Gulfport – Sometimes a summer internship means much more than just a part-time job. It can be a discovery of dynamic dreams and lasting personal connections.

For Stephen Fouasnon, a senior radio-television-film major at The University of Southern Mississippi, performing a two-week internship at the 2007 Cannes International Film Festival in May was a memorable adventure that brought him one step closer to realizing his dream and personally connected him with other aspiring film students from around the world who share in that dream.

“It really was an incredible experience,” Fouasnon said of his time in Cannes, France, the geographic hub of the film industry’s most celebrated festival. “To be able to work in such a historically renowned city where prominent filmmakers and celebrities come together to showcase their work before the whole international film community…it’s almost like a fantasyland.”

Fouasnon, a Bay St. Louis native, interned at The American Pavilion, which serves as a communications and hospitality center for journalists, publicists, celebrities, filmmakers and motion picture executives working at the festival.

This is the first time a Southern Miss student has been selected for the internship program, said Dixon McDowell, professor and director of the film program at Southern Miss. “The American Pavilion program is very prestigious. Film students are selected from all over the nation to attend Cannes Film Festival and participate in numerous seminars and events. It gives them a rare chance to see new films from around the world and to experience the business side of the film industry first hand.”
 
Among several festival duties, Fouasnon was a member of an intern team that helped promote “The 11th Hour,” an environmental documentary produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, which premiered at the festival.

“As part of our promotion efforts for ‘The 11th Hour’, we actually shot our own documentary, walking around the festival grounds interviewing people about recycling and publicizing the film in the process,” said Fouasnon. “One of the people we got a comment from on our documentary was Michael Moore, who was actually promoting his own film, ‘Sicko’, at the festival,” he added.

While in Cannes, Fouasnon and his fellow interns also attended several workshops and seminars lead by professionals from the film industry.  “The workshops were informative, covering a lot of topics in the industry such as producing films, marketing films, networking and other areas,” Fouasnon said, “but the most important thing I took from these discussions, was a realization that careers in the film industry do happen, and with enough hard work and ambition, it’s possible to make your way in.”

“There were so many things to experience and such a limited time to experience them,” Fouasnon said.  “It’s definitely something that I will look back on after I graduate and start my own career as a source of inspiration.”  

Internships serve as important learning experiences for students, said McDowell, who believes those opportunities will be enhanced by the film program’s move to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
“Our facility in Gulfport is larger and better suited for film production courses. We are confident that this facility will allow us to grow,” said McDowell.

The combination of local production companies and other entertainment-related businesses and the university’s plans to build a full-scale Entertainment Industries Center on the Gulf Park campus, also hold much promise for increasing internship and work opportunities for graduates of the program, he said.

While Fouasnon gained industry experience in Cannes, he also helped spread the word about the quality of Southern Miss students.

McDowell recently received a letter from the director of The American Pavilion program, Walter Harris, praising Fouasnon’s performance. According to McDowell, the report from Harris stated:

“Stephen was definitely an asset to our program and a joy to have around. I truly wish all of the students had Stephen's attitude and work ethic.  I look forward to hearing about all of Stephen's inevitable successes!  I would also like to add The University of Southern Mississippi to my list of schools to visit this fall. If Stephen is an example of the students you produce, I would like to meet more of them!"

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