Intern Friday features interviews with former Interns at animation, film, and video game studios. Today we bring you Callie MacDonell former intern at Marvel. Enjoy and stay tuned for future Intern Friday Interviews!
What is your current job title and where do you work?
Currently I'm finishing up my master's in Visual Development and doing freelance projects whenever I
can.
What does your job entail?
A lot of student loans?
What inspired you to become an artist?
I can't pin it down to a single event. I was always a dreamer and very imaginative, which as many
people can attest to, can make fitting-in a bit difficult as a young child. When I found out I could
express myself through art and get praised for it, my confidence grew. When I was eleven and took a
tour of the animation house where they were working on Mulan, I decided that I wanted to be involved
in animation. I saw it to be an excellent way to tell my stories while still drawing. I never really stopped
pursuing that goal.
Where did you study?
My undergrad was at The Art Institutes International Minnesota and I graduated with a BS in Media
Arts and Animation. Right in time for the recession.
Why did you choose the studio to apply for the internship?
I chose Marvel because, though I had always been a fan of animated TV shows involving Marvel and
DC characters, I had also just started to really appreciate comics as an art form. I had also just finished
up an internship with a woman named Trina Robbins who is an author and artist who worked on many
Wonder Woman comics back in the day. I catalogued original illustrations and comic strips that
featured female comic-strip artists. In order to preserve them for Trina's book about woman in the
comic and illustration industries, I was able to touch a part of history and know that there were many
women before me who wanted the same things out of life. So, looking around at internships, I felt
emboldened to apply to larger studios. I also figured with the success of the Marvel films, now was the
time to try and join their team.
What did you submit for your portfolio and how did you prepare for the submission?
I submitted 10-15 pages from my portfolio and catered it to what they were looking for in the creative
services department, which was mainly digital artwork. They also wanted a cover letter and resume.
Luckily, I was well prepared for writing them thanks to the classes in my undergrad.
What do you believe separated you from others who were also applying for the internship?
Knowing what I know about the internship now, I'd say that it was my technical skills, my eye for color
and composition, and the clean and polished layout of my portfolio. I also read and re-read my cover
letter to make sure that it offered enough information without being too long-winded.
What was the interview process like for the internship?
I received an email saying that they would like to interview me for a job and that the internship would
be in five days at their office in New York. I wrote them back saying that I was excited but, unfortunately I couldn't go to them because I was in San Francisco. After a nerve-racking day of
waiting, I received a response email apologizing and got scheduled for an over the phone interview.
The interview was between me and two of my bosses: one from the HR department and one from the
creative department. They asked me about my skills, my strengths and weaknesses, and asked me to
walk through the process of creating one of the works in my portfolio.
What department did you intern in and what specific tasks did you accomplish as an intern? I
was a part of the Creative Services team. My job entailed many jobs but, most of them involved
merchandising. I would have to adjust or color correct artwork that would be used later on different
products. I created new and interesting repeating patterns using marvel characters to be used on fabric
for backpacks, clothes, towels, ect. I would also create style sheets, creating different hypothetical
products using the Marvel graphics at my disposal. A few times I was also called in to painstakingly
trace original Marvel artwork in order to create a vector image while still being true to the original
artist's work.
How did the internship prepare you for your current career?
Though I'm still freelance and looking
for a career, I gained a lot of knowledge that is helping me in my process. I learned not only a lot of
technical skills but, also a lot about color and merchandising.
What is your opinion on paid versus unpaid internships?
I loved working at Marvel but, I did have
to move across the country in order to take the internship. Looking at the Marvel office in Downtown
Time Square, I couldn't help wonder why a multi-million dollar company couldn't afford to pay me
even minimum wage when I worked 30 hours a week. I'm very very grateful to have worked for the
company though, and I would not have made any other decision. I do hope that in the future that large
companies will understand the burden of student loans and pay their interns for their hard work.
What advice do you have for aspiring artists who want to intern at a studio? Make sure you only
put your best forward. Spend the extra time and money on a professional looking website. When you
write your resume and cover letter be sure to cater them to your audience and read up on the "dos and
don'ts" of making professional cover letters and applications. Also, DO NOT be a quite person who only does their job. Make friends and put yourself out there.
Thank you Callie for the interview! Check out Callie's portfolio here:
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https://www.facebook.com/wiasf
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https://twitter.com/WIASanFrancisco
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