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Television industry executives and other big names from the field of telecommunications gave Pepperdine seniors a massive opportunity this semester.
A dozen senior telecommunications majors were chosen to be involved in a mentoring program run by Director of Broadcast Operations Susan Salas and former NBC West Coast President Don Ohlmeyer that involved executives from networks such as Fox, NBC, Warner Bros. and various talent agencies.
The students were split into pairs, which met for six two-hour sessions with two different mentors.
“It was a wonderful exchange,” Salas said. “It’s the first of its kind, as far as we know, in the country.”
The vision of Ohlmeyer and his connections within the industry really got the Pepperdine Mentor Fellowship program off the ground, Salas said. Ohlmeyer had gone through a similar program and thought it was important that Pepperdine students have the same experience.
Salas said she was very excited that the program is up and running so well.
“It wasn’t just the students sitting there listening ... there’s been sharing in an office setting, and also on-set experience as well.”
Students were able to meet with mentors in their office and home offices. Some were also invited to tapings of shows, creative meetings and table reads, where the cast of a show goes through scripts prior to taping.
Sophie Soong was invited to a table read for the animated show “King of the Hill.”
“It’s so weird to see their real faces,” she said.
Soong said she was amazed the mentors made themselves so available to the students.
“All these people took time out of their busy schedules,” she said. “Every time they were just so open to questions.”
Soong and her partner, Jessi Crino, said they were thrilled to have been able to take part in the program.
“How did I get to be here? I feel so blessed,” Soong said.
Crino agreed.
“I enjoyed it very much. It was probably the most useful experience I’ve had here,” she said. “It was an experience college students never get ...We got insight into the business that someone at our age just isn’t open to. It’s a level of information that goes way beyond anything you’d learn in college.”
Salas said she thought the program was particularly important for giving the students first-hand experience outside the classroom. She also said she was excited for the opportunities the program would open up to future participants.
“(It was) also to let the industry know that Pepperdine has a phenomenal program for broadcasting ... it’s not just USC and UCLA,” she said. “To me, this is all about possibilities for the student.”
Soong said she thought the program was helpful for learning about the more specific aspects of the industry that aren’t really discussed in classes.
“I’ve learned that it’s a really cut throat industry. Everyone’s really competitive and everyone wants your job,” she said.
Nonetheless, Soong said the experience reassured her in her choice of career.
“I feel even more secure knowing that this is what I want to do,” she said.
One pair was fortunate enough to meet with their mentor, an independent producer, when Warner Bros. called to green-light one of her shows.
“They got to see her act like a kid at Christmas,” Salas said.
Part of the goal of the program was also to open the students’ minds to other aspects of the field and explore their chosen path more in-depth, she said.
They were paired with both one mentor working in the field the student was focused on, and a mentor in a different area to “give them a wider scope,” Salas said.
Both Crino and Soong said they were glad to have made contacts through the program.
The students were not allowed to speak to their mentors directly about getting jobs with the mentor’s company, but Crino, who said she is interested in production, said the experience was helpful anyway, as a relationship builder with influential forces in the industry
“They didn’t offer us jobs, but we got to know them ... It’s something I can put on a resume.”
Soong, who works as an anchor on Pepperdine’s news station, said “my true passion right now is to be a reporter,” but the experience was good for opening her up to other aspects of broadcast.
It also renewed her commitment to “report in an honest and real way,” she said.
Submitted March 27, 2003
MALIBU, CA
