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 Ģ������ƵStories      July 29, 2025

By Cam Adams

Cullowhee is no Los Angeles, but there’s a little bit of Hollywood on the campus of Ģ������Ƶ.

As a film and television production major, Ģ������Ƶsenior Tim Thompson is working toward a career in that field with an experienced faculty in the School of Stage and Screen. This summer, Thompson is using his knowledge near the City of Angels.

Thompson is interning with Lionsgate Studios in Santa Monica, California in the studio’s  television post-production department.

“Coming in, it's like a whole new world. It's like a big sea and you're a little fish in it,” Thompson said. “It's like hundreds of people that are coming and helping bring this one episode of this show and getting it out there, getting it made.

“It's just a lot bigger than what I'm used to or what I anticipated.”

Though he’s an intern, Thompson’s bosses at Lionsgate have entrusted him with a great deal of responsibilities. He’s often creating post calendars for certain shows, doing script coverage, VFX breakdowns and making his own VFX budgets.

He’s also traveled outside of the office to attend playback reviews for some shows and has actually traveled to Paramount Pictures a lot to see a show being filmed. While Thompson is doing a lot of cool things in the Golden State, the connections have been what’s most valuable. 

“Just being able to hear them talk and see them navigate and ask them questions and get their advice has been the biggest thing for me,” Thompson said. “Being able to soak up the knowledge from the people that I'm trying to strive to be like has been the best thing for me so far.”

And now, Thompson has a better idea of what he wants to do after WCU.

“Going into this internship, I didn't really have an outlet I wanted to lock in with when it came to filmmaking. Now, I know what I do want to be: a post producer as well as a line producer,” he said. “It's been very nice to just see how these people work and how they operate day to day.”

Thompson discovered this internship through the Emma Bowen Foundation, which connects folks with leading media, entertainment and technology companies.

After grinding through several rounds of interviews, Thompson landed the internship, which the Windsor native found himself prepared for thanks to a knowledgeable film and television faculty at WCU.

“A lot of credit to the people at Western Carolina (film and television production),” Thompson said. “Steve Kniss, Jason Ledford, Joshua Overbay, Brenda Lilly. They did a very good job of helping me understand how much goes into making films and TV shows.”

And when he gets back to Cullowhee, Thompson wants to bring a piece of Los Angeles back with him — especially with his senior year and senior thesis looming.

“I want to bring back the techniques I've learned here. I want to bring back the mindset that I've created here. I want to bring back some of the tools, and I want to bring back just that spark that I have here,” he said. “Just understanding that an opportunity can happen at any moment.”