RTF Student Noël Wells Thanks Family for IFC Internship
Noël Kristi Wells arrived in New York City on a sunny day, May 31st, 2009 and started her internship at IFC the following Monday. She assisted the marketing department with their social media outreach, including campaigns using Wikipedia, Facebook, and online communities for creating interest in IFC programming and contests.Noël will graduate from UT May 2010 with a degree in Plan II honors and Radio-TV-Film.
Dear DeSorrento Family,
I had an amazingly entertaining learning experience living and working in New York City this summer. The Independent Film Channel is a shining example of what the future of media is gearing towards, and I was happy to be a part of their newer attempts to reach out to their main audience through the internet. I learned how to create pages in Wikipedia and developed thoughtful and factual articles for all of IFC’s television content. I also contacted communities with similar interests for each one of IFC’s shows that debuted this summer. All summer we geared up for “Bollywood Hero,” a musical mini-series event (as they said in the campaigns,) and I e-mailed web administers and admins of groups that were fans of India, Bollywood, or Chris Kattan, asking if IFC could share content with their communities about the show. More often than not, they were willing to help out, and I’ve actually developed friendships with people from across the world as well as got people really excited about the show.
Marketing also included handing out promotional materials across NYC and participating in viral and guerilla campaigns. For one show, I posted up “Missed Connection” ads all over trendy neighborhoods in Brooklyn. The flier included a link to a tumblr which showcased a blog with characters from the web series the “Missed Connection” was related to. I also submitted IFC links to viral websites like Digg and Fark in the hopes that they would get featured to their homepages. For IFC’s Greatest Trailers list and Bollywood Hero flashmob video, I was successful, and posting to these websites drove thousands of visitors to IFC.com.
It was exciting to be doing work that had actual results that I could see and experience. I’m glad I had a large role to play in getting IFC some online visibility, and though it rained all summer in New York City, I took tons of pictures in my spare time. I hope focus more on filmmaking and creating my own content in the future, and I know that my experience at IFC has given me valuable tools that I can use in promoting my own work in the future, as well as any future employer’s work. The world of media is quickly changing! And I have a better idea of where it’s going.
Thank you so much for this opportunity. It was truly unique and I am honored to have been the recipient of this internship.
Sincerely,
Noël Kristi Wells
