nickelodeon writing fellowship (year 2) speed interviews days 2 and 3
DAY 2
5 ) the first meeting of the day was with a writing duo. they asked me if one of them pitched a joke and i thought it sucked, would i tell them? i said yes i would. i wouldn’t be rude but i would be honest, and maybe suggest a better joke. their response was no, you say that’s a f—ing stupid idea! ha ha.
6 ) there was a big group meeting, the biggest so far with 8 people in the room. when i sat down, i recognized many of their faces from last year. i thought i did really well here. i felt very relaxed, i answered their questions well, and i made them laugh. at the end, a few people clapped. i definitely didn’t get any clapping last year.
7 ) the last interview of the day was with a story editor for a new show. while waiting outside his office, karen asked how i thought i was doing. i said better than last year, but i don’t know how that compares to the other people this year. the story editor remembered me and gave me a ton of great advice. he told me if you want career longevity, do drama. you can do it forever. that’s great to know.
DAY 3
8 ) we started the day with a 1 on 1 interview with a writer. the 1 on 1 interviews feel very different from the group interviews. they’re much more conversational (and less stressful) than the group interviews which are more like presentations.
9 ) this was the last group interview. i felt like i was in a pretty good groove by this point, so i think i responded well to some of the tough questions they asked. a few people clapped at the end of this one too which was really nice of them.
10 ) we had a quick meeting with an amazing creator at nickelodeon. it was short and sweet, and very inspiring.
11 ) there was an additional meeting scheduled at the last minute with an executive. at this point i was exhausted mentally and emotionally, but tried my best to keep my energy level up for one final 10 minute burst.
we were done! 11 interviews over 3 days, and now was the hardest part: waiting. last year our speed interviews ended on a friday, and we got calls on tuesday. karen said that’s because they were running behind last year. this year, they were ahead of schedule, so it might take up to 2 weeks to decide! oh my god. i didn’t know how i was going to last 2 weeks.
OMG! I really really hope you get this! During the waiting game, just keep creating and that call back will come in no time.
Good Luck!
Such great info Kiyong! Thanks for blogging about it. And congratulations as well! I entered this year, we’ll see how it goes. May I ask what types of questions they asked you during your interviews (did they ask about your background, how you work with others, yr fav literature, film or tv?)? Did some type of questions give you a harder time then others? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks and I wish you continued success.
hey jeremy, good luck, and i hope you apply to all the other writing programs. i can’t tell you the specific questions they asked because i’d probably get in trouble, plus the interviewers might be different this year and ask different things. i don’t there is any set list of questions they’re required to ask, but it’s basically the kind of questions you’d expect. they’re not going to give you trick questions or anything like that. they just want to get to know who you are, and see if they’d like to work with you or not.