Alison Mann cannot sing the praises of internships loud enough. Currently the Recruiter and Internship Coordinator at Nickelodeon Studios, Mann first made contact with Nickelodeon through an internship she had in their finance department while still a media management student in Columbia’s AEMMDept. Now coordinating Nickelodeon’s internships to help educate future leaders in animation and media management, Mann insists that students need to get an internship to learn about the environment and get a foot in the door. “You can’t expect a job to fall in your lap when you graduate,” she explains, going so far as to say “if you don’t do an internship you’ll work at Pottery Barn when you graduate. You need to get your face out there, attend events, and ask questions.”

      Mann sees her job as a way to educate people about the field and to help students become more presentable and better equipped to get a job. While she does give the occasional studio tour to grade school students, her focus is on helping college students enter the job market. She does this by managing internship programs, going to schools to represent the company and “edumacate” them about the real-life experience of animation, reviewing animation portfolios, helping artists put together professional portfolios, and creating educational programs to introduce students to the industry. She also recruits artists to work on shows, such as Sponge Bob and the Fairly Odd Parents.
     
     Mann finds her job at Nickelodeon combines the best of her two loves – business and art. Having taken art lessons since she was seven, Mann originally looked into documentary film or animation as a career choice. She chose media management after receiving a catalog from Columbia in the mail. She immediately realized that was what she wanted to do, combining the business and artistic aspects of what she wanted to do with life.  “My experience at Columbia made me a well-rounded individual,” states Mann. “I’ve been inspired by certain teachers and have kept in touch with them.”

      Mann particularly credits the industry tours she participated in while at Columbia – she participated in the New York tour and attended many classroom studio visits with instructor Mary Filice. Learning first-hand the benefits of such tours, Mann has instituted a similar program at Nickelodeon, to help students get an inside view of the industry.  

      Visiting Columbia College’s Portfolio Center on September 29-30, 2005, Mann shared her knowledge of the industry with Columbia students. While often speaking directly to animation students, her sound advice applies across all fields. “Know what you like to do and do it,” she stresses. “If you force yourself to do something else, you won’t do your best work. We all have certain skills; it’s how we develop our skills and hone in on what we want to do that makes us great.” She encouraged students to network with each other, join programs in school, and get involved in activities related to their fields. “Life experience is top priority. If you are not a driven individual you won’t make it.”
     
     Goals - I'm usually really goal oriented. Right now I have a lot of options, but the right one for me seems to be to aim for Nick International in London - I want to do development for Nick International to progress the stations and programs overseas.