In-House in the House

After spending the majority of my time in the UO ad program focusing on an agency-centric career path, my first internship out of college will be in-house copywriting at Disney’s Yellow Shoes. The plethora of guest speakers, agency visits and skype calls that I have attended through my four years have touched on little-to-no “true” in-house creative work. The idea of focusing on one single brand is daunting, and unlike a lot of the work we do build our books in our program (for good reason, too). However, I know that I am cheating a little bit with the sheer breadth of incredible properties (Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Jim Henson, etc.) that I will have the opportunity to touch, but that is still unlike anyone we have ever talked to, any agency visit we have ever embarked on, or anything I have ever done through my time at the U of O.

I had an earlier blog post about the fear of big companies. Does taking this internship make me a sellout? Not so fast, my friend. I am obviously beyond excited to be apart of such a beloved company, but I fully intend to go in swinging with every bit of outside perspective and agency wisdom that my time in New York and my time in the ad program has given me.

Natalie Kim of We Are Next says to “drink the Kool-Aid, but not blindly.” I know that a simple intern isn’t going to shake the foundation of The Walt DIsney Company, but like Jake Matthews of Virtue/Vice said, “the millenial perspective is what keeps creative work ahead of the relevancy curve.” I won’t let rose-colored glasses compromise the very perspective that got me to where I am. I will cultivate my own angle into the work and aim to challenge every stigma and current state of in-house work that there is.

- James Vos

5.14.18