Mastery: A Reflection of the Entertainment Business Master of Science Program at Full Sail University
The past twelve months have been surreal. I knew the time would go by fast, but it seems impossible that I am sitting here writing this a week out from graduating with my Master’s of Science in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University. I have spent the last 11 months on campus with some of the best people, both classmates and teachers, and could not imagine going through all of this with anyone else. All of the classes that I took in the program exceeded my expectations. And during the year I had the opportunity to join the WWE NXT Student Initiative, working all of the Florida live events and television tapings for NXT. That in itself has been an amazing experience in which I learned so much that will benefit me in my career going forward. Below I am going to outline the courses I’ve taken over the past year and what I learned from them and if they met the expectations from my month 1 Mastery Timeline.
In our Executive Leadership course, we studied two books, Developing the Leader Within You by John. C Maxwell and The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. Greene is cutthroat and ruthless; while Maxwell takes a kinder, more honest approach to leadership. After reading the different chapters from Maxwell and Laws from Greene, I have determined that I am definitely more of a Maxwell leader. With that said, I very much do see the value of Greene’s style, especially in the entertainment industry.
One reason I can say that I’m definitely not a majority Greene leader is because I don’t believe in taking credit for other people’s work. I have had that happen to me in the past, I know what it feels like to see your own idea presented as someone else’s and it’s not something I would want to do to a fellow employee or someone that is apart of my team. In my Mastery Timeline, I wrote that this class would help teach me how to manage relationships with colleagues and I believe that learning and understanding the nuances between a Maxwell and a Greene leader will do just that.
In Project and Team Management, we learned about project planning and budgeting which will help us greatly when tackling projects throughout our careers. The budgeting portion will especially come in handy when we take our finance class in the program. The different personality tests helped us to not only identify and explain qualities in ourselves, but to also to identify them in others. How to effectively manage risk helps prepare us for the future so that we will be able to assess risk and consequences of a given situation and make the right decisions for both our team and any guests or customers that the risk may effect. Personally, I will take the conflict resolution policy I created and keep it for future use as a guide if a conflict should arise in any teams I work with in the future.
We also did character studies which were all very interesting, my favorites being the Mike Wallace and the lyrical interpretation. The Wallace story was interesting because it covered almost his entire life and showed many different sides of the man, including some insight to his interview styling’s and how he was able to connect with his interview subjects to get them to share information with them that they would not tell anyone else otherwise.
In my original Mastery timeline, I said that from this course I wanted to learn how to form a project team and lead it to successfully completing a project. I would say we learned how to do that and much more. Besides learning how to form a team and plan a project, the course looks at the personalities of team members and how to effectively handle people of all different personality types.
The next course was Business Storytelling and Brand Development. I believe that the information that we were provided with in that month will benefit all of us for the rest of our lives, regardless of whether or not we go on to create our own company or are an employee for someone else. We learned not only how to create and cultivate a new brand for our future companies, but we learned in great detail what kind of work has gone into some of the most successful brands in the world. We also learned how to craft our own personal brands, and the importance of doing that.
Because of this course I now see the benefit of using LinkedIn in ways I had never thought of before, and also the benefits of pushing out quality content to my social networks. It not only lets me share articles that I think others will benefit from, but gives my followers a look into what I’m about, maybe someone will look at a link that I share and put together that I have an interest or experience in that industry where before they would not know unless they specifically asked me. In my Mastery Timeline, I wrote that the class would “help us to understand how to build a brand and use storytelling to strengthen that brand.” This class accomplished that and much more.
The course that followed was “Entertainment Business Finance”. Some of the concepts covered in the first week of the course were different business types (Sole Proprietorships, Partnerships, Corporations), the difference between Finance and accounting, an overview of financial statements and the Time Value of Money. Next, we covered Financial Ratios, Capital Budgeting and Personal Finance. We went over the many Start-Up and Break even costs incurred when starting a business and learned about the “Valley of Death”. We talked about working capital and how to make sure we have enough money to start up and run our business, taking into account any cash shortfalls we might incur. We covered Cash and Credit Management, and went over the Money Market (short-term fixed income investments that mature in less than one year) vs. the Capital Market (short-term fixed income investments that mature in more than one year). We learned about the importance of Pro Forma statements and an introduction of Forecasting; looking at the Pro Forma income statement, cash budget, and balance sheet.
