A love of gaming and a business school degree can lead to top MBA jobs in entertainment and media.
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In October, teams of gamers battled it out at the Riot Games’ League of Legends World Championships in Seoul in front of a live audience of 40,000 people for a top prize of one million dollars. A few months before, another group of teams competed at Valve’s Dota 2 Tournament, The International 4, before 17,000 fans, for an incredible eleven million dollar prize pool. To think that your mother used to say you were wasting your time playing video games!
It’s clear that gaming is on the rise, with growth in the industry as much as four times greater than in the rest of the economy in 2012. According to the firm DFC, by 2018, the game software market is projected to hit 100 billion dollars.
If you’re a gamer, the good news for you is that having a top MBA degree from a top business school can open the doors to a wide variety of top MBA jobs in the gaming industry, as well as other fields in entertainment and media: television, film, sports, and music.
Here’s a quick look at some of the top jobs in entertainment that you can pursue with an MBA.
Corporate Strategy
In the role of corporate strategist, you will help develop and implement strategies to help media and entertainment companies focus on important issues that affect growth and profitability.
For example, Sam Enoch, an MBA graduate from NYU’s Stern School of Business, is the Director of Business Strategy at Warner Brothers. Part of his current position involves evaluating and acquiring content companies in film, television, interactive gaming, and digital media. Enoch credits the coursework and the connections he made during his MBA with his success in Hollywood.
Claire Freidman, who earned her MBA from Harvard Business School, is also at Warner Brothers as a Manager of Business Strategy. She explains in an interview, “I’ve always loved media and entertainment, and am incredibly excited to work in that industry. I hope to have the opportunity to be part of some of the big strategic changes that are taking place across the film and television industries. Plus, I have to admit that I’m looking forward to working on a movie lot.”
Finance
Working in finance, you will be responsible for making key financial decisions, forecasting earnings and cash flow, and managing the budget of an entertainment company, a media consulting group, or a lending agency.
Matt Rosenberg, MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Business, is the Assistant Vice President of Entertainment Finance at Union Bank. He works to assess credit ratings and raise capital for a client base consisting of a variety of companies in film, television, music, and broadcasting.
The internships Rosenberg did during his MBA at companies like Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, and OneWest Bank helped him get crucial industry knowledge: “You need to be abreast of who is buying who and why, who the big players are, the latest deals—that’s what people want to talk to you about.”
Publishing and Digital Distribution
As a publisher or digital distributor, you help artists and content developers get their work in the hands of the consumers. Nan Duan, an MBA graduate of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, works as the International Publishing Manager at Riot Games—specifically with the publishers who operate League of Legends in China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.
Duan explains how his MBA coursework at Haas—particularly several strategy courses on IT, media, and wireless—have “shaped how [he thinks] about the technology industry.” Duan says, “Gaming is rising as a heavyweight component within the broad entertainment sector so, in this sense, I feel I’m helping Haas establish a footprint in this industry.”
How to get started in entertainment jobs
You can take that high GMAT score to top MBA programs like those at UCLA-Anderson or NYU-Stern, which have programs that specialize in entertainment, media, and technology.
Also, consider location in your search for a top MBA program in entertainment. Attending business school for your MBA in one of the major entertainment hubs will help you make connections and network with industry leaders. Someday soon, you may be one of them yourself!
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