Heinz College Students Attend Sundance Film Festival

Release Date: Feb 13, 2009

While networking opportunities are an important part of any graduate-level education experience, this is especially true for students hoping to work in the entertainment industry. A group of Master of Entertainment Industry Management (MEIM) students recently spent several days at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, mingling with industry leaders and building invaluable relationships.

Second-year MEIM students Lakshmi Iyengar, Adam Wright, Roxanne Benjamin, Ji Young Hwang, Sonia Chowdhury, Aparna Dargar, Jessa Gabler, Masataka Ito, Justin Leader, Jeanne Park and Ane Weathersby accompanied Heinz College adjunct faculty members and film industry professionals Jonathan Baker and Scott Shooman to Park City during the festival’s first weekend, January 15-18. Baker proposed the idea to the MEIM program director, as a way to increase the students’ exposure to real-world situations.

“The suggestion was really to give the students a taste of the marketplace,” said Baker. “We wanted to give them an opportunity to experience the market firsthand and throw them headlong into an environment where the entire purpose is to network with industry professionals.”

The Sundance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the United States and the premier showcase for new cinematic work. Each year, the event showcases 120 full-length and 80 short films from filmmakers all over the world.

"Sundance is amazing. Everywhere you go you meet big players -- you sit next to an HBO editor at the movie theatre, you're in line for beer behind the director of photography for Robert Redford's last film,” said MEIM student Justin Leader.

“It's the absolute best way to make connections and the worst way to get a good night’s sleep."

The trip kicked off with a lecture on the “in’s and out’s” of the festival and pointers on making the most of the Sundance experience. Rosie Wong, senior manager of the Sundance Film Festival Industry Office, also provided an overview of festival operations. Shooman said this type of access is rare.

“The students received an inside look at Sundance in a way that very few get to see,” said Shooman, Vice President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions for Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group.

After the introductory sessions, the students immersed themselves in festival activities, attending screenings and chatting with industry professionals.

“There is no better environment than a festival to get a sense of the structure of the film industry because you can interact with the buyers and the sellers directly, and executives who are normally behind security gates at studios are walking around on the street with you,” Baker said. “When you’re in the screening room watching movies up for bid with the buyers and you know the audience reaction plays a major role in their bidding process, it’s a very real and unique taste of the business.”

The MEIM program, a joint offering of Heinz College and the College of Fine Arts, blends rigorous management coursework with hands-on training in the film and television industry in Los Angeles. Students spend their first year on Carnegie Mellon’s Pittsburgh campus taking core management classes to develop strategic management skills. During the program’s second year, students enroll in coursework in Los Angeles where some of the industry’s leading professional teach them how basic management skills and principles are applied in the film and television industry. In addition, students have the opportunity to intern with a studio or production company.

“Our visit was a front row seat into the film business where we had an opportunity to meet with executives, directors, producers, actors and writers from all over the world,” said MEIM student Lakshmi Iyengar. “The festival not only provides a community for filmmakers but also serves as an incredible venue for people who are trying to find their niche in the entertainment industry.”

Baker, who teaches courses on film production management and marketing, said the MEIM program is unique because it focuses on the skills necessary for becoming an executive in the entertainment industry. There are many programs that provide training in film and television production, but few that offer advanced education on the corporate side of the industry.

“This is not an academic profession or something that can be truly mastered from a desk,” said Baker. “Being thrown into the fire is the only way students get a taste of the players, the individuals, the companies and the energy.”

Photo: MEIM students with representatives from the 2009 Sundance Film Festival

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