By Jacob Nelson
After years studying economics and finance, Natalie Agbele realized that she did not want to professionally pursue either of those subject for the rest of her life.
“My dad is an accountant, so I thought I’d be one as well,” the MSLCE student said recently. “But I don’t want to do finance… I’m going into the creative industries.” (more…)
By Scotty Stieber
It was November of 1997 when the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s eight-employee staff met with City of Chicago officials at a Gold Coast pub and struck a monumental deal. After signing a 90-year lease with the City, the theater prepared to make their risky move to a mostly uninhabited, bizarre Navy Pier.
How did the Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) evolve from a one-man show into one of the most successful regional theaters in the country? MSLCE students stopped by last Friday and sat down with the theater’s Executive Director Criss Henderson and Associate Producer Heather Schmucker to find out. (more…)
By Miya Williams
Xiaoyu Dong aspires to be an international television and film producer. The Qingdao, China native dreams of one day having her own multinational media company. “I hope to integrate Asian cultures into American television and movies and to make Chinese films and television series more universal,” she said. (more…)
By Miya WIlliams
Yuan Tian hopes to have his own company designing mobile games, but he is not a novice to the industry.
Two years ago, the current MSLCE student started Yuyi Tech, a mobile game company that was very successful and eventually sold to one of the biggest tech companies in China. His ultimate goal, however, is to “entertain people with technology,” he said. (more…)
By Scotty Stieber
Creative minds typically house bold, novel and elaborate ideas, but can brainstorming lead to the production of dull and unoriginal ideas, even in a group of creative people? Leslie DeChurch certainly believes so, and she has the research to back it up.
Coming from the Georgia Institute of Technology as a Professor of Organizational Psychology, DeChurch has a research background in leadership and team dynamics. She now teaches in the School of Communication at Northwestern University. When she is not teaching, DeChurch is helping NASA’s teams work more efficiently in their mission to put humans on Mars. (more…)
By Joe Giovannetti
“We are all creative, resourceful, and whole.”
Laverne McKinnon, Adjunct Lecturer and Head of Television at Denver and Delilah, shared this sentiment as members of the MSLCE cohort completed their first graduate class, “Pitching Creative Projects.” On their first day, these students quickly learned that that this was no ordinary graduate course. (more…)
By Miya Williams
Claire Conard was hooked on theater after her first performance in the musical Annie while in middle school.
“I was always interested in being the center of attention,” she revealed.
While she has been in many shows over the years, her interests have now shifted from being on stage to being behind the scenes as she hopes to become an executive director for a theater company.
“To play such an important role in creating art would be a dream come true,” she said. (more…)
By Jacob Nelson
Long before Chris Meador took a job at Facebook, he thought about pursuing a career in acting.
He majored in theatre at Northwestern, but then, as he explains with a deadpan delivery, “I realized I wanted health insurance.”
Meador, who now works as Facebook’s Brand Strategy Lead, will appear at MSLCE’s next speaker series event, on Dec. 1 at 5:15 p.m. He’ll discuss his career, which has taken him from NBC to The History Channel to Microsoft and finally to the largest social media platform in the world. It’s this last role that has made Meador aware that the professional world is in a moment of transition, and Facebook is leading the way. (more…)
By Jacob Nelson
During his introduction of Brigette Whisnant at last week’s speaker series event, Kellogg professor Rick Kolsky said, “I think my job is fun, but she gets to do some really cool stuff.”
As an executive producer at Havas Chicago, Whisnant oversees the content production work for a couple of well-known clients like AT&T and Verizon. She explained that different clients have different strategies, which means Whisnant is constantly challenged to think creatively about how to help generate “that piece of content or that idea or that experience.” (more…)
By Miya Williams
Robin Zhou wants to be “a media guy.”
The MSLCE student dreams of being an entrepreneur and owning a media and creative company where he can combine his interests in media and public policy.
“There’s no need to only focus on one field,” he shared.
Zhou’s parents work in public policy and he has always had a passion for media. He watches a lot of television has had even shot his own films. The Fudan University alum obtained his undergraduate degree in TV broadcasting and his graduate degree from the University of Southern California in international public policy and management.
“I think if I work in these fields my life will be very interesting and full of challenges,” he said. “I am an adventure guy.” (more…)
