Wrestling Fan Gets in the Ring Through Internship

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
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