This course was very enlightening and I feel like it was the perfect cap to the program. Coming from the corporate/non-profit sector, there was a lot about the creative process that was revealed to me. I initially thought the processing for pitching projects began at the corporation and you were then appointed an agent. I had a misunderstanding of the role of an agent more similar to a project manager. While this is true to an extent, they work more on the artist or talents side than they to the entertainment company you aspire to work with. Their goal is to serve as a conduit for the completion and manifestation of your profit where it fits best instead of ensuring that your project ends up in the hands of a particular company. They really work to ensure your project happens regardless of where it happens, which make it integral your agent understands of who you are and what your project is.
The class did a 180-degree turn when it turned to the idea of self-publishing. This route should not be taken for granted and if you have the means to make it happen you should. Self-publishing your work serves as proof of concept of your project for pitching your project to your agent. Self-publication serves as a source of income to support future projects and allow you to begin to network across with other creatives. Too often we overlook the opportunity to collaborate with others in an effort to immediately work with bigger entities when sometimes crafting a community of creatives can help us reach our goals faster. There are ways to work to cultivate local, regional and even national recognition. Upon joining this program, I met someone involved with the regional Emmy board and spoke about how that’s an overlooked resource for entry into the industry. Much of my production experience has come from my involvement in the local access television station which served as an outlook to create and produce content while building relationships with local companies and universities. All in all, I enjoyed this course and like all the others served as a reminder that with the mind set my goals can be attained. Whether that is with the support of a major company or with me being left to my own devices.
Ishmael McKinney-Mastery Journal 