My Time at Paddington Arts

By Carissa Leong, intern

After seven weeks, my time as an intern in the Digital Newsroom is finally coming to an end. During my time, I’ve appreciated the opportunity to get to know more about the local area while also engaging in media that I enjoy, whether it be about films or music.

My time at the company started off strongly with my analysis and review of Dune: Part Two, a film and franchise sequel that I loved. Surely excessive in length, I enjoyed breaking it down thematically and comparing it to the book, and it was one of my favorite projects that I engaged with.

Another cool experience was the opportunity to work with artist managers from UROK Management, Laura Leon and Annabelle Scott-Curry, to cover Tom Odell’s show at the Roundhouse. Having gone in knowing so little about his work, I ended the night discovering an incredible artist with completely warranted popularity. His vocals, instrument composition, and minimalist aesthetic were all so well put-together and immensely impressive to witness live.

Following that up, I compiled a list of publications for send-outs and drafted a press release for Steve Shaw’s photo exhibition, aided by the social media manager Karina Saniuk. I also had the opportunity to develop my interview skills by asking her questions about her career in social media marketing and as a freelancer. On top of all that, I was able to create my own graphic through Canva promoting the upcoming Slam Dunk 2024 rock music festival with a brief playlist of recommendations. 

I got to wrap up my time at Paddington Arts with reviews of a few more recent releases that I enjoyed. One of them was English director Alex Garland’s Civil War which was a dystopic take on America that lent commentary on the role of war journalists. Meanwhile, the other was Fallout, an Amazon Prime Video television adaptation of the popular post-apocalyptic video game series. I finished it in two days, loving the black humor and retro aesthetic clashing with dystopia, and I really appreciated that I was able to share my thoughts on it.

Something that I wish I’d been able to do while I was here was pursue marketing and PR more, as I had gotten the option and assignments late into the term. I would’ve loved to have more time to practice my skills with videography and editing, but I am at least grateful that I got practice with PR and press releases. While I will end up utilizing some skills from journalism in the future, it ultimately is not of interest to me for a career, and I would’ve loved to have the alternative option of marketing earlier. Music photojournalism will always be what I can do on the side, but music marketing–whether it be with a record label or concert promoter–is my end goal which I didn’t get to develop skills specifically for. 

Ultimately, I had a good experience at Paddington Arts and I greatly appreciate the team for giving me free reign to engage in my interests and share it with the world. It supplemented my already existing content creation and journalism experience, and I believe growth from this internship will help me shift career directions in the future.