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Letter Home, Summer 2009
Hodson Internships: A Window into the Work World
Fabio Lomelino (A09) has long been interested in a career in filmmaking. Thanks to the Hodson Internship Program at St. John's, this summer he will gain some additional experience with an award-winning filmmaker in Annapolis.
Hodson Internships at St. John's are awarded competitively; students submit a proposal and a committee of tutors (coordinated by Career Services Director Shahrzad Arasteh and Coordinator Kathleen Cady) award the internships. This year, 26 students won internships, funded by The Hodson Trust, the William C. and Ella Owens Medical Research Foundation, and Dr. Stephen Forman, an alumnus of the college.
Last year, Mr. Lomelino worked as an intern with WNET/Thirteen on the documentary series Wide Angle. He then took a year off from St. John's to return home to Brazil, where he worked with an American filmmaker on a film about capoeira, a Brazilian martial art and dance.
"I enjoyed those two experiences, and as I began my senior year at St. John's, I decided to pursue one more internship," says Mr. Lomelino. He applied for and received a Hodson Internship to work with Maggie Stoner, who recently opened her own independent production company—Blue Bear Films—in Annapolis. Stoner previously worked at National Geographic as a senior producer.
Mr. Lomelino began work the morning after graduating from St. John's. At PBS, he worked with a large team, primarily doing post-production work. In Brazil, he was part of a production team in the field: driving, interviewing, filming, and networking. "Now I get to see the work that is done in the third area, pre-production, working one-on-one with an experienced filmmaker doing research and preparing a project from scratch. We are developing a film/website/traveling-exhibit combination that focuses on individuals who work towards building cross-cultural peace on the local and community level."
As for the future, Mr. Lomelino is looking into an MFA in Film and Electronic Media at American University. "Hopefully there I can develop a more experimental filmmaking that blends elements of fiction, nonfiction, and a good dose of Johnnie thought together to form something that suits me better," he says. Funded by the Hodson Internship Program, Mr. Lomelino's internship puts into practice "all that I have learned about the later stages of film production, while exercising all the creative thinking I developed at St. John's."
In other internships this summer, students will: learn authentic European techniques for making artisan breads and pastries; research and interpret exhibit objects at the Getty Museum; conduct research with an Alzheimer's researcher/physician; and work at NIH's Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases with St. John's alumnus Dr. Steve Holland, chief of the laboratory.
More on the Hodson Internship Program and the Career Services office at St. John's