March 07, 2012

Senior Film and Video major Nicole Rosen wrote this column about her experience working at the American Music Awards. If you have a story you would like to include in the Westphal newsletter email Lisa at visco@drexel.edu .

This past summer, I was fortunate enough to participate in an amazing Co-op experience at Dick Clark Productions (DCP), in Los Angeles, California.  For those unfamiliar with Dick Clark, perhaps shows such as “American Bandstand,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” and the annual “Dick Clark’s Rockin New Years” may ring a bell. DCP also produces the AMAs, Golden Globe Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards, The Independent Spirit Awards and the Streamy Awards. While working as a Production and Digital Media Intern, I was invited to work on the production team for the AMAs last November, after my co-op ended in September. All the Film & Video professors were extremely supportive enabling me to spend this time at the AMAs.

I flew to California on November 12th and stayed for 10 days to work on pre-production and the actual show. The venue was located at Nokia LIVE in Los Angeles, California. I was fortunate to work closely with many different people, from celebrities, to managers, to media and entertainment personalities on the Red Carpet, to producers and directors of the show. I worked alongside the Talent Producer, Krissy Lindquist. My job entailed work on the script for the Red Carpet portion of the telecast, making sure the talent and their managers were at meetings and rehearsals on schedule, and solving problems as they developed. One of my favorite moments was the dress rehearsal the night before the show. I was asked to be a “Stand-In” for two of our hosts, Audrina Patridge, singer and reality star of “The Hills,” and for the singer, Mario. I was also asked to impersonate a few of the artists so the hosts had someone with whom they could work. I was “Nicki Minaj,” “Katy Perry,” “Drake,” and “Ludacris.”

The Drexel Film & Video program helped prepare me for this experience. At the AMAs, certain situations arose that were above my head, but I took charge and found solutions. For example, there was a wardrobe miscommunication between one of our hosts and a PR representative from a clothing company. Suddenly, I was handed the ordeal, which ended in me calling the head representative of the clothing company and coordinating a strategy to get the situation resolved.   As a result of my Drexel experience, I felt  well prepared to handle these kinds of problems.

Overall, my experiences at the AMAs are ones that I will cherish. I learned a lot about myself as well as the business. My hope for the future is to head back to California and start working at a film or television company as a producer’s assistant. In addition, I look forward to working the AMAs next year and, hopefully, on Dick Clark Production's other award show telecasts.