HowlRound Theatre Commons: During our busy season, this role may involve fourteen-hour workdays, six days a week. It will be demanding, but it is a fantastic opportunity for hands-on exposure to the industry. Upon completion of your internship, we can offer you a small stipend to cover the cost of a monthly MetroCard. I have been that hiring manager more times than I would like to admit, looking for a host of unpaid (or severely underpaid) interns to serve as the labor force for an arts organization.
11 comments:
I absolutely abhor unpaid internships. They totally take advantage of the young and eager. I personally refuse to even apply for these types of positions. Like the article, they are also extremely problematic because they close opportunities off to those who are in lower income homes. A lot of the places that have these internships tend to claim that they are vying for diversity and inclusion. It seems to me that that is extremely hypocritical! They want people from underrepresented communities to have a voice in their companies, yet they refuse to pay for those entry level peoples to have a spot. I appreciate that the article does call these places out. Like the article states, these companies that claim to be inclusive, if they actually want to have these internship programs, they NEED to make an effort in making them accessible to all possible applicants. Not doing so causes a stagnant pool of opinions and views in their theatre and only negatively affects the company as a whole.
Unpaid internships are basically just volunteering that is required to get a foot in the door of the industry. Yet, an internship (compared to volunteering) occupies so much more time, effort, and commitment. This summer, I worked as an intern at Theatre Memphis—4 months, upwards of 350 hours worked. They were down an assistant TD for the summer, so my boss filled that roll and I basically took over as the paint charge—as an unpaid intern. Had I been paid, even with Tennessee’s minimum wage, I would’ve made $2500. But I worked for free, because I was very aware of the presence that credit would have on my resume. I realize that I am lucky to have the financial stability to take an internship of the sorts and be able to not be paid, but I think it’s a terrible happening in the industry that internships are basically required but unattainable by people of lower socio-economic classes. The article is correct in stating that the industry only seems to open it’s doors to those who can afford unpaid internships, which is contrary to the whole idea of representation that the arts so strongly stand for. I do agree with the article that bigger theatre organizations need to get involved and work to fund or find sponsors for funding arts education through paid internships in order to get more viewpoints and perspectives represented.
This article is extremely prevalent, especially as an already broke college student who is eager to soak up all the knowledge and experience possible. However, as many others in my shoes encounter, it is important to get paid for your work. This article places internships in an extremely interesting light, and I have never thought about being able to accept unpaid internships as a privilege. Being able to spend a summer without getting paid, or getting paid very little is not in reach for a large portion of artists, especially student artists. It almost relates to the scandal regarding college admissions, in which people who are able to afford counselors and tutors are at an advantage to those who cannot. However, in this article, the author calls on those who offer these internships to show how much they are valued through the resources they provide, which I think is extremely important.
Unpaid internships are a consequence of classism. It is a method to filter out people of a lower socioeconomic stratum. At this point in my life, I am fortunate to be able to pursue an education in theatre and to take on positions ranging from paying minimum wage to no money at all (getting paid in experience, as they say). With that in mind, I have only ever worked an unpaid position twice outside of an educational context—once over my sophomore summer at my local theater as a production intern (I later became a carpenter on payroll and am to this day) and one day helping out a familiar director with strike. Any other shows I've worked on outside of school were paid positions because I understood I could and would not work for free, now or later in life, and live comfortably. That being said, diversity and inclusion is not just about race and gender, but also socioeconomic status, as this article points out, and I echo its call to action.
There is something captivating about old technologies that people love. Maybe it's the fact that they’re bigger, or maybe you can see how they work, but playing with old electronics is something I’ve always loved. I certainly think finding some way to get a second use out of them is an excellent idea, both so we’re less wasteful, but also so we can create interesting art. People still like the aesthetic of older video game consoles and some people like listening to music on tape decks or record players. It also seems that Atari was a big player in all computers and electronics, not just the video game industry which is something I did not know. The other distinct advantage of using the older devices is that they’re not going to break down anytime soon. I don’t know when planned obsolescence was invented, but a lot of the electronics my parents didn’t use anymore when I was growing up still worked.
