Published: Sep 13, 2010
Matt Goldberg ’13 heads to a sound stage at Universal Studios in Orlando
every other week. As an intern for Total Nonstop Action (TNA)
Wrestling, he helps out with the filming and backstage segments of their
live and Internet shows for Spike TV, prepares the studio for taping
and assists the staff and wrestlers like Hulk Hogan.
“It’s a lot
of fun,” said Goldberg, a film and media arts major, who interned in
the spring and is continuing the internship this fall doing animated
video work for the TNA Wrestling website. He is also doing video work
for the toy company JAKKS Pacific that makes the TNA figurines.
Goldberg has been a fan of
TNA Wrestling
for several years, however it was one of the entertainment company’s
producers, Eric Bischoff, who contacted the UT student for the
internship. Bischoff is one of the more than 8,000 subscribers to
Goldberg’s YouTube account
where Goldberg posts his original stop-motion animations of wrestling
and fake movie trailers. Bischoff was impressed with Goldberg’s work.
“I’m very thankful for YouTube,” Goldberg said. “It’s exciting to see where my little hobby has taken me.”
It
was in the fifth grade that Goldberg joined an after-school club to
learn how to make videos. It was then that Goldberg said, “I fell in
love with it.”
Goldberg, whose live action film,
Call on Me,
made it to Campus MovieFest’s International Grand Finale in June, said
his goal is to become a film director and produce feature films. His
internship at TNA is giving him some hands-on experience toward that
end.
“I have learned what it is like to be in the entertainment
business. It means long days and long hours, and you need to be very
patient when working with the talent,” Goldberg said. “I've learned to
use some high-end equipment, how to log video footage, how directors
work with the film crew, how the wrestlers prepare for their aspect of
the show and how a live TV show script works.”
Assistant Professor Tom Garrett said Goldberg’s internship exemplifies what UT and the film industry have to offer each other.
“Experiential
learning opportunities like this one that Matt is doing have an
immeasurable impact, not only in direct, practical learning but also in
industry networking,” Garrett said.
For Goldberg, the experience reinforces the importance of responsibility.
“This
internship has taught me to me stick to my commitments and has prepared
me for unexpected things and how I can adapt to them,” he said.
Jamie Pilarczyk, Web Writer Sign up for
UT Web Alerts