Reflection

The first class within the Entertainment Business Master of Science program is Media Literacy and Research Methodologies. Right off the bat, within the first week I had a research paper due, which is to be expected this was graduate level now. I got the opportunity to learn about presentations, personal learning networks, and had my first collaboration activity. I also had an assignment to put my LinkedIn profile together. Our discussions during the weeks were time management, plagiarism, and my industry’s future.

During my next class of Executive Leadership I created and started my blog Entertainment Business: Behind the Lights, Camera, and Action. I did my first leadership presentation on Kathleen Kennedy, and did a leadership self-assessment on the Greene Law and Maxwell traits, and a case assessment. I also wrote a Leadership Self-Assessment research paper. My weekly discussions were about personal banding, decision-making, relationships, and self-assessments. 

My next class was Project and Team Management. My weekly discussions were team building, brainstorming, DiSC styles, and blog post and review. I did an industry research assignment, as well as creating a timeline through tiki-toki, and a budget. 

I also did a team assignment, character assignment, as well as a conflict resolution assignment. This class taught me there are many positive attributes to working with and managing a team, as well as how to resolve any conflicts or issues that can arise when working with many different individuals.

     

In my Business Storytelling and Brand Development class my discussions were about personal brand strategy, market research, 22 immutable laws of branding, and marketing blogs. I did two different blog posts for this class, business storytelling, and entertainment industry. I completed an entertainment brand audit on The Walt Disney Company, case study, and a brand identity guide. I also did a market research and company overview assignment on my own business.

My Entertainment Business Finance class was much different than the pre-production budgeting class I took during my undergraduate degree. In this class not only did I learn about ratio analysis, I did a research paper on crowdfunding. I had an assignment on personal finance, wrote two blogs, completed a full pro forma financials on my own business, and presented those financials. This class was one of my favorites. I not only took away all the knowledge of business finance, but also learned a ton of information on my own personal finances. I believe this is a crucial part of business success. If you can’t even balance your own personal books, why would you think you could balance a business?

During my Negotiation and Deal-Making class I completed an interview blog, did a large research case study presentation, and completed multiple case study worksheets. My class had four different discussion boards during the course.

My Product and Artist Management class was another one of my favorite courses. I learned a lot about the ability I have to management an artist, and put together an entire live event from start to finish. I put together the entire budget for the event, as well as the venue, promotions, marketing, and travel arrangements. I did a full video presentation for this project. I completed an artist management case study assessment, two blog posts, and a product core competencies pitch.

During my Advanced Entertainment Law class I wrote an industry expert blog, an industry liabilities blog, as well as completing an IP Audit. I filled out all the registration forms for copyright, patents, and trademarks. My weekly discussions were details regarding the differences between copyright, patents, and trademarks. I also wrote a research paper, and did an endorsement assignment.

My Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution class we had a collaboration assignment shared through Google Docs. My projects in this class were writing a letter requesting a review of my film treatment, completing a full film treatment, and a business strategy project. My discussions were learning about print on demand and video on demand, as well as what the next steps are after your product is completed.

The Digital Marketing class was about completing a marketing plan canvas for each week for my own business. This marketing plan canvas plugged into a full digital marking plan. I completed the tasks within the marketing plan. I completed a case study and two blog assignments. My discussions and assignments were on Google adwords, Google analytics, QR Codes, mailing lists, launch campaigns, and social media.

Business Plan Development was preparing our final business plan. Each week I had to complete a portion of my business plan. I completed two blog posts, a differentiation exercise, and a financial statement spreadsheet. Our discussions in the course were about company culture, target markets, and being an entrepreneur.

                             

The Final Project: Business Plan course is tying everything together. I did an elevator pitch of my business plan, two blog posts, and a financial statement assignment.  I submitted the final completion of my business plan with all the previous courses corrections and additions, and presented that business plan. My class assignments have been about the different leadership styles, different ways of obtaining financing for my business, how to prepare for investors, and reflecting back on the knowledge we received from this course. The information from this course has been priceless. I’ve learned about the types of jobs to look for, how to interview for them, as well as being prepared for it.

Each course within the Full Sail Entertainment Business Master’s program has built on top of each other. Every course, assignment, discussion, and lecture has provided me with real life knowledge, scenarios, and experience.

Graduation and then…

As graduation approaches every student wonders, plans, or even daydreams about what’s around the corner. Starting the next chapter within your life. I can tell you that it may seem a bit overwhelming; however, it’s very much unlike what Katherine Schwarzenegger says in her book. “There were no feelings of great elation or relief among the many hugs and cheers. Instead, there was a feeling of total panic and paralyzing fear of the unknown.” Personally, I couldn’t disagree more with that sentence. I have never been so ready, and overwhelmed with excitement to start my journey.

I’m graduating from Full Sail University in less than two weeks. I will be obtaining my Master’s degree in Entertainment Business. The experiences I have gained, along with the classwork that I have completed within my program, have not only prepared me with all the tools to enter the workforce. Most importantly I have gained real life knowledge, which has given me the confidence within myself, to know that I will be successful in the future.

According to an article by Russ Thorne, “…the very nature of work is changing, and new roles are being created that simply didn’t exist a decade ago, Job titles such as app developer, search engine optimization specialist, growth hacker, social media expert, and user experience designer are all very new, but legitimate careers, says Waterworth. The digital revolution is creating new opportunities across all industries, and new graduates are best placed to fill these gaps”.

Full Sail is a school for just those types of graduates. For me, Full Sail wasn’t the traditional boring university. We learned digital marketing, which taught us all about search engine optimization, Google analytics, and social media. This was just the beginning for us. Every class had real life scenarios, and every teacher has their own personal experience within the industry, not just textbook knowledge. Each class developed off of the next, and later prepared us for creating our very own business plans within the entertainment industry.   

