Written by Zoë Horsten

Eye Filmmuseum

It was in the second year of my bachelor Media, Art, Design and Architecture that I realized I wanted to gain more work experience in the cultural field. Therefore, during the summer I started looking for an internship in a museum for the first semester of the third year. I started my search quite late (somewhere in July 2019), and I was a bit unsure if I was able to find any positions that were still open. Since I hadn’t started looking until July, I was very openminded for the particular department or position that would be available.

I got really excited when I got accepted for the internship at the Sales & Events department at Eye Filmmuseum. It seemed liked the perfect internship for me since I was following a specialization in both Art and Media. Besides, the commercial side of the museum was still quite a grey area for me, so this was a nice opportunity to broaden my horizon.

Next to being a film archive and museum that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands, Eye Filmmuseum is also a popular location for events. Eye has several meeting rooms and cinema’s available for groups from 10 to 310 people, and a few occasional times in the year, the whole museum can be reserved for an event up to 900 people.

The Sales & Events department is responsible for all the commercial events in Eye like meetings, congresses, seminars, and premieres, and as the intern I was responsible for the testviewings. I would have to process the requests for testviewings, plan them and be the representative during the test. It was really interesting to see how these things work, and especially at a beautiful cinema like Eye. Being in charge for the testviewings, I had to work closely with the head film programmer and the technical department that operates the movies.

The IJ-Lounge

Besides being responsible for the testviewings, I was also responsible for other activities in support for our department. Such as taking care of weekly scripts for planning and organization, updating the planning for the facility department into the internal software system and making the direction signs for events. Next to that I was also able to assist during various events, ranging from everyday meetings to the premiere of the movie Cats. Every day was different, and brought new experiences.

The Room at the Top

Doing an internship at Eye was both educational and challenging for me. I really enjoyed working at a department that is so connected with the other departments and I am glad I had the opportunity to learn how to work with many different people in an organization. Being a Sales & Events intern at Eye Filmmuseum allowed me to have the unique experience of working at a lively department in a wonderful museum for six months, starting with getting used to the software programs and the institution to finally working professionally and giving support during events. During my internship I also had the opportunity to help in the production of Museumnacht at Eye. I really liked the brainstorming during the meetings about the context and program, and that’s when my interest grew in creating cultural content such as making exhibitions and working with artists. Thanks to the internship I not only gained experience; but also found the direction I want to go into after my bachelor.