Aaron Arlanza, '26, Linguistics/Economics, Intern at CJ ENM in Korea, Summer 2024
Prior to this summer, I have already had some experiences in South Korea as an exchange student on a study abroad program. As a result, I was relatively familiar with Korean culture and the language, so despite my initial worries, I felt prepared to take on this challenge across the world and introduce myself to an industry that I had little experience in. I also knew CJ ENM was a leading media company in the Asia-Pacific region, and I My first interaction with the company was through a Zoom call with my contact from the Talent Acquisition Team, and starting from then, I felt very welcomed as he emphasized the company’s “progressive and open culture.”
My first day consisted of onboarding and introduction to the rest of my team. I was provided my own cubicle and was given a company laptop and monitor and my login information to the CJ platform, including an @cj.net email. I was shown an introductory video on the many branches of CJ ENM and was briefed on my responsibilities as an intern on the U.S. Planning and Production Team while working under my supervisor. Among other introductory information, I was shown how to operate the elevator system and where our team usually ate lunch.
From the first day, I worked on a rough schedule I was provided at my onboarding. For the first two weeks, I was primarily working on various market research and trend analysis in the U.S. box office. This included identifying common themes on the best-performing films of the start of this year and compiling them into a brief report. I was also assigned to identify any contractual changes because of the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strike in 2023. The next two weeks I primarily focused on providing script coverage on projects that were submitted to the company for potential filming. I was intrigued how many of the writers also submitted supplemental slide decks to further flesh out their vision, including contextual background, potential actors, and relevant photos. For the remainder of my time, I was working on various assignments, including what was described to me as “ideation,” which I determined to be concept ideation, for a sequel for a successful film that CJ ENM produced in Turkey; this is where I had the most creative freedom. I also helped with compiling a report for a plagiarism case that our team was looking to open against another production studio who released a similar film by creating side-by-side comparison shots and listing similar dialogue and plotlines.
Overall, my experience at CJ ENM was widely positive. I truly enjoyed working with my supervisor and my team, and I thought all my work was introducing me to the field of film and entertainment. I never thought I would be stepping onto movie sets or even watching some of the singers that I listen to perform in my own office building. Despite being an office job, I had a much more mellow experience than I had anticipated. However, I will say many of my concerns and worries that I endured were due to my lack of confidence in speaking Korean. All my work and most of my interactions were in English, but I still attempted to converse in Korean whenever I could. All in all, I would recommend this program to someone who is interested broadly in the entertainment industry as I felt a lot of my insights were not restricted to film.
