Pepperdine’s newly created Entertainment Business Network (EBN) sponsors ‘Pepperdine Idol’ and offers students interested in the industry an opportunity to, well, network.
By Sara Rosner
Staff Writer
Although Hollywood is only miles away, perpetual traffic on Highway 101 is enough to deter most students from enjoying the show business capital of the world. However, they will have a chance to enjoy the glitz and glamour of the red carpet on campus this month at the Entertainment Business Network’s Pepperdine Idol Contest.
The event will be held at Elkins Auditorium on April 16 from 7 to 10 p.m. and admission is free.
About 20 individuals and student organizations will be performing against each other in front of a panel of judges, but their fate will ultimately be decided by the response of the audience.
“I think it’s cool,” said junior Anne Lewis, a liberal arts major who will be singing in the contest. “What an opportunity for people to shine at what they’re really good at.”
Nash Chugani, a Pepperdine senior and former director of exports for a premiere clothing label, created EBN with senior Matt Strasburg in October 2004.
“This is a great chance for everyone’s personal talent to be realized and to bring students together,” Chugani said. “We started the club to help students get involved in the industry itself, to help build careers with internships and real-life experience.”
According to the EBN Web site, the clubs purpose is to advance the careers by supplying professional knowledge, contacts and actual experience.
Unlike other organizations that center around meetings, EBN members are exposed to the entertainment industry through speakers, events, seminars and field trips.
“We started EBN on the concept that we didn’t want this to be a meeting-based organization,” said EBN Vice President of Events Programming Christian Goodwin. “We wanted it to be based on events that we can bring to the club and campus.”
The 145 EBN members represent an assortment of majors and talents.
“One of the most exciting things about working with the organization is the diversity in talents we have,” Strasburg said. “We have interests coming from all areas.”
“The Network is really for anyone, from business to the drama department. It’s really open to anyone who has an interest in going into entertainment,” said Goodwin.
Los Angeles is ripe with opportunity for aspiring actors and musicians. According to the Entertainment Industry Development Corporation, the city was home to 581 feature film projects in 2000 and industry expenditures reached $31.2 billion
However, breaking into show business is notoriously difficult.
“The hardest thing about this industry is that there are tons of people who can sing, act and model,” Goodwin said. “But they’re looking for that one person who has something different and special above everyone else.”
According to the United States Department of Labor, 139,000 people were employed as actors, producers or directors last year and earned an average annual income of $23,470. Musicians and singers occupied 215,000 positions and earned an average of $36,290.
The Department of Labor also observed that such employees endure long periods of unemployment, intense competition and frequent rejections in auditions and that actors and musicians typically supplement their income with other jobs in other fields.
“The hardest thing about the entertainment industry is not knowing how to network,” Chugani said. “If you know someone on the inside, it’s the best way.”
In addition to organizing formal events, EBN also functions as an informal talent agency for students by trying to connect them with industry professionals
“We are the steps to a career in entertainment,” Chugani said. “You can’t just walk in.”
“You have to work hard and don’t give up,” Goodwin advised. “Be patient. You have to be confident in who you are and what you’re selling.”
Submitted April 1, 2004