15 High School Film Internships + Summer Programs in 2023
What’s Covered:
- Film Internships and Scholarships for High School Students
- Film Programs for High School Students Available During the Academic Year
- Film Summer Programs for High School Students
- How Do Internships Affect College Admissions?
Creative teens with a passion for storytelling may just find their niche in the exciting world of film. There are plenty of opportunities in this industry, from producing to editing to directing to technical work.
Curious about whether filmmaking is the path for you? Through these programs and internships geared toward high school students, you can find out. Included are some internships, scholarships, and film programs both during the school year and in the summer.
Film Internships and Scholarships for High School Students
1. Brooklyn Interns for Arts & Culture
Application deadline: Early June 2023
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Duration: Approximately 1 year (across 3 sessions: Summer, Fall, Spring)
BIAC encourages students to prepare for college, careers, and life while supporting their community. Students participate in creative workshops, college readiness courses, and professional development sessions during this year-long paid internship offered by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where they will learn about the inner workings of one of the most renowned theaters and performing arts venues in New York.
2. Museum of the Moving Image Internships
Application deadline: Varies depending on the program
Location: Queens, NY
Duration: Varies depending on the program (can range from 1 week to a full semester)
The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York offers many programs to high school students with topics ranging from animation to game design to filmmaking. Some programs and classes are offered by the museum itself, while others are obtained through other New York City programs such as the Exploring the Arts Apprenticeship Program, NYC Ladders for Leaders, and Urban Upbound’s Exploration Program for Internships and Careers.
3. Warner Bros. Reach Honorship Program
Application deadline: To be announced sometime during winter
Location: Burbank, CA
Duration: 4 years (ongoing internship during college)
Warner Bros. awards “Honorships,” a combination of internships and scholarships, to graduating high school seniors with an interest in the entertainment industry. The Honorships are available to students in specific locations and focus on various film and media niches. Recipients receive a monetary scholarship, along with mentorship and an internship that continues throughout their college career, allowing them to cultivate their skills.
Film Programs for High School Students Available During the Academic Year
1. Fresh Films Weekly Filmmaking Program
Application deadline: around December 31 each year
Location: Program available in various locations around the U.S.; check website
Duration: 30 weeks (weekly meetings)
Every Thursday after school for 30 weeks, students participate in weekly meetings with the Fresh Films team and professionals from Sony, Paramount, Discovery Networks, Roku and more to learn the ins and outs of the film industry.
By the end of the program, students will have helped produce a music video for a real band, a competition show with Fremantle, a documentary with Roku, and a scripted short film with Sony Pictures!
2. NYU Tisch Future Filmmakers Workshop
Application deadline: To be announced
Location: New York, NY
Duration: 14 weeks (Saturdays from February through May)
Via the famed NYU Tisch School of the Arts, teenagers can take advantage of a free, 14-week program where they will hone their “personal vision and voice.” Storytelling is emphasized, as are technical skills. Participants will also get hands-on experience and have discussions with professional filmmakers and Tisch faculty. The workshop is open to all high school students, especially those from groups that are underrepresented in the film industry.
3. Museum of the Moving Image Teen Council
Application deadline: Late October annually
Location: Queens, NY
Duration: 6 months (32 meetings from November to May)
The MoMI Teen Council is a job development program for NYC teens interested in the media arts who want an in-depth look at how a media museum works. As a part of the Teen Digital Media Innovators program, Teen Council members curate public events for youth, including film festivals, media workshops, and more.
This paid opportunity includes mentorship from museum media educators, filmmakers, actors, and museum programmers. It allows participants to have a direct role in the programming of the Museum of the Moving Image.
Film Summer Programs for High School Students
1. New York Film Academy Teen Filmmaking Camps
Application deadline: Varies depending on specific program
Location: Program available in various locations globally, as well as online
Duration: Different camp durations available (1, 3, 4, and 6 weeks available, as well as a 12-weekend camp and online options)
In NYFA’s summer film camps, students will write, shoot, direct, and edit their own films. In this program designed for students with little to no film experience, students receive in-class instruction and take part in on-set production, learning all about the exciting world of storytelling through film. The programs culminate in a screening of the participants’ works.
2. SOCAPA Filmmaking Summer Camp
Application deadline: Varies depending on chosen program
Location: Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Burlington, VT; East Burke, VT
Duration: Varies depending on program (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 weeks available; most around June to August)
Offered in New York, Los Angeles, and Vermont, the School of Creative and Performing Arts FIlmmaking Summer Camp Intensives “mix the best of elite film programs and exciting summer camps.” There are six different filmmaking intensives available for students from ages 13-18, through which participants craft their own films and work collaboratively with other participants.
