Famous for their glitz and grandeur, Vegas casinos have served as backdrops for dozens of movies and TV shows, from Diamonds Are Forever to CSI: Vegas.
CSI’s creator, by the way, is Anthony Zuiker, who graduated from UNLV — just like Jaden Dickson.
After getting her bachelor’s degree in film this spring, the 22-year-old began an eight-week internship with the Television Academy Foundation in California. It was her third try. Out of 40 interns, she was one of 10 selected for the Bob Bennett Future Leaders program, which gave her an extra stipend and greater access to industry professionals.
Dickson’s UNLV film professor, Andi Isaacs, understands why her former student was chosen. She says Dickson “gets it.”
“She’s very creative, ambitious, and a really an out-of-the-box thinker. She’s very professional,” Isaacs said. “We hear of the bad in the industry, but I think the professionalism that’s needed gets dismissed. I have no doubt (Jaden) will do very well.”
Talking to Dickson on the phone during her time in L.A., I hear both a real-world pragmatism and a joy for what she’s doing.
“Of course, the creative aspects are so fun and it’s so important to carry that with you,” Dickson says. “But at the end of the day it’s a business. It’s a huge industry, and the basis of it is making money. I really wanted to understand those aspects, so I could go into it with a strong foundation of understanding it as business.”
Dickson went into UNLV as a biology major, then switched to film because she couldn’t see herself as a biologist. She said her parents — her dad works in small business development, and her mom is in the transportation industry — fully supported her.
“I did my research,” she says. “They were confident in me and have a belief in me.”
Despite her early successes, Dickson has to pinch herself to remember she’s not dreaming. “The first time I got paid to be on a set was so exciting, because it’s this realization that this stuff is so cool and so exciting, and I’m excited to be there.”
And if Las Vegas’ film and TV industry does develop, as some in the industry hope, she says she’ll be even more excited to come back and pursue her career in her hometown.
“I would love to see the industry that I want to work in and that I want to be a part of come to the city that I love,” she says.
