Leadership in the Entertainment Industry

Catalog description

The entertainment industry is of enormous importance - both from a business and cultural standpoint, and has influence on virtually every sphere of our society. It is characterized by tremendous opportunities and great uncertainties. The industry is continually changing as a result of the rapid spread of AI, new business models, changing viewing preferences, highly successful international content, and expanding markets. This dynamic industry creates opportunities for entrepreneurial students interested in having a creative and/or business impact on entertainment. This course is designed to help prepare students for careers in the media industries, and to explore leadership within them. The industry is truly an intersection of art and commerce, and the major portion of the course will involve bringing to the class industry leaders who represent key areas of the entertainment industry, on both the business and creative sides. As with any business, the entertainment industry is driven by the vision of its leaders. These leaders daily make financial and artistic decisions, and manage staff and productions with the goal of producing entertainment content meant to be seen as widely as possible, and to make a profit. It is hoped that through interaction with these speakers, students will see the potential of strong leadership and how it works to advance entertainment companies and the films, television programming, and video games they produce. The class speakers include studio, streaming, AI, music, and gaming executives, directors, producers, television showrunners, writers, actors, talent managers, and others. Topics to be examined will include leadership strategies and practices; entertainment industry power; film, television, and video game development; production, marketing, and distribution; the rise of AI and its impact on the industry; managing creative teams;…