Entertainment Panel
Entertainment Panel
Your Yale degree may help you get "into the biz," but it's
definitely not a free ticket. You also need talent, connections,
luck and "just get in the door" - even if that means starting in
the mailroom. That's the up-front advice from our distinguished
panelists at our first "How I Got Into The Biz"
panel:
Approximately 195 Yalies, other Ivy alums, and friends attended our panel to ask insider questions from our distinguished speakers, all Yale alums. The Yale name: Panelists said that a liberal arts education, and drama classes can help, but don't count on the name alone. They had mixed experiences about how much the Yale name itself helped. Some said it doesn't really help. Parkes added that he feels the name can help if it becomes "part of your story." Hollywood is an industry about telling stories, including personal career stories. If you're the "Yalie who moves to LA to break in," use that as part of your story -- and it may help.
Getting In: If you think you don't deserve to start at the bottom because you have a Yale degree, forget it. It's better to have the lowest job in a big studio than a good job in a mediocre/unknown company. Willcox said it's incredibly competitive - many of the people in the CAA mailroom have law and MBA degrees. What's most important in a movie: It's all about the script. Parkes said for your first script. write what you're passionate about, not what's commercial. We all have at least one passionate story to tell, so write that. Others' advice: If you're having trouble, get some life experience first. Actors: Even if you have the most talent, if you're not exactly what they're looking for the role (too short, too tall, not the "right look", etc), you won't get the part, Lee said. Learn to deal with rejection and be persistent. Connections can pop up in all sorts of places, like your acting class classmates. Work/Reward Payoff: The entertainment industry is not like school, where you work hard and are directly rewarded. Even with the most talent and brains, you still might not get the part/job. That's part of the business. How some people without talent still make it big? Connections and luck. But most panelists agree that people without talent don't stick around and are usually gone from the studio in a few years. MBAs in Hollywood: Your MBA may help you understand P&L on the business side, but if you want to switch to the creative/production side, you'll have to prove you're creative too. Creatives may be suspicious of you... At the end of the panel, we raffled off a pair of movie tickets, a MIB 2 DVD and an American Pie poster.
Thanks to our speakers, attendees, and our Panel
Organizing Committee: If you want to add your name to the Yale in Hollywood email list to find out about more events like this, email kevin@kevinwinston.com and visit yalela.org regularly for updates. If you're a Yalie, become a member for discounted rates. |
"I wanted to thank you for the great gathering last night. I
am so glad that I went and even brought my sister (although
she didn't go to Yale, she is an executive in the film
business). It was really inspiring and encouraging to hear
everyone's story." "Great job with the event last night"
"I just wanted to thank you for hosting such a great event.
I learned a lot from the panelists and found their advice to
be quite helpful. Please keep me posted as to when the next
Yale in Hollywood event is."
"You guys are doing an absolutely wonderful job of running
Yale SoCal!"
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