New Hollywood Club attracts U.'s future movie biz mavens

Future film directors, actors and producers now attending Penn gathered at the Kelly Writers House Tuesday night for the introductory meeting of the Hollywood Club, a group devoted to helping undergraduates prepare for careers in the motion-picture business. Students interested in aspects of filmmaking ranging from the business end of production to recording soundtracks came to the club's first-ever meeting, which served both as a brainstorming session for future activities and a chance for the members to get acquainted. "The real key to success in the movie business is networking and forming contacts," explained College junior Josh Rosenberg, co-founder of the group. "It's a real shame when all of us want to go into a business about knowing people without actually having these contacts." Which is exactly why over 50 students attended the meeting. "Basically, the more people you know, the better off you are," said Doug Silversten, a Wharton senior interested in the financial aspects of film production. After a brief general meeting, the group broke down into smaller sections guided by specific interest -- producing, directing and screenwriting; the technical aspects of film; and acting. There, students exchanged advice relating to those more narrow fields, such as how to land an internship in production or how to evaluate talent agencies. "The purpose of this first meeting [was] just to see who wants to do this, who's interested," Rosenberg said. "It's still a fledgling group." Earlier this year, Rosenberg -- who is interested in screenwriting -- thought about ways to create a network of contacts among undergraduates and with people already in the industry. Rosenberg said that he has found Penn Career Services ineffective in helping out with networking. He claimed Career Services' contact list of Penn alumni involved in the film industry is both outdated and inaccessible to students, containing more higher-ups than entry-level positions. Students need people "to point you in the direction of attainable jobs, not those in the upper levels," he explained. Consequently, Rosenberg approached College senior Eugene Kwack -- head of the Teaching Film project at the Writers House -- about starting an informal network of students interested in working in the film industry, and the idea for the Hollywood Club was born. Rosenberg said the principles guiding the group are collaboration and reciprocity. "It's hard to succeed when you're trying to break in by yourself," he said. This group, he continued, is founded on the idea of students helping each other succeed in Hollywood. Though the dominant theme of the meeting was how to network in the film industry, students also expressed interest in working together on current film projects here at Penn.

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