{"id":205150,"date":"2023-09-27T07:04:30","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T11:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=205150"},"modified":"2023-09-26T10:19:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T14:19:46","slug":"five-time-emmy-award-winner-tells-students-how-to-succeed-in-entertainment-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2023\/09\/five-time-emmy-award-winner-tells-students-how-to-succeed-in-entertainment-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Five-Time Emmy Award Winner Tells Students How to Succeed in Entertainment Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone who wants to succeed in the entertainment industry, must be extremely confident, bold, well-prepared, and not let a single opportunity slip by.<\/p>\n

That was the advice that Neil Mandt, a five-time Emmy Award winner, shared with 120 students during a School of Business presentation on Sept. 25 titled, \u201cHow to Make it in the Entertainment Business.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Mandt\u2019s message was both powerful and, at times, painful.<\/p>\n

Before starting his presentation, he asked all the students to file to the front of the auditorium and introduce themselves. While most had great handshakes, he noted that many failed to say their full name or to make eye contact. Few had researched his background or prepared questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is a series of tests. If you didn\u2019t say your last name when you introduced yourself, you failed!,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cYou get only one chance to make a good first impression.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me know who you are. Stand out!,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cI\u2019m not here to mess around folks. You\u2019ve got one shot. Be prepared to capitalize on the moment. Make sure people remember you.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of his hour-long presentation, he said he will hire two UConn interns. They will be selected based on a one-minute video that best describes why they deserve the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Breaking into the business at an early age <\/strong><\/p>\n

Mandt got his start in entertainment at age 10. He lived in a suburb of Detroit, thousands of miles from Hollywood, but always knew he wanted to work in the entertainment industry and was drawn to acting, directing, and production.<\/p>\n

A company was making a TV movie near his home, so he rode his bike down, asked the crew who was in charge, and told the casting director that he wanted to get into show business.<\/p>\n

\"A
Students listen to a presentation from Emmy winner Neil Mandt (Nathan Oldham \/ UConn School of Business Photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Six weeks later, he got a call at home offering him the chance to audition for a Buick commercial. But his mother wouldn\u2019t let him miss school. Cunningly, he called an elderly neighbor, from the principal\u2019s landline, and explained that he needed a ride somewhere. He passed the audition and landed the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got it because I\u2019m a go-getter,\u2019\u2019 he said. Before long he had an agent and landed an ad for Bubble Yum bubblegum.<\/p>\n

From there, Mandt\u2019s achievements continued to accelerate. By 16, he had a cable show interviewing rock stars, including REO Speedwagon, Phil Collins, and Paula Abdul.<\/p>\n

By age 20, he was a reporter for NBC, the youngest reporter in a Top 10 market. At 26, he was the producer in charge of ABC News\u2019 daily coverage of the O.J. Simpson criminal trial. In the years that followed, he produced 10 movies, 3,000 episodes of television shows, won five Emmy Awards, and became a pioneer in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality content creation.<\/p>\n

When he first moved to Hollywood, he lived in his car. Today Mandt owns the building at the end of the same block.<\/p>\n

No one can do it all and he urged the students to surround themselves with talent. \u201cFind people who are better than you. Find them, manage them, and motivate them,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cBring the best out of them so you look great.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

If he made his success sound easy, it wasn\u2019t. He made mistakes, encountered rejection, and took many financial and creative risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me start by saying achieving my success was hard, very hard,\u2019\u2019 he says on his website. \u201cIt took many years, with incredible struggles and sacrifices that would be too much for most people to deal with.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Looking to the future and adapting to change\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently he spearheaded the creative direction and management of the 2022 broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards; he and his wife Lauren created CrimeDoor, a comprehensive app of true crime; and he developed a tech platform providing risk analytics solutions and licensing opportunities to digital media companies, and raised millions of dollars for his AI company.<\/p>\n

When asked about the Writers Guild of America strike, he said he believes the vast majority of those jobs will soon be eliminated in the next few years, because of the advancement of technology.<\/p>\n

Those who will find success in entertainment will need to adjust, reinvent, and create brands that are valuable.<\/p>\n

\"Emmy
Emmy winner Neil Mandt poses for a photo with a student (Nathan Oldham \/ UConn School of Business Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He told students that next year, when Apple releases its Vision Pro glasses, which blend digital content with physical space, he believes the invention will be the biggest thing since the creation of the printing press. It will offer personalized ads that will appear on entities, including prominent buildings. For the last six years, Mandt has been talking to business owners about how they can monetize their buildings. Many are ready to go, once the new technology is released.<\/p>\n

He advised students not to waste time\u2014their own or that of others\u2014and to always safeguard their reputation.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe loud, be daring, do things. Make sure the internet says you\u2019re amazing,\u2019\u2019 he said. Don\u2019t opt for a low-profile existence. Develop videos, use professional headshots, find ways to contribute to top media publications. Learn to self-promote. Know the organizational chart of the company you want to work for. Ask mentors for advice, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the best way to succeed? Who should you be in the office? How should you make your mark?,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cBe the person who gets [stuff] done. Pick up a piece of trash in the hallway. Say, \u2018Whatever you need boss! I\u2019m there for you.\u2019\u00a0 Be someone who is trusted and gets stuff done.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Greg Reilly,<\/strong> department head in the Boucher Management & Entrepreneurship Department said it was a privilege to have Mandt share his wisdom.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis extensive experience in Hollywood and his ability to simplify complex intersections of media and cutting-edge technologies provided our students with a unique perspective on navigating the entertainment industry,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeil\u2019s dynamic and engaging presentation style captivated our students at the UConn School of Business. He shared invaluable insights on the twists, turns, and challenges one might face in the entertainment industry, emphasizing that there isn\u2019t a single path or school that can fully prepare you for it,\u2019\u2019 Reilly said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Be loud, be daring, do things’ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":205153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1862,2235,2225],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2105],"class_list":["post-205150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-busn","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-storrs"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 04:08:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205150"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205171,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205150\/revisions\/205171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/205153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205150"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=205150"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=205150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}