A few months back I was asked a question by a parent of a perspective student. She asked:
“could you give me your feedback about how an Emerson College Student/Alumni is perceived in the Film and Television Industry?”
I wanted to share my answer with all of you:
If I was asked that question this time last year, before I did my semester in LA, I wouldn’t know what to say. Emerson will preach about how great their alumni are and how large the pool is…but what school doesn’t, right
Then I got to LA last January. I was at an interview at Endemol USA, one of the best production companies in the country (they made Deal or No Deal). I was sitting down with their Director of New Media Production, and he said, “oh, you go to Emerson. Great. They really are taking over LA little by little.” I then talked to him for about 5 minutes about how I was never sure if the claim my school made was true, and he assured me it was.
I ended up taking my internship at Fremantle Media (even bigger than Endemol…they do American Idol). Not only do they say the same about Emerson…I keep running into alumni here. Director of Post Production, multiple Producers on America’s Got Talent, etc…all Emerson Alumni who were happy to see a fellow student take an internship with their company.
One of the best directors in LA, Rich DiPirro, who directed Deal or No Deal is an Emerson Alum. He now directs The Price is Right…which I found out when he emailed me back (I emailed and asked him for advise, one Emerson student to an alum). Ironically, Price is Right is a Fremantle production. I was able to spend a day with him down in the control room.
I could go on for days but I won’t.
Also, check out The Emerson Mafia (http://www.emersonmafia.com). They are not affiliated with Emerson, but the school does recognize them. It is our unofficial alumni network, all over the USA. Very cool. They do alumni events every year and have job postings, etc.
All in all, Emerson is taking over LA, NYC, and of course, Boston. We are growing from a little office building in LA to a whole second campus on the Sunset Strip in a few years. Alumni of course can also be contacted through our Career Services office, who specialize in this sort of stuff.
One final thing I forgot. The Overseers Mentorship Program. I am lucky to have applied and be inducted into this program. it pairs students with members of the Emerson Board of Overseers. I was paired with Al Jaffe, who is a VP at ESPN. He has opened more doors for me than I could imagine (and he is an alum). Because of this program, I sealed my full time job after graduation with ESPN.
Alum give back to the school…and so will I now that I have graduated. I don’t mean monetarily, (I have many years of loans to payback first), but when a student is looking for an internship at ESPN or in the future when I am working for a company in LA and see that Emerson resume cross my desk, that person will be the first call for an interview.
