Former Reporter A/E Editor Interns With HBO’s Ballers

Crystal Esparza, who served as the A/E editor for The Reporter this past year, recently completed an internship in January on the HBO series Ballers.

Esparza, 22, was selected as a production assistant intern in the locations department. She was picked among more than 100 applicants.    

Her duties included obtaining signatures from businesses near film sets, assisting with tech scouts, delivering checks, securing parking, and opening and closing sets.

“The experience has been great,” Esparza said. “It’s a lot of work. I’ve been doing a lot more than a regular locations production assistant would be doing. I’ve gotten to make a good impression and in the future, when they need a crew member, hopefully I’ll get a call. The crew has been very welcoming and informative. They are awesome.”

Esparza is scheduled to graduate from Miami Dade College in May with a bachelor of applied science degree in Film, Television & Digital Production.    

She has produced various short films, including an adventure comedy, an art house film and a drama. In 2014, Esparza worked as a line producer for respected Cuban American director Leon Ichaso for his film La Ultima Noche.     

Esparza plans to land more production assistant jobs, and eventually go into film production coordinating or producing.