The course was much more in depth than I thought it would be. I did not expect to go through the basics of finance and accounting, but it was nice to have a kind of “refresher” course to cover what I learned in my undergraduate degree. The course provided us with everything we need to get a head starting on the financial planning of both our company’s and personal finances. I can definitely see myself using the lessons learned in this course to improve my personal finances by investing early and in the future if I decide to pursue starting my own company.
Next up was “Negotiation and Deal Making”. Some of the concepts covered in the first week of the course were the different styles of negotiation. Integrative, Aggressive or Competing, Accommodating or Avoiding, and Compromising. Next, we covered the stages of negotiation; analysis, planning, and discussion. We went over the goals of negotiation, and the two levels of negotiation. We talked about basic human needs such as physical and economic security, sense of belonging, recognition, and control over one’s life. We also talked about positions versus interests.
From there, we covered BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) and Objective Criteria. We learned how to identify and handle dirty tricks. We were shown how to handle negative emotions, and the importance of preparation. We also covered the various research methods to use when preparing for our negotiations and the elements of negotiation. In my Mastery PDL I wrote that this class would help us by not only teaching us different negotiation tactics, but by providing us with real life examples of well known entertainment deals. The course covered a wealth of knowledge, I very much enjoyed the content covered. Assignments like the Interview Blog were a great way to connect with industry professionals to hear about real world experience. But overall, my favorite part of the course was participating in the mock negotiations that we held in class.
Next up was “Product and Artist Management”. I took this course online because I needed to travel home for a few weeks, and it was quite a different experience than I had gotten used to in the previous months I spent on campus. After talking to my classmates when I returned, I definitely wish I was able to stay on campus for this class, though I still enjoyed what I was able to get out of it. I enjoyed the class structure of splitting the course into two sections to differentiate between product and artist management. Prior to taking the course, I was familiar with some of the things covered regarding product management, but I had no prior knowledge of anything related specifically to artist management.
In my Mastery PDL I wrote that this class would enhance our journey by providing us with the tools to effectively manage a product or artist in our field. This course did just that. We went through a lot of great information over the month, but the way it was structured made it manageable. The assignments were well thought out and engaging, and were very helpful to really gain an understanding of the material. I also enjoyed the Go-To sessions, they were very informative and added a great commentary to go along with the readings and assignments.
Advanced Entertainment Law was the next course on the docket. This was one of the courses in the program that I was looking forward to the most. I have taken law classes previously in my undergrad program and have always been interested in different law topics. We covered topics like Intellectual Property law, Cyber Law, and Contract law. I found the course to be extremely interesting, I enjoyed covering different topics in law that applied specifically to the entertainment industry. Prior to taking the course, I was familiar with some of the things covered initially from the previous law classes I had taken, but we went further in depth on topics such as Intellectual Property law than I had in the past.
I felt that all of the assignments were very interesting and helped us to further understand the topics covered in the class discussions. My favorite assignments in the class were the “Make Your Case” and Group presentations, I enjoy working in teams and feel that all of the members of our class work very well together. In my Mastery PDL I wrote that this class would enhance our journey by teaching us how to navigate through things like copyright law and intellectual property, which are both topics of immense importance in our fields. This course accomplished that and much more. We covered a wealth of information over the month, but the manner in which it was covered made everything manageable. The assignments were all relevant to the topics covered in class and were interesting to complete. Also, I very much enjoyed the GoTo meetings, they were clearly structured and I never felt like they were going longer than they needed to. This is another course in the program that I wish was longer, I would be happy to spend another month or two learning about entertainment law.
Next was “Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution”. I was looking forward to this course because I am very interested in distribution, specifically in film distribution. The course did a great job in explaining both the traditional methods of distribution and new methods of self-publishing and distribution. I really came out of the course with a great understanding of how publishing and distribution worked in the past, and the direction it is moving towards in the future. I enjoyed the course layout of covering traditional methods of publishing and distribution in the first half of the course and covering new methods of digital self-publishing and distribution in the second half. Before taking the course, I knew a little about traditional methods of distribution. I did not know how self-publishing worked. Also, I knew only a little about books and film, so it was great to get a little knowledge of music and game publishing. I thought the assignments were very interesting and served as great takeaways that we will be able to look back on later in our professional lives.
