Week 1: ICM Partners

I am so happy with my internship after completing my first week. Luckily, ICM (International Creative Management) Partners is located in the heart of Century City, only about a 20 minute drive from my house. Because it's LA, however, morning traffic adds about 15 minutes to my commute.


I am an intern on the 9th floor, which holds the Talent Department. On this floor are the agents and their assistants, with the agents holding offices around the perimeter of the building, and the agents sit at open/communal style desks towards the middle of the floor. The assistants are seated directly outside of their respective boss, the agent, as they have to be in constant communication with each other throughout the day. Below is the desk that I sit at, and the computer I use. For the most part, I cover scripts (meaning that I read potential scripts and write character descriptions and overall plot synopses), and I then do whatever the agent's assistants need, such as organizing DVD's according to clients, or making powerpoint presentations of the company's clients and short versions of their resumes, usually their most recent work.

Immediately, I was excited by who I would be working with and around. The agents assistants, who I work most closely with, are all young, and very energetic as the talent industry requires, because it is a non-stop business. The overall environment of ICM Partners is very open, in every sense. The floor and seating plan allows for the agent and their assistants to have constant communication, and the assistants are able to work closely together to pool resources when need be. Because communication is constant, and phones are always ringing, this workplace is very vibrant and constantly moving, never allowing it to be dull. I especially like how close the agents and their assistants seem to be, and the majority of them have great rapport with each other, and actually seem to enjoy each other, despite the yelling that often occurs as a result of the busyness of this industry. I have noticed that efficiency and speed are definitely the most prized and important qualities of an assistant, and in turn, an intern, because everything in the entertainment industry is fast moving, and paperwork and files are constantly updated, and deals are constantly being made for ICM's clients. Most of the conflicts between agent and assistant arise when the agent is not pleased with how much time an assistant is taking on one project, because there are so many other things to be dealt with at the same time.

Office Politics: The agents are definitely at the top of the hierarchy here, as the whole business revolves around the deals they are making for their clients. The agents assistants are expected to be available at any time to do anything, they do not have set hours that they are able to go home, only once all of their work is finished. Most of them are working this hard so that they can be accepted into the agent training program, hoping to become agents themselves. I have observed that the communication here is encouraged to be as immediate and open as possible. On my first day I saw agents coming out and yelling at their assistants and yelling not he phone about what went wrong; they are not hesitant to call people out for making mistakes.

Dress: All of the guys wear suits, and all of the women wear business attire, making sure that skirts are not too short and shirts are not too low. Human resources made it very clear to us interns that we were to dress professionally at all time, especially because clients are constantly coming here for meetings. This professional attire makes for a professional and efficient environment that is less relaxed than it would be if people were dressed casually in their everyday wear. It makes everyone ready to come in and do work because it's not what they would wear when they are home, or with friends out. When clients come in to meet with agents, I feel that the professional dress that they are surrounded by makes them feel more confident with their choice of an agent, the person who is essentially guiding their career. It reflects how professional of an agency ICM is, and gives them peace of mind because it is evident that the people who are representing them work at a very professional, put together place. A professional dress code also makes all of ICM's employees very prepared to do work when the come here, as dressing professionally makes it easy to distinguish work versus down time.

Diversity: Male and females work side by side, often a male agent will have a female assistant and vice versa. People of every age interact with each other throughout the day, as often there is a large disparity between the ages of the agents and assistants.