Have you ever dreamed of breaking into the performing arts industry? Five alumni have done just that and shared their experiences with students yesterday at the Platt Student Performing Arts House 2008 Alumni Performing Arts Career Symposium.
The five College alumni panelists featured included David Hilder '89, Gabriel Mann '95, Eduardo Placer '99, Lillian Ringel '07 and Jennifer Weber '00. The discussion gave an in-depth perspective into the harsh realities of working in the entertainment industry.
"People say no all the time, but you have to believe that they're wrong," Hilder said about the difficulty of being hired as an actor in New York. He added, "You have to have a freakish type of faith in your ability so that you can keep going in this industry, because there is a lot more indifference out there than you expect."
The panelists also spoke about their experiences as undergraduates and agreed that a Penn education has helped them with their career choices.
"My experience at Penn as a music composition major helps me everyday. I use skills I learned from classes taken at Penn in my everyday work," said Mann, who is a musical composer and has worked on projects for the TV show Arrested Development and several video game scores.
During the latter portion of the panel, students in the audience asked for advice on how to prepare for a career in the entertainment industry.
"The most important thing is to develop who you are as a person and who you are as an entertainer. Take classes, do as many shows as you can and go to as many auditions as you can" said Placer, who is an actor, photographer and public-speaking teacher in New York and was President of the Penn Glee Club in 1999.
The event was well attended and audience members were predominantly students actively involved in the Penn performing arts community.
"We are extremely pleased by the turnout. . This is also the first time we had this type of event since 2004." said Wharton sophomore Brian Tran, a member of the Symposium Board that organized the panel.
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