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UC Davis Magazine

Volume 29 · Number 2 · Winter 2012

Web extra: Young alums in the work world

Katie Ichtertz

2011 Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Documentary and New Frontier Features coordinator

Katie Ichtertz’s lifelong passion for movies and theater led her to a dream job with the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. She spent November 2010 to February 2011 working as the film office coordinator for the festival’s World Cinema Documentary and New Frontier Features category.

Portrait photo

Katie Ichtertz

During the 10-day Utah festival itself, she worked with film professionals from around the world, including an Academy Award winning director as well as first-time filmmakers. Ichertz ’08 called Sundance the “10 most surreal, challenging and rewarding days” of her life. “I’ve never felt such incredible exhaustion or supreme elation before,” she said. “The end was bittersweet, but it was an incredibly satisfying feeling to reach the finish line.”

Her journey to Sundance was an international one, but started when she was a kid growing up in Woodland. “I have always really been a hammy person,” she said. “I was the entertainer in preschool.” As a UC Davis student, she worked for three years at the Mondavi Center as an assistant public events manager, where, she said, her work experienced complimented her academic studies in Spanish and international relations.

By the time she was finishing her studies in fall 2008, the job market looked bleak. “Nobody could get a job, so it didn’t matter what you did,” Ichtertz said. “You were going to be poor.” Three weeks before graduation, she began applying to graduate programs around the world, thinking: “I might as well be happy.”

Her pursuit of happiness took her to London, where she received a master’s degree in cultural and creative industries from King’s College. In June 2010, after applying for numerous positions without results, Ichtertz booked her plane ride home. A week before she left London, she learned about the Sundance position and applied immediately. “I thought this is never going to happen, but this is going to make me feel better—I wanted to feel like I’m doing something.” While flying back to California, she was invited to do a phone interview. After two days back at home, she was offered the job. “I was terrified because it was such a good opportunity,” she said. “I was mentally tired, but I thought I have to take this.”

She packed her bags again and set out for Utah.

The job was short term, and Ichtertz has since moved to Los Angeles to pursue other opportunities. However, she said, “Working for Sundance has been an absolute blessing. Indeed, working for the festival has reinforced my belief that success is defined by loving and believing in what you do, not by the amount printed on your check. I’m still on a student’s budget. But I’m really happy, so that’s OK.”

Advice for recent graduates: “Be prepared to pay your dues, but don’t let yourself be taken advantage of because you are a fresh, ambitious face in the professional world.”