Arts Council circle

Since 1999, the BC Arts Council’s Alumni Career Night in the Arts has been a low-key, informational get-together held in a McMullen Museum gallery. Typically, it draws some 100 participants: undergraduates seeking advice and insight, and a panel of BC alumni willing to share their share their experiences in arts, culture, media, and entertainment careers. The groups mixed, mingled, and exchanged business cards and bios. Many promised to keep in touch.

Organizers knew from the outset that planning and producing Career Night in the Arts + Entertainment 2020 would be different, according to Tatiana Flis, program administrator for the Arts Council. But rather than canceling or downsizing, they moved the event online and expanded it into a weeklong program comprising five panels of alumni who work in both the commercial and not-for-profit spheres of the creative sector. The format offered greater flexibility, opportunities, and information.

Panels

Marc Franklin '12

Principal Photographer/
Assistant Photo Editor
Playbill

Kris Meyer '91

Co-Founder and CEO
Mudd House Media

Gregory Park '97

President
PNR Studios LLC

Kathryn Riley '16

Freelance sports photographer

Meet several of the alumni who took part in Zoom calls, speaking about how their undergraduate experiences shaped their arts + entertainment careers.

Takeaways from the BC experience

Marc Franklin

Marc Franklin

"The thing that I took from Boston College was this ability to just do—the focus is on educating the full, entire person. You’re flexible. You know how to be productive. You know how to think on your feet. And you know how to make things happen."

Jeff Augustin

Jeff Augustin

"What BC really did for me was give me the confidence to try to pursue this career in writing, but you also learn everything from design to directing. Going into production in theater, I felt like I understood more than some other playwrights coming out of school."

Erin Dionne

Erin Dionne

"I [took classes] in public speaking, and a class on PR. I still use those skills all the time as an author, because I have to promote myself and my books. I’d say BC gave me a fantastic foundation and some really concrete skills that I’m still using today."

Jennifer Patten

Jennifer Patten

"Being a part of the executive board of the Dance Organization of Boston College, serving as a publications assistant with the Music Department—these were all things that sent me down a path to the field I’m in now."

Shelagh Abate

Shelagh Abate

“While I was at BC, I worked hard. I did English lit and music.  But I had keys to the Boston College band room! And I was in that band room every morning before 7:00 a.m., getting my two hours in before my classes! That was a result of the support that I got from faculty and staff and professors at BC."

Unexpected career paths

Nzinga Williams

Nzinga Williams

"Fun fact: When I got into BC, I was pre-med for the first two years. I started assistant stage-managing, and by the end of my sophomore year, I’d worked on like three or four shows. I went into my advisor’s office and said, “I don’t know what to do.” He said, “Well, I feel like you do know what to do.” And I did."

Haley Carey

Haley Carey

"I was lucky enough to have an internship at the McMullen Museum starting freshman year. I also had internships during my junior and senior summers at the MFA, where I learned I didn’t want to be a curator. I decided that collections management was actually where I wanted to be."

Gregory Park

Gregory Park

"I started as a pre-law sociology major. Then I braved the path as one of those rare theater-only majors and concentrated on doing design work at BC. I ended up working mostly in film to start—a lot of independent movies—then I started moving over into the TV world."

Kathryn Riley

Kathryn Riley

"I went to BC on a lacrosse scholarship initially. About halfway through, I stopped playing, and I picked up an art minor with a photo concentration. The BC education is very well rounded: I know that if photography doesn’t work out, or robots start taking pictures instead of humans, I have a BC degree to fall back on, which is huge."

Creative careers during COVID-19

Meghan Smith

Meghan Smith

"It’s this whole new world of production. There are all these new tools, and it has been really exciting to find new ways to create media in this environment. It opens up all these opportunities to talk to people that aren’t physically in the same place as we are."

Molly Phelps

Molly Phelps

"I feel lucky that my colleagues have modeled a healthy workplace during this time. It’s OK if you have a really hard day, and you just need to step away and go take a walk, or go hug your dog, or remember that we are still working in a global pandemic and a very stressful year as a country."

Shelagh Abate

Shelagh Abate

"The name of the game, with this pandemic especially, is adaptability—having a wide net, a full toolbox. But when we progress to a point where live music and the performing arts can go back to normal, whatever normal will be, I’m just going to enjoy it more. Now that we don’t have it, I miss it, obviously, but it has helped bring clarity and perspective about just how lucky and how wonderful a gift it is to perform."

Advice for BC students

Meghan Smith

Meghan Smith

"I work in media journalism now, but I did not take one production, news writing, or communications class when I was at BC. My biggest advice is just to follow your interests wherever they go. You can learn how to use a camera anywhere, any time. Use your BC experience to really dive into a subject or an area that you’re really interested in."

Tim Lemire

Tim Lemire

"I remember when I was in my 20s and just starting out, I was very anxious about letting people know that I didn’t know anything! I had to sort of get over that hump to say, um, can I ask you a question? Do not feel bad about asking questions and follow-up."

Elizabeth Flock

Elizabeth Flock

"I think it’s important in college to not always feel like you have to take a specific kind of class or a specific kind of major to get from Point A to Point B. Really focus on finding who you are as a person… Finding just one professor that will help you, that will see your voice and the kind of writing that you’re trying to do and the kind of person that you’re trying to become—connecting with that one person is the most important thing."

Marc Franklin

Marc Franklin

"I’ve found some of my favorite mentors by reaching out, not because I wanted to get something specific from them, but just because I just genuinely wanted to know about their career and how they got to where they are."

Each panel was recorded and is available to BC students and alumni on request. Excerpts from panelists’ comments and responses were edited for length and clarity.

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