Bettina Braganza has one of the coolest jobs in the animation industry. Besides from being the official tour guide of Nickelodeon Animation Studio, she helps plan out Nickelodeon's Kid's Choice Awards, Comic Con, and premiere parties for various Nickelodeon shows. Bettina graduated from UC Irvine with a degree in Business Economics. She always knew she wanted to be in entertainment, but had no idea what industry exactly.

"I just wanted to follow in my sister's footsteps, as she always worked in the [music] industry...[t]he animation industry was actually something I was really oblivious to. I didn’t know anything about it."

After landing an internship with Nickelodeon as an Event Marketing Intern, Bettina developed a love for the animation industry. She became the Event Marketing Assistant shortly after the internship ended and since the interview, Bettina has been recently promoted to Event Marketing Coordinator! Congratulations with all your success, Bettina! I look forward to seeing what your career has in store.

Who are you and what do you do?

Hi! My name is Bettina Braganza, and I work for Nickelodeon as the West Coast Event Marketing Assistant.

When did you know you wanted to be in the entertainment/animation industry and what events led you to choose it?

I always knew I wanted to be in entertainment, I just didn’t really know exactly where. The animation industry was actually something I was really oblivious to. I didn’t know anything about it. My internship at the Nick Animation Studios really made me love it though! I learned so much in those 3 months!

What did you major in college? Do you think this helped you with your pursuit in the entertainment industry?

I actually majored in Business Economics. Nowadays, I see colleges have majors that are really specific and geared towards Entertainment. UCI didn’t really have that, but I think my major was broad enough in order for me to pursue a lot of different things, including the entertainment industry.

When did you know you wanted to be in the entertainment/animation industry and what events led you to choose it?

I always knew I wanted to be in entertainment, I just didn’t really know exactly where. The animation industry was actually something I was really oblivious to. I didn’t know anything about it. My internship at the Nick Animation Studios really made me love it though! I learned so much in those 3 months!

Has anyone/anything inspired you to follow your passion for entertainment/animation? What/who?

I guess I just wanted to follow in my sister’s footsteps, as she always worked in the entertainment (specifically music) industry. It was Nickelodeon that opened my eyes about the animation industry and made me love it!

As an Event Marketing Assistant, what does your daily task consist of?

In addition to helping out with all of the big tentpole events (Kid’s Choice Awards, Kid’s Choice Sports, Comic Con), the West Coast team handles all of the events happening for the studio. This includes catered meetings, employee screenings, speaker series, monthly art galleries, premiere parties for shows, holiday parties, department offsites, food truck visits and so much more I feel like I can’t remember! I also am the official tour guide of the studio. This keeps us pretty busy :)

Was Event Marketing something you always wanted to purse, or did you happen to fall into it?

I actually fell into it. In college, I was never really sure what I wanted to do..I worked at the events center in UCI and I liked it, so I thought I would try it out! It was doing events for Nick that really made me love it!

What is the difference between event marketing and regular marketing?

There is so much that goes into marketing, and so many departments that goes under it. There’s digital marketing, integrated marketing, sports marketing, and much more. Event marketing is just a subset of the overall marketing, if that makes sense. It’s just another way to promote the brand. :)

How would you describe the culture at Nickelodeon?

The culture is amazing, and why I love Nick so much! Everyone is so friendly and we have plenty of events for our employees. We also have mentorship programs, speaker events, Food Truck Fridays. You walk around the studio, and everyone says hi or gives a smile. It’s a great and fun place to be at!

What has been the coolest moment working at Nickelodeon?

It’s really all been cool! It’s hard to pick just one thing. All the events I’ve worked on are really cool. I do have to say though, we hosted our first ever Nickapalooza in 2014, and it was amazing. To see all the employees come together to enjoy performances of fellow employees was really amazing. We also made the studio courtyard look amazing!!!

How did you score the Special Events Internship at Nickelodeon?