The way it always seems to be presented is that unpaid or underpaid internships, assistantships, co-ops, etc. are just the way of the world. You are young, you have energy, you have the drive, so you almost deserve not to be paid as much. I think that some theatre companies often reason that because a young technician or designer is less experienced than others or because there might be a certain amount of exposure available to the individual, that their time shouldn’t need to be compensated appropriately. But exposure does not pay the bills. As Natalie noted, unpaid internships are basically just overworked volunteer positions. Unpaid and under-paid internship positions are also a very good way to deter or weed out young people who are perhaps not financially stable enough to support themselves through a summer of lots of work and no pay. There is also a psychological deterrent for a person of less financial stability who might think that they might not be considered for a paid internship because they don’t have the experience to get a seemingly higher position than an unpaid one.
Internships are valuable opportunities to learn the ropes of the work, but at what cost? I agree with this article, and it’s what I struggled the most when I tried to get summer work in the past few years. There were so little internship opportunities I could afford to apply for, because they either paid too little & offered housing, or the ones who had an actual paying salary, were in places the salary wasn’t enough to pay rent -cough NYC- This gets aggravated with age, most of the interns I worked with were undergrad students, who were still backed up by their families. Places like Williamstown, that can afford high priced names for their shows, don’t pay their interns, and interns have to pay for their housing. The company is so renowned that interns who work there, have a greater chance at having good jobs. It requires an investment from the intern and their families, and believing that it’ll work out. But not everyone can afford that, and this is why most theatre companies don’t have people from minorities.
While I agree with Emily's idea that unpaid and underpaid internships can be financially taxing for those that are in those positions and it can stop those who are unable to provide for themselves from getting the experience they need I also have to say that it's nice to get the chance to learn without the feeling that your sub-par work at the beginning was paid for. I'm not saying that every person who goes into an internship has a lot or necessarily anything to learn from where they go but personally I feel it creates a safer learning environment when you know your potential failures aren't literally being paid for. An unpaid internship creates an almost risk-free safety-netted type of work experience if that's what you're looking for. While I may be a minority in thinking that unpaid internships can come as a comfort I completely understand all the reasons people dislike them. Unpaid work shouldn't be an industry standard it should be an option.
Internships, and in particular unpaid internships, are an elitist idea that are vital to pushing people forward in any industry, which is part of what makes it such a difficult concept to grasp, that this article highlights beautifully. Internships are highly competitive, as you can tell just being on Carnegie Mellon’s campus when internship application season (roughly December to March) rolls around. I think it is great that some of the internships are trying to increase their diversity and inclusivity, but it is important to do more than just understand that your internships don’t promote diversity. Unpaid internships, which a majority of internships are, are hard for people to successfully manage and master if you do not already have a backing of wealth and privilege. Paid internships are hard to come by. Ultimately, at the end of a summer, I feel like all you can hope for in an internship, is that you had a beneficial learning experience and hopefully broke even in terms of expenses, but more often than not, that’s not the case.
The article really hit me, currently planning to work as an intern in a theatre company for free this winter. I know that I am privileged enough that I can stay in New York for a month during the holiday season. I can chase my dream to work in a theatre without any fear of ending up on the street. Also, I still have a few more years to start job hunting. Therefore, internships, whether paid or unpaid, is just one way to verify that the field I am heading to is what I am expecting. I used to think that it is reasonable that I do not get paid for internships because I do not enough skills for their profit, I am more learning than providing. It may be ok for me. However, what article suggest is totally true. If internships are the chances for people to see if they can imagine themselves making living with the job, paying at least the minimum wage would open up the door to many more diverse people.
I think this is part of a much larger problem that is theatrical internships in general. It seems like almost universally, theaters take advantage of the almost free labor pool that interns provide them by making them work long hours for far too little pay. I was fortunate with the internship I got last year because they provided housing, food, and a small stipend, but this definitely seemed to be the exception to the rule as far as internships are concerned. And even there, at times, I felt like I was being overworked or expected to do things that were above and beyond what I was actually meant to be doing for the organization. We learned in class this year that by definition, a company should be able to function without a problem if the interns were removed from their company, and that is simply not the case anymore. Most theaters that employ interns could not continue to function smoothly without that labor pool to rely on. They are integral parts of theater companies and they should be compensated accordingly.
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