Movie Promotion Internship

A common fear when beginning an internship is hearing a demand for coffee, or to take out the trash.  At Brooke Romaniw’s internship, however, the most monotonous task she is asked to do, she says, is “counting tickets”. 

Tickets to movie premieres, that is.

Brooke is an intern for The Owens Group, a promotions and publicity company.  They specialize in the advertising of movies in markets including Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, Louisville, and Lexington.  This is where Brooke comes in.   Along with the task of counting premiere tickets, she helps with local screenings of films, researching local venues, and setting up events on campus to promote certain films.  

In the photo above, Brooke is active, front and center, at one of her events. This was a mock rally for Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail.  An event like this would include giving away promotional items, called “movie swag”, playing games, and discussing the film.   She interns specifically for Lionsgate, but there is definitely variety when it comes to the films she promotes.  She has worked on Saw V, and even Hannah Montana.

Brooke is a senior in the major and says that her internship has helped her to manage her time well, and the most challenging thing has been learning to set aside her opinions about a film when she is promoting it.  “I'm not a scary movie fan,” she says, “but  I've promoted several already! You learn to think outside the box and find ways to reach each target audience.”

It was through Danny Rust, another E-Media student, who had previously interned at The Owens Group, that Brooke found out about this internship opportunity. This other student was lucky enough to have the chance to travel and even meet Will Ferrell.  Brooke has not had this opportunity, but she says, “Hopefully I will soon!”

Written by Adrienne Bleh, April 2009