3. NYU Tisch Online High School Filmmakers Workshop
Application deadline: May 12, 2023
Location: Virtual
Duration: 4 weeks (July 9 – August 4, 2023)
The NYU Tisch School of the Arts offers an online filmmaking workshop for high schoolers focused on directing, shooting, and editing. Participants will produce a crew-based documentary, a crew-based music video, three technical assignments, and a final narrative film that they write and direct in a program that mirrors an undergraduate degree program.
4. UCLA Film and Television Summer Institute
Application deadline: TBA (registration opens in February 2023)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Duration: 3 weeks (June 25 – July 15, 2023)
UCLA is known for its film programs; now, high school students can take advantage of their renowned education too. In this three-week intensive workshop, students will learn about the art of cinematic storytelling and will create their own film projects, working both independently and collaboratively. They will also observe lectures featuring guest speakers.
5. USC Cinematic Arts Summer Program
Application deadline: June 9, 2023
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Duration: 6 weeks (dates to be announced)
The oldest film school in the U.S. encourages high school students to learn about the world of filmmaking, screenwriting, computer animation, or the film/television business through these six-week summer sessions. Students take real college-level courses and have the opportunity to potentially earn college credits.
6. Austin Film Festival Young Filmmakers Program – Summer Film Camp
Application deadline: To be announced
Location: Austin, TX, or virtual
Duration: 8 weeks (June 5 – July 28, 2023)
The Austin Film Festival’s Summer Film Camp offers classes and workshops in the arts of screenwriting, filmmaking, editing, video game writing, and more! The camp is one part of the Young Filmmakers Program, which also consists of the Young Filmmakers Competition, the Festival and Conference Scholarship Program, and the Digital Storytelling Program.
7. Chapman University – Dodge College of Film & Media Arts Summer Film Academy
Application deadline: To be announced (not hosted in summer 2023)
Location: Orange, CA
Duration: 2 weeks
Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts offers a two-week comprehensive, collaborative, and creative high school film program during the summer. For two weeks, students are immersed in the world of film through class discussions, film screenings, guest speakers, and filmmaking in small groups.
Students are taught by Dodge College faculty and mentored by current students and alumni. Everything they learn will be applied in real life as they work in groups to create short digital narrative projects, which will be showcased to families virtually on the final night of the program.
8. Emerson College Digital Filmmakers Pre-College Program
Application deadline: March 15, 2023
Location: Boston, MA
Duration: 3 weeks (July 6 – July 28, 2023)
Participants in Emerson’s Digital Filmmakers Program will learn about the art of single-camera digital film production. They will gain experience in creating story structure, cinematography, lighting, sound recording, and editing, all while developing short films. Projects include a 1–2-minute montage film, a group project, a 24-hour film, and a final short film.
9. Interlochen Filmmaking Summer Program for High School Students
Application deadline: January 15, 2023
Location: Interlochen, MI
Duration: 3 weeks (First session: June 24 – July 15, 2023; second session: July 16 – August 6, 2023)
Participants will have the opportunity to work with professional filmmakers, guest artists, and other talented students to create a movie from scratch. The program includes classes and hands-on lab time to practice technical production and post-production skills. As filmmaking students, participants will partake in workshops focused on production, post-production/editing, screenwriting, tech skills, and film history.
How Do Internships Affect College Admissions?
Participating in internships can influence your chances at college admission, but this depends on many factors, including the scope of the internship, its prestige, your individual role and performance, the institution’s connections to or sponsorships by certain colleges, and even how much weight a college places on extracurricular activities in general.
There are four tiers of extracurricular activities that colleges think about when reviewing applicants’ activities. Selective, competitive, and prestigious activities are often found in the top tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 1 includes things such as being a highly recruited basketball player or an award-winning national science fair competitor. Tier 2 is similar, but is usually reserved for activities that are more common than those in Tier 1. Tiers 3 and 4 are reserved for more common extracurricular achievements, such as holding school leadership positions or being a member of a debate team.
A prestigious, selective program such as the one offered by NYU Tisch, for example, may be considered a Tier 1 program by many film schools.
Do you want to get a sense of how the internship you participated in might change your admissions chances at your dream college? CollegeVine has created a free chancing calculator to estimate your odds of getting into hundreds of different colleges and universities! It uses a multitude of factors such as your high school grades, standardized test scores, and extracurricular activities, while also providing feedback on how you can improve your odds.