I actually just searched special events internships on Google. I ended up coming upon the Nick Animation Studio website, and applied. I went through 2 phone interviews and an on-site interview. To my surprise, I got the job!!

Any advice to students applying to Nickelodeon internship positions?

I would just say to apply everywhere, and don’t be discouraged when someone says no. I’ve been told no plenty of times, but I always got back up and was determined to find an internship/job. Also, make sure to write relevant experience on your resume when applying for a certain job. My supervisor told me that one of the things they liked on my resume was that I had volunteered for the “Renal Prom” in high school, which showed that I had interest and experience in events.

Best part about being an Nicktern?

I think one of the best parts was all the classes and events that were held for the Nickterns. Not knowing anything about animation, it really opened up my eyes. We had storyboard classes, resume writing classes, weekly screenings of the 90’s show that we grew up on, game night, lunches with show creators..it was awesome! We were able to network with other employees, and really bond with our fellow intern class.

How was the internship experience overall?

It was really amazing! You are really treated with respect and as a fellow employee. All the classes and events were so helpful and inspiring. You’re really encouraged to network and have meetings with everyone, from VP’s to PA’s. If you’re into animation, this really is a perfect internship!

How did you transition from being an intern to becoming a full time employee at Nickelodeon?

For me, timing was really on my side. At the time I was interning, the events team consisted of 3 full time employees and 1 part time employee. As I was graduating UCI, one person from the team decided to move on to another department. The VP of events decided to hire me as a full time employee! It’s really important to make sure to leave a good impression as an intern, because it could really work out! I remember one of the employees told me that an internship is like a 3-month long interview..so true!

I understand that you were a Creative Licensing/Video Production Intern at Sony Music Entertainment. Can you tell me more about that?

Yes! It was actually my very first internship and I think I was only a freshman in college, so I actually don’t remember too much about it. I was very young and didn’t really know what to expect, so I felt like I didn’t really take advantage of this opportunity. I didn’t really network, which was my biggest regret. A lot of it was administrative work like packaging and mailing content out. I also had to do a lot of research for music, which was cool!

What is the difference from interning in the music industry compared to the animation industry?

Like I mentioned in the previous question, I think my experience and age had a lot to do with what I thought about the industries. Being so young while interning for Sony, I wasn’t determined to work too hard or get the most out of the internship. I thought it was a bit more intense and the atmosphere wasn’t as friendly and inviting. But from what I hear, the internship at the Nick Animation Studio is one like no other. Animation is super fun and the people are really friendly. It was really encouraged to meet with everyone to network, including executives. It was nice!

Where do you hope to be in 5 years?

I really do like working in events! In 5 years, I hope to just grow in the corporate event industry. :)

What is your dream project?

With Nick, I feel like I’ve been able to experience almost everything I wanted. I’ve been able to work on Kid’s Choice Awards and Comic-Con, which were events I dreamed of working on when I first started. It was also really amazing to work on the first ever Kid’s Choice Sports. It’s still my dream though to get slimed!!! There’s also a lot of events that happen in the East Coast that I wish I could work on—like Worldwide Day of Play.

What has been your proudest moment?

My proudest moment thus far has probably been the first event I officially planned and executed. I planned a party for the Sanjay and Craig crew last summer. It wasn’t even that big of an event, but it was pretty special being my first one. :) Of course, something had to go wrong and the photo booth showed up a bit late, but other than that, everything went great!!

Best advice you can give your past self-knowing what you know now?

I’m pretty shy, so I guess my advice to myself would just be to speak up more. Also to trust myself..being so young, I felt like I should listen to others ideas as they have more experience. But I found out that companies are looking for those new and fresh ideas that are coming from those who are younger!

Favorite animation film and/or TV show?

I love Miyazaki, and Spirited Away is one of my favorite animated films! As for TV show, I’ve always been a huge fan of The Avatar! I would actually get pretty star struck when I would see Mike and Bryan at work.

Any work you would like to share? Website, blog, or tumblr?

Unfortunately, I don’t have a website or blog, but I hope to start one soon!

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