Morgan: So, tell me a little bit about yourself and your position at J and J editorial.

Miranda: I just graduated from UNC Wilmington this past May. So, it's been a year. I studied film studies, and I also got a certificate in professional writing. I am currently an editorial assistant at J & J.  I got the position mainly because of my two internships that I did with Film Matters [Magazine] and Intellect Books which came about because I studied both film and writing.

Morgan: What drew you to get a degree in both film studies and a certificate in professional writing?

Miranda: My original college career path was going to be purely creative writing. But, I actually ended up taking a broadcasting course my junior year of high school, and I fell in love with everything film. When I toured UNC Wilmington for the first time, I just fell in love with the campus, and I knew it was where I was supposed to go. 

I wanted to study film, but I also wanted to have writing as part of my degree. I was torn between creative writing and professional writing, but I think that having such a broad career path with professional writing opened up a lot of doors. I studied both. Both of the degrees were my passions. I loved working in the film department. I loved working in the English Department. They both were just wonderful and opened up a lot of doors for me.

Morgan: Was there a specific class or teacher that drew you to publishing and interning for Film Matters?

Miranda: Well, I would have to say Liza Palmer. She was my professor. I took her “Producing the Undergraduate Magazine” [course], which was the film matters class. I took that as a requirement for the film department and that was actually what led me to finding out about the Film Matters internship.

I absolutely loved her. She was just a wonderful professor and a really great confidant. I still keep up with her. I'm working with her now on a couple of pieces from Film Matters, even after graduation and everything, but her class really was the spark that ignited everything I've built until now.

Terry Linehan has also had a huge impact on me. He was my advisor and my former professor. He was always ready to lend a helping hand and offer advice. Terry continues to help me with whatever he can and is always interested in what I’m working on. I’m very grateful for the help he’s provided over the last few years. 

Morgan: Can you tell me a little bit about what you did for the Film Matters class and internship while you were still at school? 

Miranda: Class was a broad range of responsibilities. I took it my junior year. We did a lot of peer review, which is a lot of what I do in my job now- learning how that whole system works, learning how to keep editors, authors, and everybody blinded to remain unbiased in publishing. 

I did a featurette on Reel Teal Film Festival which was put on by the Flicker Film Society. That was one of our assignments where we could write about anything just as long as it met certain requirements. I interviewed two of the officers at the time and got to learn more about the film festival, promote it, and help bring awareness to that.

We also watched a film and were in charge of selecting a certain frame and breaking it down for audiences just based on one frame- whether it was the blocking of characters or the wardrobe or the shot cinematography. Just to learn how to do that and put it into written words rather than in comparison, being on set saying and showing physically what you could do or how you could set up a shot but expressing it in language, was a beautiful thing. I think that was one of the biggest takeaways from the class. 

For the internship, I built on everything I'd learned in the class. I did a lot more peer review; I learned to read essays submitted for publication and determine whether or not it fits certain standards for publishing. I also did a book review and a film review, where I was in charge of reading a book or watching a movie and writing a certain report on aspects of it, and then having that published. 

One of my major projects was being in charge of interviewing international filmmakers. This was done completely via email. It was pre-COVID. Looking back, that was going to be the beginning of everything we know now, but it was a lot of watching their films, creating those questions that would promote their film and express their creativity in the ways they may not have been able to just because of the film. It was very out of my comfort zone, but it was a lot of fun getting to reach out to people all across the world, having conversations with them about their projects, helping them build up their whole films and promote it.

Morgan: What advice would you give to anyone wanting to go into magazine publishing? 

Miranda: If you're passionate about it, go for it. I think that in the modern day, it's easy to get caught up with the routine of “this is fine. I'll settle for it, and I'll figure it out later.” But if you're passionate about anything that you're studying or you want to study something else or you want to build a different career, go for it. Nothing's going to stop you, unless you let yourself stop you. If you push yourself out of your comfort zone a little bit, you can open up a lot of doors for yourself and find passions you may not have even realized.

Morgan: Can you tell me a little bit about what you did for you at your internship for Intellect Books?

Miranda: It was a little similar to Film Matters. Intellect actually publishes Film Matters’ journals. It was like the broader internship that kind of encapsulated everything with Film Matters. For them, I did a lot of system data entry, so I would go through and break down certain things, like if it were a summary that was too long and it needed to be narrowed down to fit a character limit.

I had several projects where I worked with different members of the team to research potential clients, to reach out to authors who might want to publish something with the company, and a whole variety of things. Then, I did do a lot of proofreading which is a big part of publishing.

In my job now, I don't do a lot of proofreading. A lot of my responsibilities now include communication with editors, authors, system entries, and just making sure everything runs smoothly before it moves into production. But with Intellect Books, I did a lot of copy editing and proofreading. I think an internship really helps you narrow down those skills and fine tune everything. It's a lot of information. It's a lot of work to do, but if you're passionate about it, I think it's all worth it. 

Morgan: What are your goals for the future with editing and publishing?

Miranda: I'm just motivated by accomplishment. I want to find something that I'm passionate about and do it every day with the same ambition I did when I started. Just having a job that I love no matter what it is. What I do now is a lot of system entry, but I love it because it's helping authors get their work published and being a guiding hand to help others finish their work. I love everything about editing. I love everything with the publishing industry. I've just fallen in love with it. And I still maintain that intense love for film. I have been conditioned by the film department to overanalyze every film that I watch now, but I think that's just part of what you've learned. I wouldn't change a part of it.