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| Columbia Grad utilizes internships to make dream work |
by Valerie Danner
Copy Editor |
Welcome to Los Angeles. The land where everybody is either waiting tables or acting. And those who are waiting tables hope to be acting soon.
However, when Columbia graduate Todd Hofacker, moved out to L.A. last year, he didn’t have to wait a single table. At just 25 years old he has managed to get a job for DreamWorks, working under Steven Spielberg.
As a film developer, Hofacker is responsible for behind the scene tasks like sifting through scripts and casting for the company. He basically helps get the next project up and running.
“It was a result of all the little steps,” Hofacker, a broadcast journalism major, said. “I got my foot into a different door of the industry—the business side.”
It almost seems surreal, to go from graduating from Columbia last June, to becoming Spielberg’s protégé. But, Hofacker says as unbelievable as it sounds, it is certainly possible.
Internships were definitely the key he says. There were times when he spent 14 hours a day on a set, not getting paid a thing.
“It’s how they weed out the ones who are willing to work. You have to prove yourself so they take you seriously. They are always looking for free help.” And of course, working his tail off while in school didn’t hurt either.
Although it took him an extra year and half to finish school, he says it was well work the effort. “It set me a part from the pack. I had all this experience coming out of college,” Hofacker said. “I knew what I was doing. Without the internships, I wouldn’t have had much under my belt.”
Out of a stack of 450 resumes, it was Hofacker who walked away with the job from DreamWorks. He was later informed that it was because his resume was focused—they could tell that Hofacker was willing to work and serious enough to know what he wanted to do.
“I was always interested in film and TV,” Hofacker recalled. “I never thought anything was possible, that you were limited in what you could do.” But ultimately, it’s all who you know.
He entered Columbia with a plan of going into the journalism field. However, like most students, plans change due to certain circumstances.
For Hofacker, it was when he Bob Blinn, career advisor for film, video and sound.
Once he built up contacts with “the right” people, he eventually was invited onto various sets. Hofacker has also taken a stab at acting. He was an extra in last year’s “Stir of Echoes,” and has appeared in “ER.” Hofacker also makes an appearance in Bonnie Hunt’s directorial debut “Return to Me,” staring Minnie Driver and David Duchovny, due out in February-- the film that was shot around Columbia’s campus last fall.
With Steven Spielberg on his resume, Hofacker doesn’t have to worry about ever waiting a table.
“If you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way through,” Hofacker said. “You have to sacrifice some things, but it just takes some hard work.”
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