of entertainment, as I am considering going to law school. Speaking to people at the law firm was very helpful in understanding what practicing entertainment law entails.
One experience that helped crystallize my specific interest in entertainment was when I read a script for FilmNation that I really enjoyed. I found it engaging and researched the writer/director’s previous work before attending the Weekend Read meeting the following Monday. While I thought they would simply hear my comments and move on, the staff member who also read the script explained considerations I hadn’t thought as deeply about, including whether or not the project was the right scale for a company like FilmNation and how the subject matter might play in different territories. This experience helped me develop a more business-oriented perspective on these creative decisions and realize that I want to pursue something analytical in entertainment, like agency work or business affairs.
Overall, this was an incredible experience that helped me narrow down my career interests and explore New York City as a potential home base after graduation. I feel very grateful to FilmNation and Cinetic for providing me with these opportunities, and to Harvard MCS, the Harvard Club of NY, and the Office for the Arts for helping me make it happen.
