Thanks to a prestigious Warner Bros. internship, Tayler Scriber ’19 gained a hands-on, inside look into an industry that affects millions—which she’s interested in exploring further.
Over the summer, she delved into the studio’s deep pool of research about consumer behavior. She poured over data about how people watch their favorite shows and movies, as well as what related merchandise they want as fans. For instance, with Friends celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Scriber analyzed how people watch the series and what products they’d want to purchase, such as clothing or DVD box sets.
“They let me and all the other interns be very hands-on with projects that mattered,” Scriber said. “We were in meetings. We were talking to executives. We were making decisions about certain projects. It was really hands-on, very informative, and super awesome.”
Scriber’s always been curious about people’s relationship with media: why they watch what they watch, and in turn, how that content affects them. Thanks to the Whittier Scholars Program, Scriber turned that passion into a self-designed major, Film and Humanities, and has enjoyed exploring a subject that deeply interests to her.
She’s specifically honed in on black representation, both on the screen and behind the camera. Acclaimed movies and television series like Get Out, which turned a critical eye to racism, and HBO’s Insecure, which explores the black female experience, have had serious cross-cultural implications, Scriber said.
In her junior year, she began by looking back to investigate how the revolutionary horror classic Night of the Living Dead characterized its black lead and the significance of his role in a 1960s film. The optics of the seminal zombie movie, a black man trying to survive conflict only to be killed by his protectors, reflect the optics of not only its era, but 2018, as well.
“I think it matters that we take stock of the things that we consume on a regular basis,” said Scriber, presenting her analysis last spring at Whittier’s annual conference for student research. “We take these un-intentioned biases and we place that on people that we meet in the outside world. It is a reflection of who we are.”
Analyzing Night of the Living Dead served as a trail run for her senior project: expanding her scope and investigating how black women have been represented in film, and how those portrayals shaped real women’s experiences. She’s also taking a close look at black women’s involvement in the industry, which has remained static over time.
“I’ve always been interested in how do we create a more holistic story of who we are,” she said. “Especially in the United States of America, where we have so many different types of people, it would behoove us to show different types of people and see how those stories effect who we are as a society.”
She’s receiving support for her research through the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, which helps under-represented students who want to become professors. After graduation, Scriber plans to continue her education in graduate school.
