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The Shed Chief Development Officer Talks Supporting the Arts + Adapting During Covid

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by Priyanshi Katare

Margaret Pomeroy Hunt has seen the arts and cultural industry evolve for the last two decades. She started her journey at University of California, Irvine where she studied Dance. After college, she knew she wanted to work at the New York City Ballet and reached out to her network which ultimately helped her land her first job in the non-profit arts industry.  “The job was mostly sitting in the hallway and addressing envelopes, but I was working on a major development project. This where I met some amazing development professionals,” she elaborated. She continued her education at the Kellogg School of Management where she earned her MBA. Her time at Northwestern transformed her as a professional in the business aspects of the arts and culture industry and equipped her with the skills she needed to handle larger teams and larger projects. (more…)

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Categories: Guest Speakers

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At the Intersection of Communication and Activism

Posted by kel643

Activism has always been at the heart of Northwestern Assistant Professor TJ Billard’s work.

While studying as an undergraduate at George Washington University from 2010 to 2014, Billard focused on political communication and became increasingly involved in transgender political activism.

“It was a politically optimistic time, but, for many reasons, it was also a frustrating time. People were touting their support for the LGBT community but still had no idea what the ‘T’ was about.” As a student, Billard was interested in coursework that tied back to activism, so every assignment or paper was focused in one way or another on transgender politics.

During senior year, Billard’s honors thesis investigated 10 years of coverage and representation of trans people in print newspapers. “I could see how things were getting better, but not as quickly as you’d think.” (more…)

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Categories: Faculty + Courses

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Jon Faris of Global Experience Studio Category41 on His Career in Theatre and Production

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Jon Faris joined MSLCE for our fall Creative Connect series. Learn more and join future events on our speaker series page.

by Priyanshi Katare

Northwestern alum Jon Faris is no stranger to the creative industry. During his time at Northwestern he studied Theatre and helped found and manage several theatre boards like WAVE Productions and the Student Theatre Coalition (StuCo). Since graduating from Northwestern, he has worked with award-winning production companies such as Uma Productions and returned to the School of Communication as a guest lecturer on arts management — a role he serves at DePaul University as well— and on the advisory board for the Theater Management Module.
Prior to this current position, Jon was the Managing Director for Writers Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois, where he led the design and construction of their new state-of the art theater center. These days he can be found working with creative teams at Category41— a global experience studio — where he is the Head of Production Operations. (more…)

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Categories: Guest Speakers

MSLCE Student Laura Rensing Maximizes Summer Opportunities to Gain New Experiences and Skills in Arts Advocacy

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by Priyanshi Katare

When Laura Rensing started the MSLCE program, she wasn’t that interested in pursuing the internship option over the summer. “I’ve had work experience before this so for me it was really about finding something that would really add to my learning experience and make me feel like I was learning something new, fun and challenging,” she explains. However the pandemic changed that for her.

This summer Laura worked for Arts Alliance Chicago while simultaneously working on her applied project for the MSLCE program. Contrary to the norm, while some organizations paused their summer internship programs, her internship opened up as a result for increased support artists needed during these times. The Arts Alliance is an advocacy group engaged in fighting to make resources available to the arts community and pushes for policies that would be advantageous for its members. Their work spans civic engagement, arts education and cultural equity and they actively work to connect people across different creative communities. (more…)

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Categories: Professional Experience

MSLCE Student Gains On Set Experience With Internship

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by Priyanshi Katare

MSLCE student Marcus Farne took on two internships this past summer. You can read more about his first internship, with talent booking company Shinabery Agency here. For his second internship, Marcus worked with CreatorUp, a one-of-a-kind digital platform and digital training company that helps companies engage with their audience through brand enhancing video and training content. .“My advisor informed me that CreatorUp was looking for interns specifically from Northwestern…he thought I was a good match because I had fourteen years of work experience in film production,” he elaborated, ”I shared with [MSLCE alum and CreatorUp internship supervisor] Danny Bittker my work experience and he hired me on the spot.”

Marcus worked as a Film Production Intern and contributed to a number of different projects throughout the course of his internship. He even worked as the assistant director for one of their video productions when getting staff from Los Angeles to Chicago proved difficult with the pandemic, and managed their film database and also worked on creating lookbooks — something he had never done before. (more…)

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MSLCE Student Maura Ford Pivots to Success

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By Priyanshi Katare

When Maura Ford started looking for a summer internship, her ideal job would have been in the live music industry. But as the pandemic progressed, those jobs became increasingly difficult to find as the industry took a big hit. “It was right when I was applying to internships that I decided to pivot because I think it was a good choice and didn’t think I wasn’t gonna to be able to find anything,” she explained, “I have a writing background, so I was looking for anything I could utilize with my content writing background and then Jonah and Mandy [the MSLCE Career Services Team] recommended 2112 to me.” 2112 Chicago is the first incubator of its kind in the city. The incubator is focused on developing businesses and entrepreneurs in the music, film and the creative tech industry. (more…)

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MSLCE Student Learns Creative Development Side of Film

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By Priyanshi Katare

When Nia d’Emilio started looking for internships this summer she was sure about one thing — she had to be involved in the film and tv production process. A short while into her job search she narrowed her focus to finding jobs within the creative development function of the production process.

After applying to a variety of creative development jobs, she landed an internship at Full Spectrum. (more…)

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Taking Storytelling from the Stage to the Screen

Posted by kel643

With his initial sights set on becoming an actor, Daniel Dvorkin ’16 spent four years in a highly creative, intense undergraduate acting conservatory. Although he loved the experience, he didn’t receive any business education while he was there.

“After graduation, I realized I didn’t want to be an actor,” says Dvorkin. “I wanted to pursue the bigger-picture perspective of entertainment.”

To stay true to this goal, he spent nearly five years running a nonprofit theatre company he founded as an undergraduate, which gave him the chance to develop and produce—honing a unique mix of creative and business skills. To make ends meet, he also worked at a few regional theaters and restaurants. (more…)

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MSLCE Student Helps Entrepreneurs During Internship

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by Priyanshi Katare

Marcus Farne loves working with entrepreneurs.

He’s also had to be entrepreneurial himself. After starting the MSLCE program in the winter quarter, Marcus has been learning to cope with the demands of a rigorous academic curriculum all while searching for opportunities to help expand his experience. In true entrepreneurial style, he leveraged his network and resources to land an internship that could help him further his pursuit within the creative industry. This summer he has secured two internships, one of which is at Shinabery Agency. (more…)

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MSLCE Student Seeks Innovation in Storytelling + Solutions for Arts Organizations

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By Priyanshi Katare

Laura Rensing has an eclectic professional background. She’s held a wide range of jobs; from writing to publishing to theater, and while she can’t pinpoint exactly what turned her toward the creative industries, the through line for all her work has been her love for storytelling. 

“I like being able to tell stories through whatever medium I have,” she explained, “as I grew in my career, I learned to tell stories through data and use that to present the course of action I considered best.” 

After college, Rensing worked for a publishing organization and it was there that she realized the work she was doing wasn’t as fulfilling as she thought it would be. 

“I thought why not pursue something I actually interested in and made the transition to a more cohesive arts focused job…while doing non-profit work it’s about the mission and how many people have been reached. To me, that is more satisfying than having the end goal be to simply bring in money.” she explained.   (more…)

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Categories: Student Profiles

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