As the times change, and we are now within the information age I have never felt more excited to go out, and put my own fingerprint on the world. I feel fully equipped with all the tools, knowledge, and experience from all of my college years, both undergrad and grad school.

This is just my own personal experience, and not a put down or promoting for anyone.

Disney: A Marketing Leader

Did you ever think a 200 million dollar movie and the HSN (Home Shopping Network) would have a big thing in common? According to mobilemarketer.com mobile is now playing a crucial role in how Disney is going to be marketing a few of their next movies. “Disney will work with HSN to develop multi-platform marketing programs for three upcoming films: Cinderella, Maleficent and The Hundred-Foot Journey.” Most people don’t even realize that most of the largest movies continue to make money even after they aren’t in theaters. According to Jeff Hasen, Seattle-based chief marketing officer at Mobivity. “There are merchandising extensions and promotions for coming DVD’s and on-demand showing. Why wouldn’t Disney do more to reach them there?”

During the beginning, Disney was marketing older females with the Maleficent trailer showing a dark version of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. Showing us just enough of, A-list actress, Angelina Jolie as her dark and evil doing character’s story which was up until now, previously untold. According to an article in Forbes.com the most recent trailer of the movie is “…the mostly explicitly kid-friendly sell thus far. Point being, there isn’t a ton of what would qualify as frightening images.”

Disney is one of the largest brands. The Walt Disney Company has mastered the use of digital marketing.  According to an article on mashable.com “Disney Marketing: The Happiest Social Media Strategy on Earth”. Andy Mooney, chairman of Disney Consumer Products said, “…what social media allows you to do is different from traditional consumer-facing advertising… Social media lets you uniquely connect with fans”. It’s not just taping into the fan base of Disney alone, but also brands connected with Disney like Toy Story who has over 34 millions likes on Facebook, or Frozen who has over 13 million likes on Facebook. By the way, Maleficent is already over 2 million likes on Facebook, and the movie hasn’t even released yet. That’s pretty impressive.

Putting It All Together

“Statistics say that 9 out of 10 new businesses fail within the first 5 years.” This is according to an article on smallbiztrends.com. This doesn’t necessarily mean that a business right out of college isn’t the way to go. If you are passionate and excited about your business, you can find success. Utilizing everything you have learned during your college years, and tailoring the information to fit within your business plan is a step in the right direction.

Kevin Geiger discusses having a business plan in great detail. I want to do as he advices, by allowing investors to know how and when they can expect a return on their investment. This clearly is the most important part for the investors to read and understand, because lets face it; that is what they are most interested in. I believe having a detailed business plan is very important; however, I have learned from Chuck Blakeman that it isn’t about the long-term process of how I’m getting there. It’s multiple steps, and not to get discouraged if my business plans change within the process.

I was reading an article on forbes.com about the 6 Things You Must Do To Get Your First Job After College. The article discusses the importance of looking for a job as early as high school, and not to wait until spring of senior year. I believe this information can also apply to your business plan. Starting a business plan as early as possible with knowing, it is okay if there are changes throughout the process. As much preparation as possible is key towards success.

I plan on keeping all of my books, notes, and assignments from everything I have done and learned within grad school. This will allow for me to reintegrate all of my studies. Joining a professional industry related group is another great idea from Dan Schawbel’s Forbes interview. Taking everything, within my business plan, from one step to the next step without trying to figure out my end result is a key point I’m taking from Chuck Blakeman. I think starting a business can be a bit of an overwhelming thought, especially as a new graduate.  Chunking out the details one step at a time relieves some of those feelings.

Experts and their funding ideas.

Kevin Geiger started out as a computer animator for the movie Species. Kevin also was a digital artist for Disney’s Fantasia 2000, and the movie Reign of Fire. Kevin was the CG supervisor for Chicken Little. Kevin Geiger was a CG supervisor for The Walt Disney Company. After leaving Disney he co-founded and is now the CEO of Magic Dumpling, an animation development company. Kevin Geiger has been known for his seminars around the world discussing topics from development to distribution. His workshops are geared for producers, directors, investors, and more.

Chuck Blakeman has a different approach to business. Chuck Blakeman believes that a business plan to start up one’s company is not necessary. Most of the time, you ditch that plan anyway because life gets in the way. Chuck Blakeman does more than 100 public speaking and workshops internationally per year. He has been featured or referenced by CNNMoney.com, NYTimes.com, as well as many other business websites. Chuck Blakeman has also built seven successful businesses in the last 25 years. His book Making Money is Killing Your Business is listed as the “#1 Business Book of the Year” by NFIB according to Small Business Influencer Awards.

Some of the components that investors are looking for are not only your creative plans, but also your business plans as well. The most critical component for an investor is to show them how they are going to get a return on their investment. A step-by-step plan with details on how you are going to make a profit.

According to Kevin Geiger’s indie film business plans he suggests the development funding process. That includes having a production plan, preparing an activity projection of that production plan, having projections of cash flow, making sure you have development and advisory teams in place, have an investment strategy, make a investor presentation, and get investor funding.  This allows investors to know that even during the development process, they are going to get their money back.  This process is crucial to prove to your investors. It shows not only are they getting their money back, but also how they are going to get it.

According to Chuck Blakeman it isn’t about the “how” in the long-term process. It’s about the “how” in the short-term process. It’s about how to get to the next step, and then the next step, and so on. If you continue on the path of how do I get from step a to step b each time, you will get a lot further. Instead of asking how do I get from the start to the finish, you may never find yourself at the end.