Many people dream of having their names in the credits of a movie, but one Baker student doesn’t have to dream anymore.
Senior Saunder James headed to Los Angeles over the summer for a six-week internship that taught him the ins and outs of the music editing business. The internship also earned him a thank you credit in “Disaster Movie,” which came out in theaters at the end of August.
“Basically, in a nutshell, I went to be an intern for a company called Mad 4 Music. They are a group of music editors for a variety of movies and other things, but primarily movies, which is what I worked on,” James said. “I helped them with a number of tasks, from doing the basics of getting coffee and mailing stuff, to actually sitting in front of the computer and throwing music into movies.”
James, who is majoring in computer science and minoring in business and music, along with his father, Assistant Professor of Music Ray James, thought up the internship through a personal connection.
Michael T. Ryan, CEO and music editor for Mad 4 Music, knew the James family prior to this experience and said he enjoyed having James as his first intern.
“I thought he did really well with a lot of the technical aspects,” Ryan said. “Also, he seemed to pick up very well and have a good ear for picking music that we were going to be using in some of the temporary scores that we were doing for the film.”
During his six-week stay in Los Angeles, James spent his free time exploring the city and its attractions. He also joined his colleagues from Mad 4 Music at their houses for dinners occasionally. James said he really enjoyed how his internship was business-oriented, but also very personal.
While in the studio, however, James said his favorite thing to do was a little bit of a challenge.
“It was a lot of fun to go through this massive library of music and try to find a chunk of music that fits the scene you’re working on, place it in there, tweak it and make it work,” James said.
“Disaster Movie” wasn’t the only film James got to work on while in the studio. He also worked on “Bedtime Stories,” which is a child-oriented movie with Adam Sandler.
Besides having his name in the credits of films, James received another perk; he got to meet Sandler and Carmen Electra. He met Electra the first day he was there and said she was very nice.
“I did meet Adam Sandler and he swears he’s been to Baker before,” James said. “He goes ‘I think I’ve been there.’ So I don’t know if he actually has or not, but that’s what he told me.”
Aside from meeting celebrities, James also gained information that will be necessary when making a career decision. Last fall he did an internship in retail with Apple in Washington, D.C. That, along with his new experience, has been helpful he said.
“It’s opened doors for him and given him career choices,” Ray James said. “He could say ‘I really like Apple computers’ and he may decide to go that route, or he could say ‘Well, I may want to go out there and do some sound editing.'”
As for what’s next on Saunder James’ agenda, he isn’t exactly sure. With this year and a fifth year left in school, he has some time to decide.
“I’m not really sure what I want to do when I graduate, so I’m just kind of exploring,” he said. “I’ve got another year and will probably do another internship, so we’ll just see what that’s like.”