Disney exec urges students to 'figure out what you want'

Harvard University is indeed superior to Penn -- well, at least in one respect. Richard Ross, senior vice president for programming and production at the Disney Channel, told students Wednesday that the Cambridge, Mass., university has more alumni in the entertainment industry than any other Ivy league school -- and the 1983 College alumnus wants to see a greater turnout from Penn. "The Penn 'mafia' is very small," Ross said, referring to the number of Penn graduates in the upper echelons of entertainment. He encouraged more Penn students to consider careers in the entertainment industry. "It's about people and passion, and if you love people it's a very good combination." The executive spoke to more than 150 people at the Annenberg School and gave advice and information on finding employment in the entertainment industry. "The entertainment business is a business of osmosis," Ross said. According to him, the best way to get started in the business is to become an assistant. "Everyone in this world has assistants," and it is the best way to meet people in the industry, he explained. He added that "an assistant has one job: to get a new job," and therefore assistants are always looking for replacements. Ross got his start working as an assistant at William Morris, a talent agency in New York. After working in the theater, music, television and literary departments of the agency, Ross was able to "start dabbling in talent." According to Ross, there are "people who make what goes on, people who market what goes on and people who sell what goes on." Ross gave an overview of the different "departments" within the television programming and development sector. The talent department, for example, is responsible for "finding the appropriate people for the appropriate roles," he said. This department is great for those who enjoy interacting with people, Ross explained. The "standards and practices department" reviews shows for appropriate content. Ross said the gurus of standards and practices always have a difficult time with shows such as the controversial cartoon South Park. Ross reminded students to "have focus in your [job] search" and "figure out what you want." In addition to the functional areas of original production, Ross discussed the marketing side of the entertainment business. "Marketing is the machine," Ross explained. "It's a great place if you're creative about sales." Whatever one's specialty, Ross underscored the importance of tenacity and experience. After making initial contact, Ross said to "use whatever personal 'hook' you have to further your cause." College sophomore Alex Abrams, who is considering going to graduate school for filmmaking, said he was impressed with the "detailed explanation" Ross provided, which helped him in "narrowing down [his job] search." Wharton and College junior Rachna Patel agreed, adding that Ross "gave me a good perspective of what we need to do and was very down to earth." College sophomore Rahul Prakash was also impressed with the quantity of information that Ross presented.