Oh no, it's a Cartoon Network update.
Being an intern is not a very good job.
Okay, technically? Not really a job, because they're not paying me. It's a volunteer gig that I'm paying a lot of money to get to do (what with moving across the country and tuition fees and this and that), but fortunately I can make due living in a stranger's living room for several months and surviving off stolen internet, zero television, and a lot of sandwiches, spaghetti, and pop-tarts stolen from the CN snack room.
Actually the snack room is pretty fantastic.
It's weird, because every job has its ups and downs, but here the line seems to be between the barest depths of tedium and then just the utmost realms of Total Awesome, but then even that is shifted by... well... the fact that I'm working at Cartoon Network. And I haven't even been talking about it. Let's go through what goes down.
Copies.
Filing.
Rudimentary Photoshop Cleanup that is actually just Digital Filing in disguise.
Scanning.
Did I mention copies?
The Xerox Nuvera 100 is completely amazing, I know it in and out like no man should ever know a copy machine. This is seemingly much to the chagrin of Vicki, an elderly woman whose permanent jobs seems to be doing the things tjat I enjoy the least. I don't think she enjoys them either judging by sounds of her swears echoing throughout the mail room. I was going to do some little mini-comics about me being an intern with actual cartoon characters working there, and the copy machine was going to punch me in the face, but it would've been pretty lame so I'll spare you. Honestly, the thing can scan 300+ pages of storyboards automatically in a few minutes, copy them, and save the whole deal onto a cd simultaneously so I just praise God that it exists because doing it the hard way would have driven me insane by now.
And that's, like, 80-90% of the job. They gave me a storyboard test and a digital painting test, pictured above (click for high rez), and while everybody seems pretty positive of the work I did on them, I'm not actually allowed to do any "real" production art work on Ben10. Why? Because of unions. Actually today I even asked Kris, who directs most of the vocal talent, about Voice Acting for shows, and there are even more rules regarding that. You have to be in the Screen Actors Guild (Strike 1). You can't work on the show (aaaah, Strike 2). And you have to be good (I cringed a little at this one, but I... I could be good. You don't know. Shut up!)
But wait, you can't work on the show? Apparently, at least with Cartoon Network, there are certain jobs that can do voices, and other jobs that can't. Creators get to do whatever they want. Interns get to... okay, I get to watch the voice actors and make silly faces at them while I doodle and learn how to transcribe circle takes. That's kind of a lot of fun. So it's complicated. Shows like South Park get to have whatever voice actors they want, though, because they're non-union. Mostly it looks like I'm going to eventually get stuck in a lot of unions. Ho boy.
Ah, but that's it? 12 weeks of making copies?! That's what you do? Well.... if you're a lot of interns, yeah, that's it. BUT! But. I have a plan, and... okay it's been going kinda slowly, but part of our internship is that we get to have our own pitch session and invite anyone in the company we want to go see it. This was very exciting, but details on it were kind of danced around every time I asked about it, but I've finally discerned that.... the main intern pitch is actually "just for practice".
Practice!
I've... okay, you can never have enough practice, but I'm kind of... kind of itching to get into the real deal.
So!
I twisted Ezzie's arm (internship coordinator)(I actually didn't literally twist her arm), and she's agreed to help me set up an actual, for-real developer's pitch session, where I get to talk to the development department about for real maybe getting to do a series. Talking. Talking is a start! Might lead nowhere, not getting my hopes up. Regardless, Unfan, Lisa and I have been conspiring to put together a concept for a 5-6 minute Li'l Kitty Jam Jams short which... is probably going to supplant the Ninja-Cake "Challenge!" Idea. Sorry everybody. I'm actually going to keep the details of that under wraps until they're further along, though. In the meantime, here is a robot.
I also have a cool Cartoon Network coffee mug and a few free t-shirts. The swag count will increase weekend after next, when I go with them to the San Diego Comicon and work at their booth.
WHAAAT?
YES.
GASP.
TO BE CONTINUED.