Two Months Away from an Entertainment Business

I wanted to speak to you, my reader, regarding a rather special and delicate subject: Graduation. I am supposed to graduate in June/2012, and finally have my Master of Science Degree in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University. I have pondered many times whether to really go into opening my own entertainment industry-related business or to just try and blend in with the crowd, meaning the rest of the world in trying to get a job in this ever so precarious economic age in our history. At my age, I should have my own job, my own home - my own things. But alas, I don't.

Like so many contemporaries of this generation I am unable to find a job that is related to my area of study. Which is weird because that is one of the biggest reasons I went into my Masters with Full Sail. I love Full Sail; the way they educate is like nothing I have ever seen in my life, and probably the same with you. Try taking just one class a month and having to submit 3 different assignments between Wednesdays and Sundays, the learning never stops, but it can com to a point where you start actually pulling your hair.

But, I digress.

The reason I am writing such a fluff piece this time around is because like I said, I'm about to graduate from my Master's degree, and I need to make a decision about whether to go into business, or just keep looking for a job. What's funny about this is that I actually know that I am not the only one going through this questionnaire in my mind. There's millions upon millions of students wondering and questioning themselves the same "trivial" things. So, without further ado, here are my absolutely great ideas: 1) Open my own editing agency/business, 2) Move to either New York, California, London or France and look for multiple jobs in one of those cities.

What do you think?

Can you tell I planned this well?

To be honest, I don’t even know what’s going to happen after I graduate. Right now my future is hanging by a thread. Depending on how I do on this class at the end of the month, I will know if I can graduate. I really truly hope so.
This class is about understanding the workings of Online Marketing. I was scared right away the first day (no one knew that until just now); and I was right. But ‘being scared’ aside, the class is actually very interesting. The professors are great (they must be thinking that I’m trying to get on their good side, not at all… well, maybe a little). The information is exceptionally relevant to our times, and a little knowledge in online marketing never hurt anyone, aside from the fact that if I don’t pass this class, I can’t graduate. So, you can imagine how scared I really am. Here’s to hoping everything turns out OK.

Again, I digress.

Listen, finding a job within the industry that one loves now a day is one of the hardest things there is to do, unless you have a stellar GPA, and good connections in different places. But the one thing I can tell you for sure right now, without a shadow of a doubt in my mind and in my heart is that I do love this business, -well, the creative part anyway- and that I do want to try.

So there you have it my friend(s) (if there’s actually more than one). I give you two options, you help me choose, and I’ll keep bringing these (anything but interesting and relevant) posts.

Hugo: A Conundrum

     

We all know that when we go to see a film it's because when we watch the promotions and the TV spots, we were increasingly attracted to what we were being presented with. That's how the business works. The conundrum that we are presented here with is that, it's such a distinct film, that it appeared that the film's marketers didn't know how to position it for the audience. and that affected the film a lot in the aspect of profits. That's how we see a very significant difference in the way things were done back in the "Golden Age of Hollywood", where films were presented to the masses with the ultimate means to gain profit, but the quantities of money was not what generally determined the success of a film. What ultimately measured the success of a film was the acclaim it would receive, not only from the critics, but also from their peers, and of course the audience. There is a line in the movie "The Holiday" by the great actor Eli Walach that goes: "now a days a movie has to make a 'killing' on opening weekend in order to be successful" (well, something along those lines). And it struck me - he couldn't be more right! So, the problem that we have here is a combination of many factors that can be divided into phases. Because film making is done in phases: concept creation, pitching to the studios, pre-production, production, and finally post-production. But we focus on a general aspect of the whole picture. We focus on how that product is going to be promoted from the moment it is announced to the media, and how the studio will want the product to be seen and what they want it to be portrayed as to the public. After all, the audiences are the ones that keep these people in their comfy seats, inside their big, floor-to-ceiling windows, so, the audience decides if it’s going to be a hit or a flop. And here comes the situation with “Hugo”. Hugo wasn’t advertised in a way that portrayed their central story, because when I saw the film, I had no idea that the film was about what it ultimately was about. Which was the life of film making “founder” George Méliès. The film is probably one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen (and I’ve seen many films, I love almost all of them) but this one is special. It touched a subject that is very near and dear to my heart, and you saw Mr. Scorcese’s heart and passion in it, he even had a cameo in it. Which was such a lovely surprise to me, to see him be an even more direct part of what was a passion project for him. I ramble. In the words of my closest friend: “The film looks too childish for adults, and it’s too adult for children, so they had no way of promoting it in a way that would appeal to all demos.” It’s probably the reason why it wasn’t as successful in the box-office as they thought t would be. And I couldn’t agree more. I recommend it to all who want to see a piece of extremely old-school cinema, it’s truly remarkable. And I encourage all of you, dear reader(s) (all one of you), to investigate your films before deciding not to go see them. Us filmmakers work from the heart, for the pleasure of your entertainment.