Showbizing Boot Camp

Welcome to Showbizing Boot Camp!

This customized, highly interactive, day-long program is designed to provide students with practical tools and specific strategies to develop a personalized plan for a successful career in the entertainment industry. Before the session, we ask that registered participants email us a bio, resume and links to online platforms. Students should bring their laptops to the Boot Camp.

At the end of the day, students will:
● Leave with a professional, industry-specific resume
● Create and/or update their Linked In profile
● Revise and professionalize their social media profiles
● Create and rehearse a succinct “elevator pitch” about themselves and their career goals
● Set specific career goals for one year after graduation, then three years after graduation
● Learn how to implement our proven networking strategy for making critically important industry contacts to advance their career
● Receive a free, PDF copy of Jane’s industry guide to independent production: Hair on Fire, an Insider’s Guide to Producing for the Big and Small Screen

Proposed Agenda

8:30 a.m. Light breakfast (if possible)
9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. – Introductions & Overview

Jane Croby and Julie Applegate welcome the students and introduce themselves, briefly describing their ‘zigzag’ career path and accomplishments. Students are asked to share their name, professional title and one vital thing they want a new professional acquaintance to know about them.Overview of the Boot Camp Agenda – we’ll cover four primary areas:

1) creating an effective and happiness-inducing professional network,
2) branding yourself as a creative artist,
3) perfecting your “elevator pitch,” and
4) finding the right day job.
 
Next, students are invited to share their chief concern about making their way in the highly competitive entertainment industry.
 
10: 15 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Personal Brand
Students look themselves up online. They share what they find posted about themselves and discuss why and how their public profiles may need editing. We discuss strategies to create a personal brand, including a strong Linked In profile.
 
11 a.m. to 11:20 am. – Coffee and Bio Break
Students work on their Linked In title & summary statement.
 
11:30 to 12:30 p.m. Networking Part 1
We describe our proven networking strategy. Students create a list of 25 people who may be able to help them get their first job, by name or job category (i.e. entertainment attorney). We discuss their lists.
 
12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. – The Day Job
We discuss strategies for students to support themselves and their creative projects.
 
LUNCH BREAK 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
 
2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. – Networking Part 2
Students share their Target 25 lists for an open discussion. We share proven strategies to connect with these contacts, including stalking people without getting arrested (takes research, persistence & agility). Tips and tricks for meeting the contacts you need to advance your career, including using Linked In, volunteering at film festivals and industry events, and using informational interviews.
 
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Creating a Skills-Based Resume
We share examples and work individually with students.
 
4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – The Elevator Pitch
Students introduce themselves as if it’s three years from now
 
4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Q&A

Bios

Julie Crosby is a founding partner of Cromono International. With offices in New York, Paris and Taipei, Cromono has collectively garnered 300+ credits on live theater, rock concerts, comedy and cabaret shows, digital media projects and films. Crosby’s work on Broadway and off, including a decade as the leader of WP Theater, has resulted in an extensive network of writers, creators and producers. Her screen credits include the web series Heirloom, which clocked 5M+ online views before being licensed by Screen Media. Among other projects, Crosby is currently in post -production on The Warm Season, a narrative feature by Adam Seidel, directed by Janet Grillo. She holds a Ph.D. in medieval drama from Columbia University.
 
Jane Applegate is an independent writer/producer of award-winning film and television projects. She is currently producing a global anthology hybrid documentary series about women behind the success of iconic men around the world. The Remarkable Women is in development with female filmmakers in Ireland, England, Poland, Finland, Romania, India and the U.S. Applegate teaches the business of film course at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at Brooklyn College. She is a mentor for New York Women in Film and Television and The Gotham Institute. Prior to producing, she was an investigative reporter and columnist for the Los Angeles Times and a producer at CNBC, NBC and Bloomberg TV.