Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc. is an entertainment company and a global leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of entertainment and their related businesses. Known for producing many famous movies, TV shows, and reality TV Warner Brothers also has employed some Emerson College students as Interns including Annabelle Gustat-Karzen.
Annabelle Gustat-Karzen is a Marketing Communications Major graduating with the class of 2021. This past summer, Annabelle had an internship at Warner Brothers studios working as a Public Relations Intern for the Ellen Degeneres Show. We caught up with Annabelle to talk about this experience…
What were some of your responsibilities during your internship?
So a lot of my responsibilities changed day to day, but the majority of it was working on press releases for some of Ellen Digital, which is her online YouTube. So I would do press releases and pitch packet for, Fearless, starring Ashley Graham, and Momsplaining starring Kristen Bell and a bunch of others.
Some other things I had to keep an eye on was the press for Ellen. She was on hiatus at this time, but she was doing Ellen’s Game of Games which is her game show. So I had to keep an eye on the press for that and also just anyone important in her life like Portia de Rossi, her wife, anyone who’s a recurring guest host or judge on her show, anyone hosting her digital shows… And I would help create content and social media posts for them.
What was the culture, like when you were apart of the PR team for Ellen?
The people at this production company are very, very kind and they work really tightly within each other. The talent works with PR. I also got to work with the marketing team for all of Warner Brothers. I worked with the digital team, I worked with the executive producers, so it’s really a tight knit family and community that is the working environment.
But also, no matter how old everyone was like everyone was super hip and into pop culture. Which was really fun, which is something unique, I believe because, for example, we were making Tik Tok. That’s what started Ellen’s Tik Tok channel. So, even things that high schoolers are really into. Everyone was super knowledgeable and all these sorts of things.
Did you apply any skills you’ve learned in the classroom to your internship? And if so, what were they?
For sure, so I really had to keep the Ellen brand. We talked a lot about that, and keep that in mind while doing all these press releases, and one class that really helped me know all those strategies was Brands, Organizations and Strategies with Kim Lorusso, which was one of my favorite classes here at Emerson so far! And I definitely applied that into my internship because I knew kind of how to spot the goals of the Ellen Show and how to kinda like, comprehend what they were going for and actually put that into action.
Do you have any advice for students interested in this internship or similar opportunities?
Definitely just be yourself. [Warner Bros. and other companies] aren’t necessarily looking for the person with the most experiences and will not automatically pick that person. They want to work with someone that they think is nice and that they would actually enjoy spending their time with because at this job, you do really spend a lot of time with everyone so they’re looking for great personalities, kind people. So don’t lie on your resume. Don’t try to be all cool in your interview. Just be yourself and present yourself in the best way that you possibly can.
