Vandy in Hollywood launches scholarship fund – The Vanderbilt Hustler

The new fund aims to remove financial barriers for students interested in pursuing summer media internships in Los Angeles.

Eigen Escario, editor, photographer and podcaster
5 hours ago

Students applying for the Vandy in Hollywood (ViH) internship this year will have access to the program’s new scholarship fund, which aims to remove financial barriers for applicants, according to its founders. Richard Hull (92), who co-founded the internship program with his former student Chad Gervich (96) in 2006, created the scholarship with his wife to give back to the Vanderbilt community.

According to Hull and Gervich, ViH is designed to connect students with internships in Hollywood. The program accepts a cohort of approximately 30 students per year, all of whom have access to exclusive mentorship, events, and networking opportunities. According to Gervich and Hull, before this year, only 3-4 scholarships were awarded to each HIV cohort. These funds previously came from donations funded by alumni and parents. With the new scholarship fund, the program is now able to award scholarships to any Hiv intern who demonstrates financial need.

Independent of the FAFSA, Mia Clermont, employer relations specialist at the Career Center, who is knowledgeable about the funding process, explained how she calculates the scholarship. The statement of demonstrated financial need refers to the ability to pay (or not be able to pay) for room and board, meals, etc., during their internship.

This new scholarship program is special because it is endowed, Gervich said. It’s a very large sum of money, so we never have to touch it, we just have to use the interest on it.

Hull said ViH conducted a cumulative, informal survey of former ViH interns who lived in Los Angeles to estimate their overall cost of living, including rent, food, transportation and other expenses. . Based on these results, the scholarships will range from $4,000 to $6,000, which is intended to cover these costs. Interns who choose the in-person internship option must still find their own accommodation in Los Angeles.

Gervich says the move is important to level the playing field between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. He said connections in Hollywood are the epitome of success, and significant resources and investment are required for such networking.

Hollywood is one industry where you’ll never get a job in Hollywood because you have the best resume or the most talented, Gervich said. These are useful, but you’re going to get [a] work knowing someone.

Former HIV intern Hannah Fasick (12) is now a freelance director and screenwriter in Hollywood. She said the programs’ resources and connections have helped her in her career.

Introductions such as those made through the Vanderbilt program in Hollywood allow students to learn about careers in entertainment, to prove themselves through their enthusiasm, talent and diligence, and thus to develop their own connections to earn other high-demand jobs in film and television, Fasick says.

Kyra Levenson, a former HIV intern (20), now working as a marketing strategist for Paramount, said her leap into media was definitely risky.

Two of my three internships were unpaid, so there was a significant investment in my [and] part of my family, Levenson said. Additionally, Entertainment almost always hires as roles open up rather than on a regular/annual cycle, so it’s hard to predict what would be available and when.

Senior Lindsey Carroll was also part of the HiV program last summer. She said the new scholarship fund is a much-needed expansion of the internship program.

I think it is amazing that the Vandy Hollywood Scholarship Fund is now available because it will undoubtedly enable more students than ever before to have the same life-changing experiences in Hollywood that I have. have been through,” Carroll said.

Hull said students with a passion for storytelling should consider applying to the program.

Some of the best interns we’ve ever had aren’t film and media arts majors, Hull said. [Applicants should be] people who just want to indulge in the idea that they might like to be storytellers in some form or fashion in their career.