In my Mastery PDL, I wrote that this class would “show us how to get our projects to the masses, to “protect and monetize creative content”.” This course definitely achieved that. We covered a lot of great information over the month, the most important of which will help us publish and distribute our own content without having to rely on the traditional models. Also, the textbook was a great resource and the supporting documents in the appendix were very helpful when it came to the assignments. My favorite assignment this month was the Current Event presentation. It was great to go out and find something relevant that is currently happening that pertained directly to the material we were covering in class.
“Digital Marketing” was up next. I learned quite a bit about marketing in this new era with the increased importance of social media. We have covered the difference between organic and inorganic search results, broad and long-tail keywords, and why blogging matters with SEO. I believe that I will use what we have learned about Social Media Optimization in class the most. I believe that Social Media is now and will continue to be the biggest marketing factor for us going forward. The rise of sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and now Snapchat have changed the way people take in content. In turn, this has changed the way marketers can provide advertisements to consumers. Previously they relied on print ads, then commercials, all they way to banner ads on the web. Now there is the opportunity to create sponsored posts that users scroll through on their social media feeds, ads in front of videos on streaming services, and even product placement in YouTube videos. On top of all this, there are opportunities for marketers to create content from content. Almost similar to the way television commercials are cut (60 seconds, 30 seconds, etc.) there are countless ways to take a larger piece of content and create “micro-content” with it, which will help marketers to get their message out into more places and help them reach a broader audience.
In my Mastery PDL I wrote that this class would teach us how to promote our ventures digitally, building on what we would learn in Storytelling and Brand Development. So far, this course has done just that. We have used many of the same concepts taught in Storytelling and Brand Development along with some new topics such as search engine optimization.
Coming up on the home stretch, month 11 was Business Plan Development. I enjoyed the class very much, the stories and examples discussed in class made it easier to understand the concepts from the textbook. The concepts covered and the work done in this class need to be understood and completed before being able to move on to the next and final month in the program so that the final project can be completed. The given assignments were well detailed and engaging. They were very helpful to fully understand the material. I also enjoyed the Go-To sessions. I watched the archives rather than attend the live session because of my schedule, but they were a good reinforcement of what we covered in class. My favorite part of the class were the stories that Dr. Burhoe told from his various experiences in the business world, they were a key part of seeing a real application of what we were learning in class.
In my original Mastery Journal PDL, I wrote that my goal for this course was to create a functional business plan. This course provided us with real life examples of the different concepts covered and started to tie together everything learned in previous courses. At the end of the month, I feel that I have a good grasp on my business concept and the beginnings of a solid business plan. Also, I feel confident enough in my understanding of business plan creation that I can go to other individuals and offer my services as a consultant and review and critique their business plans before they send them out to potential investors. Essentially, this course has taught me a skill that I will be able to use for the rest of my life.
Lastly, month 12 of the program was “Final Project – Business Plan”. This class finalized our business plan project, the capstone for the EBMS program, and gave us the opportunity to present it in front of the class and a panel of former instructors and our EBMS Program Director. It was a great experience at getting used to what a “real-world” business pitch is like. Aside from that we covered so much more in the course. We went even more in-depth on financials, covered debt and equity financing, business ethics, and entrepreneurship. We also went over different tips and tricks that could help us get a job if we’re going that route rather than starting our own company. Classes were great, and the weekly GoTo sessions were extremely informative. I enjoyed the way the class was structured and that we are able to have all of the information to look back on after the course is over.
In my Mastery PDL, I wrote that the course would allow me to put everything together, complete and present my business plan which I could then use as a framework for future projects. When I wrote that, I was not sure what the class would be, if it was an on-campus class, online, or if we just worked independently for the month and then presented. I’m glad it was a full class because of what I got out of it. Everything else that we learned during the month went far beyond my expectations because it was not just strictly for our business plans. And most importantly, what we created in this project is in no way a “framework” for a future project; it is a complete project in itself. I believe that I could take my completed plan to investors and have a good shot at getting funding without any changes. The class truly did bring it all together, and while I am glad I am graduating, it is certainly a different feeling knowing that I will not be starting another class with this faculty and my classmates next month.