Students connect with industry leaders, alumni on Hollywood POV trip

A group of SUNY Oswego students recently traveled to Los Angeles for the university’s annual Hollywood POV trip, which allows them to explore opportunities in the entertainment business and connect with industry professionals, including many alumni.

During the one-week trip led by broadcasting and mass communication faculty members Michael Riecke and Jennifer Fogel, students were able to tour several television studios, including Warner Bros., the NFL Network, Fox and Netflix, and network with Oswego alumni and other professionals in the entertainment business.

At Netflix, students met Oswego alumnus Aunrée Houston ‘00, head of marketing operations, who connected them with his colleagues.

“Their offices were amazing, so beautiful… and [Houston] was so nice,” said senior communication major Samantha Citarell. “He set up a little panel with the head of social media for Netflix and the head of marketing. It was amazing hearing their insights on that side because I want to go into public relations and social media marketing, so getting the insights from the directors of the companies was kind of surreal.”

Students also met Oswego alumnus Paul Condolora ‘82, an entertainment and gaming industry executive who previously held roles with the Harry Potter franchise (former senior vice president), Warner Bros. (former senior vice president of strategic development), Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Boomerang.

“[Condolora] actually let us into his home. He talked to us and kind of gave us a mini-class. He was really awesome,” said Citarell. “He was telling us about the truths [of the industry], and how he navigated going from Syracuse to Oswego to New York City and then all the way to L.A.”

Other networking opportunities included Steven Tobler ‘08, co-owner and production designer of his production design company Real Fake Rooms, former student and Hollywood film editor Kevin Tent and many other professionals who came to an organized alumni meet and greet at their hotel.

“As a student, it was so inspiring meeting these successful alumni who walked our halls and lived in our dorm rooms,” said Citarell. “We’re a public school in New York, so sometimes you compare yourself to others and assume you don’t have what it takes, but you do. You have so much power and you can do anything you put your mind to. Seeing these alumni is so inspiring and makes me really optimistic.”

Oswego Hollywood POV students with Paul Condolora ' 82.

Hollywood POV students outside of Warner Bros.

Students Madison Gordon (left) and Samantha Citarell visit the set of "Friends" on their class tour of Warner Bros.

Exposure to opportunity

Students on the trip, who were selected for the class after a competitive interview process, expressed their gratitude for being exposed to an entirely new world of opportunities they may not have known about otherwise.

Madison Gordon, a senior double majoring in broadcasting and mass communication and cinema and screen studies, said the trip inspired her to possibly pursue a career in Los Angeles after graduation.

“To be in the creative field in entertainment, a lot of it is on the West Coast, so it was really special to just be able to go out there,” said Gordon. “It’s a completely different side of the entertainment world, so just going out there and finally seeing that side, it gave all of us so much hope.”

Citarell also said the trip inspired her to look into opportunities further away from home.

“I feel like this trip impacted me so much, because honestly, I was always like, ‘I’m a New York girl, my life is in New York…,’" said Citarell. “But being able to venture off to the other side of the country and seeing how much opportunity is out there kind of threw me a curveball. I really loved it a lot.”

Gordon, who wants to be a screenwriter for television, said it was inspiring to see the behind-the-scenes experience for writers on the studio tours, which was very different from what she expected.

“At Warner Bros. and Fox… for each TV show, their writers' room has their own house and they work within their house,” said Gordon. “At Warner Bros., it was really cool because they have this street of houses, and at first you think you’re driving through a movie set, but no, you’re driving through a neighborhood of writers' rooms! I just thought that was so cool.”

In addition to the studio tours, students were able to tour media company Studio 71 and witness live tapings of the Netflix series “The Upshaws” and “The Jennifer Hudson Show.” Gordon was even invited on stage for an episode that aired on April 21.

“They took me backstage, I went through the spirit tunnel, which was really cool, went to hair and makeup and met so many amazing people back there,” said Gordon. “It ended up being a whole networking thing!”

Bonding with peers and faculty

In addition to connecting with many successful alumni and industry professionals, students on the trip said they also were able to make long-lasting bonds with each other, as well as their professors.

“Every student on the trip was so passionate about it, and what they wanted to do, and we got so close,” said Citarell. “We got close to our professors as well because we were spending so much time with everyone.”

Students expressed gratitude for Riecke and Fogel, who tailored the trip to their interests and used their industry connections to provide them opportunities. Riecke, for example, was able to secure a private tour of Fox through a friend who works with the company.

“They don’t do that at Fox, so it was super nice that we got a private tour,” said Gordon. “It was super in-depth about the history.”

Students were also grateful for their hard work in rescheduling the trip, which was originally slotted for January but delayed due to the L.A wildfires.

“The class actually got both of them gifts as well because we were just so thankful,” said Citarell. “They worked really hard to put this together and everyone was really appreciative of that.”

Both Citarell and Gordon said they recommend the class to any student interested in pursuing an entertainment career.

“If you’re even a little bit interested in the entertainment industry, you should apply to this class because you’re not really gonna get an experience like this one,” Gordon said. “Not every school does this, and not every student gets this opportunity to be chosen to go, so I’m really grateful. You learn so much out there that you wouldn’t really learn in any other class you could take. It was a real-world learning experience.”