About Me
JULIAN BARNES is an actor, voice talent, USAF veteran, and full time university student. After serving in the Air Force for six years as an aircraft maintainer, he decided to follow his creative and entrepreneurial passions to the fullest extent, delving deep into the fields of film and TV production, videography, acting, and marketing. When he's not working hard towards his degree program or in the vocal booth, he can usually be found enjoying all aspects of nerd/geek culture, listening to or producing music, gaming, napping, or spending quality time with friends, family, and collaborators alike. He aspires to eventually become a titan in the voice acting industry, as well as own and operate his very own production/media empire. His drive, meticulous attention to detail, and passionate care for everything and everyone he's around always leaves a positive and resonant mark.
Studio Center Intern Experience
What have you loved about the internship program?
The warm and friendly atmosphere, my very informative and courteous supervisors, my fellow interns, the priceless levels of gained experience, and MOST DEFINITELY the cookies!
What expectations did you have?
I expected to learn a lot about this media/entertainment industry as a whole, but also the pros, cons, and nuances of what it's like to do it at a professional level with the actual professionals themselves.
What skills or experiences from your internship do you think will be most valuable in your future career?
Definitely all the first-hand knowledge and experience I gained while working as a part of a team with my fellow interns. In pretty much all professional fields, it's really easy to fall into the trap of trying to do anything and everything by yourself as much as possible just to show that you're capable of it, but that often leads to more negative outcomes than positive ones. I've learned that it's not about proving you can do it all, but proving you can do what's asked of you for the sake of a shared goal, and then doing it well to realize that goal.
What advice would you offer future interns working at the same location?
Ask as many questions as you possibly can (especially ones you think are "dumb"; there's no such thing), bring a positive attitude and mindset every single day, be adaptable, and be teachable and pleasant to be around in general; it goes a very long way. Oh, and I can't stress this enough: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FREE STUFF! (advice, lunches, cookies, ALL OF IT)
What do you plan on doing in the future with the experience learned during the internship?
I plan to utilize every single nugget of wisdom, experience, and this incredible network of human beings to ideally keep growing and improving within the realm of media, particularly as it pertains to film/video, audio, marketing, and business aspects. My big goal is to eventually operate my own version of a company like Studio Center, so I plan to learn as much as I can from everyone that I can, as well as be a help/source of positivity to everyone I can.
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NACE Career Readiness Competencies I demonstrated and/or enhanced during my internship
Career and Self-Development: I greatly enhanced and furthered my career and personal ambitions by not only following through with applying to this internship, but showing up, doing the work, and gaining knowledge and experience every singe day I was tasked to, much to the delight of my supervisors.
Communication: I was constantly testing and improving my communication skills daily with my fellow interns, supervisors, and a few clients, to best achieve team goals and objectives in a seamless manner.
Critical Thinking: As an intern, it's easy to fall into the mindset of "just do what they tell you", but critical thinking was paramount in a lot of our greatest triumphs as a team of interns when we were given opportunities to showcase our talents, skills, and creative ideas as individuals and collectively.
Equity and Inclusion: Our team of interns and supervisors alike were a diverse mix of gender identities, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, ages, and levels of experience and skills, but we always treated each other as mutually respected equals all working towards common goals.
Teamwork: Teamwork truly made our collective dreams work throughout the entirety of this internship. I'm glad I was never working in a vacuum, because in addition to the many little lessons and creative inspirations gained by working alongside so many talented and passionate individuals, they also made every day so enjoyable.
Technology: Technology was always at the forefront of what we did every day there, equally as much as creativity and competency. Lights, cameras, audio and video interfaces, digital programs and workstations...competency with all facets were paramount in achieving the types of projects were were tasked with completing, and I've only gained confidence in this area and all others previously mentioned.