Project Description

Name: Julie Eldon
Company: Irish International Advertising
Job Position: Client Service Account Manager

When I finished my undergraduate degree in Business & Management from DIT in 2011, the job market in Ireland was extremely bleak for new graduates. Very few of my classmates were offered jobs relevant to our degree and many went on to pursue further education instead of searching the shallow pool of job opportunities. After 4 years in college, I had no intention of returning as I wanted to experience the “real world” as soon as possible. I had always wanted to be a part of the Irish Entertainment Industry whether it was film, music or gaming, and over the years I had tried my hand at all 3 within the retail world working in Xtra-Vision, Golden Discs and GameStop over several years. The Film Industry was where my real passion was but I hadn’t a clue where to begin looking.
After 3 months of job searching, an internship seemed to be my only hope. I majored in Marketing in my degree but I only had retail experience and a 6 month Marketing internship in a pharmaceutical company behind me. I didn’t have enough experience to get a job in Marketing but couldn’t get a Marketing job to gain any experience… I found out that I was entitled to take part in JobBridge, Ireland’s National Internship Scheme, so I logged on to the website and saw that Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Ireland were looking for a Marketing & Publicity Executive for a 9 month internship. I dropped everything I was doing and immediately applied. This was my perfect job. I wanted it and I was going to do everything I could to get it! Less than a month later, there I was in the Savoy Cinema working at the press screening of Disney’s War Horse. I had finally got my foot into the Irish Film Industry.
After 9 months of implementing Disney’s marketing and publicity campaigns, organising premieres and press screenings, handling film promotions and managing media relationships, my internship came to an end. On the last day of my internship, I was offered an interview with Irish International Advertising to become a Client Service Account Manager where I would work on the Disney Ireland account and I was offered the position within the month.
I currently organise all of the creative advertising for all of Disney Ireland’s films – TV, Radio, Outdoor, Press and Online. I also look after all creative advertising for Sony Pictures Ireland Releasing Home Entertainment (DVD & Blu-ray releases).
My favourite part of the job is seeing what I’ve worked up on my TV, at the bus stop, in the newpaper, browsing the internet and hearing it on the radio. It’s a real sense of achievement. Also, getting to go to the premieres isn’t too bad either 🙂
For anyone looking to follow in my footsteps, experience is key. Locate the companies you want to work for and have an idea of what job you think you’d like to do. Make yourself known to these companies by handing in your CV personally or asking one of the members of staff to meet with you for a coffee to show your interest but also to see if they have any advice for you. They might even know somebody who can help you out with a job. Money isn’t everything so if you need to do an internship, then do. They’re not long term, they show dedication on your CV and you also gain valuable experience. I wouldn’t be where I am now without my internship at Disney.
Copyright protection is unbelievably important especially in the Irish Film Industry as it’s quite small. The people who dedicate their lives and put so much hard work into creating and distributing a film deserve to be rewarded for it. Piracy and illegal downloading are damaging the film industry and everyone who works in its vicinity. Also, who can say that seeing a blockbuster film like the visually stunning ‘Gravity’ on a big IMAX screen can possibly compare to a downloaded file on a laptop or TV screen?
My favourite film is probably Mean Girls. It’s no Oscar winner but it brings me back to my teenage years. It’s also ridiculously funny and there’s some seriously great one liners in there.