How do I intern at a production company?

You can intern at a production company by networking and applying for internships. If a person is interested in getting an internship at a production company but has no prior experience, it is key to play to their strengths and show that they are eager to learn.

How does an internship work?

Internships work by providing job experience opportunities for students in exchange for work provided to the company. An internship is a short-term work experience offered by companies and other organizations for students to gain entry-level exposure to a particular industry or field.

How much does a production intern make?

Production interns make around $15 an hour usually. However, because the industries that require production interns vary, there is no standard answer for a production internship payscale. Some internship programs will offer only class credits, but most are willing to compensate their interns with an hourly rate or a set stipend.

How To Become A Production Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is a production internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Erin Dougherty

A production internship is an opportunity for a student looking to go into media production to gain hands-on experience. It can be at a film studio, radio station, TV network, or any other media production company. A production intern handles any tasks that the producers need in order to keep their job running smoothly. Like with any other internship, this often involves the most boring, menial tasks. Production interns answer phones, organize scripts, and get refreshments for the rest of the team. However, production interns also get to participate directly in the exciting world of media production by handling recording equipment, editing footage, and promoting the production's work.

The average salary for a production internship is $29,627 a year. However, most internships are unpaid or only compensate interns with course credit.

Most production interns are current students earning a bachelor's degree in film or a related field, although some are recent graduates. Internships in this field tend to be competitive so a production intern with some practical experience working on a set, even for a small project, will stand out.

What general advice would you give to a production internship?

Erin Dougherty

Associate Professor of Costume Design Costume Director, Catawba College

Don't underestimate what you can do. Make sure to advocate for yourself, push for the max salary listed once you've been offered the job, and be firm that you meet the qualifications. Talk about the skills you can do, how you can collaborate, and adjacent skill sets that could come into play, including "soft" skills. Don't lie of course, because that will come back to bite you, and facts are really easy to check these days. You need to express self-confidence if you're going to survive in this industry, and overall, be a good person to work with.

ScoreProduction InternshipUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,066

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.97%

Asian 9.21%

Black or African American 11.02%

Hispanic or Latino 20.71%

Unknown 3.93%

White 54.17%

Gender

female 50.06%

male 49.94%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a production internship

Explore production internship education requirements

Most common production internship degrees

Bachelor's

80.9 %

Associate

9.5 %

Master's

4.4 %

Start to develop specific production internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Video Production	15.22%
Production Intern	11.42%
Production Process	11.14%
PowerPoint	4.14%
Audio Board	4.07%

Complete relevant production internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production interns learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a production internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production internship resumes.

Research production internship duties and responsibilities

Manage all office aspects including general administrative duties and assisting with staff payroll.
Create PowerPoint presentations for managers to present design concepts to clients.
Assist on sets with camera and lighting/task with creating new Instagram video series
Research, write, report and edit broadcast news content for local ABC affiliate.

Prepare your production internship resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your production internship resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a production internship resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable production internship resume templates

Build a professional production internship resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your production internship resume.