Critical to your successful training as a future leader in the entertainment industry is the opportunity to gain invaluable practical experience. Not only will this practica allow to you to test and refine the classroom theories and principles in very real setting - a kind of "working laboratory" - but you also will enhance your personal network of contacts and build your resume. The following practicum experiences are required of all MEIM students.

First-Year Production Management Assignment

During your first year in Pittsburgh, you will undertake a production management assignment in the School of Drama that will allow you to confront and address the complexities involved in collaborative theatrical production. You will commit a maximum of 200 hours of work to the production management position. You will receive a stipend for your work. The assignment could involve work on one or more productions during either or both fall and spring semesters.

Second-Year Apprenticeships

You need to become fully immersed in the film and television industry in Los Angeles. During the fall semester, you will work full-time on several assignments (each of four-to-six weeks in duration) in management divisions of film and television studios and production companies. During the spring semester, you will be matched with one "mentor" in the business - based on your career goals - for a deeper and even more intensive practical experience, this time focused on one aspect of the industry.

You will be expected to maintain a work journal of your experiences and complete a written, analytical report at the end of each semester.

Apprentices will receive an expense reimbursement stipend from the MEIM Program.