Tuck students explore media as career option
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—April 13, 2009
CONTACT: Kim Keating,
603-646-2733
HANOVER, N.H.—The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth hosted its first Media & Entertainment Symposium this month, offering students a unique opportunity to explore the rapidly changing landscape of entertainment and the monetization of artistic content. Contributors—including artists, producers, investors, executives, and entrepreneurs—shared their perspectives on issues facing the media and entertainment industry.
"Our vision was to create a unique media conference that, in addition to addressing the relevant business issues, inspired people to think more about art and creativity," said conference founder Daniel Rowe T'09. "Our event reflected that vision."
At a time when many are rethinking career trajectories that once seemed certain, Tuck students are taking advantage of the situation. They are building their skill sets, expanding their repertoires, and focusing on business markets that, in years past, they may have overlooked. As a result Tuck plans to make the entertainment symposium an annual event.
In addition to multiple academic panels, the symposium agenda included musical performances, networking events, and a keynote presentation by veteran television producer Paul Lazarus D'76. Since getting his first directing assignment as a Dartmouth undergraduate, Lazarus has made a name for himself directing episodes for hit TV series such as "Friends," "Baywatch," and "Everybody Loves Raymond." But television, he explained, is proving to be an amorphous thing. "TV is a business, and the current model is eroding. Networks are now scrambling to figure out how to make a profit." Lazarus used three onscreen examples to demonstrate where television may be headed.
In the first example, actress Christina Applegate was seen struggling to push a car into a lake on the ABC series "Samantha Who." Lazarus called the cost of such a stunt immense and therefore unlikely to be supported in the future. Next, a scene from "Ugly Betty" flashed onscreen. Lazarus pointed out that the show was relocated from LA to New York City so the network could take advantage of a 35 percent tax incentive. His final clip came from the groundbreaking "Anytime with Bob Kushell," a web-only, five-minute talk show filmed in a garage and featuring (in this episode) Rob Cordry of "The Daily Show." The examples drove home the message that economic conditions are driving the content of network TV, and the internet is fast revolutionizing the very concept of television itself.
With all these pressures, how does anything that's good make it on television? Lazarus admitted that in the current entertainment climate a show like "Seinfeld" wouldn't make it. "It's a culture of 'no' out there," he reflected, "and it's hard to be creative in that big land of no. But, with tenacity, creativity can survive. I believe that real talent will find a way to filter up and, in the end, content will [filter] out."
In addition to talks given by featured panelists who included Emmy Award-winning producer Cara McKenny and singer/songwriter Jud Caswell, conference attendees enjoyed musical performances by the Jason Spooner Trio and Charlotte Kendrick TP'09, an open jam, and a dance party.
Conference sponsors included Microsoft Corporation (platinum sponsor), Tuck's Allwin Initiative for Corporate Citizenship, Center for Digital Strategies, Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship (gold sponsors), and Harpoon Brewery, Indaba Music, and Flip Interactive (silver sponsors).
Founded in 1900, Tuck is the first graduate school of management in the country and consistently ranks among the top business schools worldwide. Tuck remains distinctive among the world's great business schools by combining human scale with global reach, rigorous coursework with experiences requiring teamwork, and valued traditions with innovation.
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