It is not every day that you are chatting about study abroad programs when one of your sorority sisters chimes in with, “Oh, you should talk to Megan Tynecki! She worked at the Cannes Film Festival last summer.” Naturally, I had to investigate.    

Megan Tynecki, a junior advertising and public relations major, with a film studies minor, first heard about the opportunity in one of her film courses. Europe had long been on her list of places to travel, and what better way to experience Europe than a film festival? On May 10, immediately after finals, she found herself on a plane to Cannes, France.    

The internship with Jazo PR, a public relations firm, officially began on May 14.  After arriving in Cannes, Tynecki had a few short days of orientation before everything started. Her first day, however, threw some unexpected loops into her plans.  “One thing that caught me off guard was that there was a bus strike on the first day of the festival. We were staying a little outside of Cannes, so we had to take a bus into the festival, but they weren’t running.  So, I ended up walking from our hotel into the festival, which was about a 30-minute walk. It ended up being okay, though. I made it to work a little sweaty, but only 15 minutes late.”      

Once the bus situation sorted itself out, Tynecki worked alongside the owner of Jazo PR and his assistant. On an average day, Tynecki would wake up around 8 a.m. and head into Cannes. Once there, she would meet up with her boss in a converted apartment right across from the Marche, the main business center and market for the festival. Then, they would go over the day’s events, check the local magazines for their ads and promotions, and check in with clients. A few of her responsibilities included working a promotional event for a client, running errands, and working with reporters to make sure the necessary materials were ready for any press releases.     

Obviously, when you’re at the Cannes Film Festival there has to be a little play with all that work.  While there, Tynecki was able to catch a few films, including Tommy Lee Jones,’ The Homesman, The Map Of The Stars, Clouds Of Sils Maria, a few French films, and Foxcatcher, starring Steve Carrell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Rufflo. “I actually got to go to the red carpet premiere of Foxcatcher, so I watched the film with all of the cast. So, yes, my man Channing and I shared the same carpet and the same oxygen.”  It’s okay ladies. I was jealous, too.     

Following her internship at the festival, Tynecki traveled to Nice, then into Italy to the Cinque Terre and, finally, to Rome.  Eventually, this Colorado native found her way back to UNL’s campus where she currently works for HuskerVision and serves on the executive team for Chi Omega. She hopes to eventually work in film or sports, her dream job being community outreach for the Colorado Rockies or the Boston Red Sox.  Hopefully, she’ll stick around for a bit longer, but it seems this Chi Omega has some big plans for her future.