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An End to the ‘Feedback Sandwich’: Clarifying Approaches & Responses to Feedback with The Leadership Laboratory

Posted by kel643

by Sam Sartori, MSLCE Candidate ’20

If you’re anything like me, hearing the words, “can I give you some feedback?” can make you cringe. I’ll be the first to admit that receiving “constructive criticism” has never been one of my strengths. However, it is something I continually strive to be better at as I work through leadership development. So when I found out we had the opportunity to do a dive deep into understanding how to both give and receive feedback, I immediately said: “sign me up!”  

Back in the fall, our cohort attended a session with Jacob Goldstein, founder of The Leadership Laboratory, to learn how we can use the golden rule of improv (saying: “yes, and…”) into our day to day lives. This was one of my favorite career growth sessions from MSLCE, so I was excited to have another opportunity to learn from Jacob about positive behavioral change.   (more…)

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A Move from Filmmaking to Learning the Film Business

Posted by kel643

Brianna Matthews ’16 always knew she wanted to be involved in filmmaking. Her father was an actor, and she had her sights set on a hands-on, conservatory-style undergraduate program that teaches students how movies are made.  

As a film production major at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, she learned the ins and outs of how each motion picture studio department works together to create a film. 

As she replicated sets from Hollywood movies, learned software, and studied filmmaking fundamentals, she realized there was still a lot she didn’t know about the film industry. After graduation, she was completing internships and doing freelance production work on television and movie sets like American Idol, Bird People, and Love is in the Air. 

“I didn’t really have a pathway to something long term,” she explains. “After a while, I realized this wasn’t the lifestyle I wanted. I wanted to move to the business side of the industry—to something a little more stable. I wanted to learn how movies get to the set stage in the first place.”  (more…)

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Categories: MSLCE News

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How Data is Permeating the Media Marketplace

Posted by kel643


When Jim Webster, professor at Northwestern University’s School of Communication, went to college for the first time in Fall 1969, it was a tumultuous time. The country was in the throes of the Vietnam War and President Nixon had moved U.S. troops into Cambodia. In Spring 1970, many college campuses simply shut down and canceled the second semester. 

 As Webster prepares to retire at the end of the summer, he’s experiencing trying times once again: His MSLCE course—Understanding Media Markets: Users, Makers + Metrics—has moved online for the first time amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s certainly a curious bookend to my life as an academic,” he says.  (more…)

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Shifting Business Models and Exhibitions at the wndr Museum

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by Samantha Sartori

In grad school, we read a lot of case studies.

This quarter in our Business Models course, we’re discovering the importance for companies to be able to shift their business model when the time is right.

So when we took a visit to wndr museum and met with their team, it ended up being a live case study for us. We saw first-hand how this local, interactive art museum is learning to shift its model. (more…)

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Everything You Need to Know: Applying for the MSLCE Program

Posted by akm344


Our program is truly unique. Specific to creative industries, Northwestern’s MS in Leadership for Creative Enterprises (MSLCE) empowers professionals with the tools and skills to advance creative work across entertainment, media and the arts.

We help you develop an entrepreneurial mindset for the business side of creative industries. To do this, you’ll learn in the classroom, of course—but you’ll also learn from your peers and their diverse professional and personal experiences.

Academic qualifications matter during the application process, but they aren’t the only factor. Let’s take a closer look at each step and what you need to know! (more…)

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Build Your Toolkit: Career Advice from the Inside Track on Marketing and PR for the Arts and Entertainment

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by Samantha Sartori 

This winter quarter, our cohort had the opportunity to get an inside perspective on career paths in the marketing and PR sector of the arts and entertainment. This mini-series event featuring hiring decision-makers was all about leveraging the best set of tools to get your resume to the top of the stack and how to succeed during the job interview.

Here’s some of the sound advice we learned in order to execute a smooth job search and land the role. (more…)

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A Balancing Act: Executive and Artistic Leadership in the Performing Arts Speaker Series

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by Samantha Sartori

Day and night.

Yin and yang.

Left and right.

You can’t have one without the other.

The same holds true for performing arts organizations: you can’t have the artistic side without the executive side.

Our MSLCE Speaker Series this winter set out to demystify how the two sides come together to connect the creative and artistic vision with an organization’s business strategy. Erica Daniels, Executive Director of the Victory Gardens Theater, and Al Heartley, Managing Director of Northwestern’s own Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts, spent an evening talking about their journeys from performer to performing arts business executives. (more…)

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Is the MSLCE Program Right for Me?

Posted by akm344


Searching for the right master’s program can be daunting. How do you know when you’ve found the right fit?

To help you decide whether Northwestern’s MS in Leadership for Creative Enterprises (MSLCE) program might be for you, we’ve pulled together some valuable information. These topics often come up as prospective students consider a degree. Uncovering the answers may help you find your right fit. (more…)

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How Cinespace Film Studios is Supporting a Growing Industry in Chicago

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by Samantha Sartori 

Support. Whether providing resources, aiding financially or bearing some of the weight, every company needs support to be successful.

When we think about the creative industries, we often focus on the creative work they’re doing, the art or content that’s being made. But none of that would be possible without the behind-the-scenes support.

In Chicago’s budding film and television industry, one company is integral in supporting this growth: Cinespace Film Studios. Our cohort took a trip to the Cinespace studios to talk to its leaders and learn about how the company and its programs are supporting the Chicago community. (more…)

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A Little Bit of Creative History: Understanding the Creative Industries with Jake Smith

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by Samantha Sartori 

When signing up for a master’s program focused on business knowledge for the creative world, the last thing I thought I would be taking was a history course. However, after our first lecture, I knew Professor Smith’s Understanding the Creative Industries would be integral to knowing how the arts, media and entertainment worlds operate. (more…)

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Categories: Faculty + Courses