Announcing summer 2024 internships and funding awards

As another academic year draws to a close, we are thrilled to support seven undergraduates as they prepare to pursue their professional ambitions in arts and entertainment this summer. Arts & Entertainment Career Connections, our new multi-pronged program to promote equity and exploration in arts careers, has worked with Penn alumni employers to offer three funded internships while also awarding four grants to students who independently secured related internships. This support is in complement to the robust network of funding, curated internships and professional development opportunities available to students at Penn and seeks to minimize barriers of entry in these competitive fields. This summer, students’ professional aspirations will take them to Los Angeles, New York City and even a few blocks away in Philadelphia. Read more below about these extraordinary students and their plans.

INTERNSHIPS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH EMPLOYERS

Ariana deSa e Frias (C’25) is a junior majoring in communications and minoring in music. Ariana is the President of Penn Singers Light Opera Company, Vice Chair of Quadramics Theatre Company, and a member of Soundworks Tap Factory. At Lincoln Center Theater, she will be interning in the development department.

Katrina Itona (C’26), who studies comparative literature, will hold an internship in the marketing department at Philadelphia’s FringeArts.

Elizabeth Collins (C’25) is a third-year undergraduate from Phoenix, Arizona, majoring in communications and minoring in consumer psychology and cinema and media studies. She enjoys using her passion for storytelling to engage audiences in topics that inspire public discourse. Whether through her editorial publications in The WALK Magazine or as the Head of Development for a video segment in The Daily Pennsylvanian, Elizabeth seeks to entertain and build engagement with a broad audience. Elizabeth will be working at bd productions in New York City.

FUNDING AWARDS FOR INDEPENDENTLY SECURED INTERNSHIPS

Wahid Sarwar (C'25) is a fourth-year student studying English and cinema studies. He hails from Paterson, New Jersey. He will work as a Management and Development intern at Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment.

Oluwatamilore Owolabi (W‘25), who studies management and marketing with a minor in music, founded the group Students of Hip Hop Legacy. Oluwatamilore will intern at Roc Nation in Brand Partnerships.

Samantha Salcedo Martinez (C’25), who studies cinema and media studies, will be an intern with Warner Bros Discovery on CNN’s Quest Means Business. Samantha will be working on a documentary about students of color and first-generation students in elite internship spaces.

Christine Yan (C ’26), who studies PPE and CMS with a minor in fine arts, will be a Worldwide Market Intelligence intern at Paramount Pictures.

Look out for blog posts in fall 2024 featuring these students’ reflections on their internship experiences.

Are you an employer with connections to Penn and an interest in establishing an opportunity for a talented student in summer 2025 and beyond? Please contact Leah Falk, Director of Education & Engagement to learn more.