'Batman' producer returns to campus

He is Batman. \nWell, not literally. But IU alumnus Michael Uslan is the driving force behind the entire Batman movie series. Tuesday afternoon, Uslan came to the Godfrey Graduate and Executive Education Center in the Kelley School of Business to speak as a distinguished entrepreneur-in-residence to more than 50 students, faculty and staff about "The Business of Hollywood." \nUslan graduated from IU with three degrees, including a bachelor's degree in history, a master's degree in education and a doctorate from the School of Law. He said his time on campus inspired and enabled him to have the career he has today, which he considers his dream job.\n"This place empowered me again to do what I do today," Uslan said to an eager audience. "I have the only job (where) I get to be 16 years old for the rest of my life." \nUslan said IU's willingness to help "one individual student" succeed in a unique path of study helped him find success. The University sponsored his idea for a class about comic books in America, the first of its kind at any university.\nProfessor of entrepreneurship Donald F. Kuratko said he believed the theme of empowerment in Uslan's speech was a great one for students to hear.\n"I thought that was really important," Kuratko said. "He was able to utilize those degrees to empower himself to carry on, as he kept saying, and accomplish his dreams."\nUslan spoke about his experiences trying to break into Hollywood and convince movie studios to take projects based off comic books. Uslan encouraged students in the audience to stay focused and determined to achieve their goals and not let anyone get in their way.\n"Doors will slam in your face; I guarantee it," Uslan said to the crowd. "At the end of the day ... if you don't believe in yourself ... you're doomed."\nUslan used his personal example of struggling to find backers for a Batman movie that would portray the action hero as a darker, more brooding person than 1960s television shows once did. Uslan said every studio in Hollywood rejected him, and it took him years to finally make his dream a reality.\n"My career, and the struggle to bring Batman to the screen for so many years, was a long, difficult journey," Uslan said. "When I come back here and have a chance to share the experience with a lot of people ... it helps me validate my life's experience and the difficulties I had to endure (and it enables me) to pass along, hopefully, some good information to think about."\nKuratko, who introduced Uslan, said he was thankful that Uslan shared his experiences and ordeals with the audience.\n"I was appreciative that he shared with us the kind of tenacity it took, you know, to work through some of those down times," Kuratko said. "It's a great lesson for all of the students to understand."\nKuratko said he believe it is important to bring successful IU graduates back to campus because he said they serve as "role models" for current IU students. Uslan's speech is part of a program that brings distinguished entrepreneurs-in-residence to campus through the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which Kuratko heads. \n"I think for our students to see some of our own that have gone out there and accomplished these great things is certainly (instilling) a sense of pride," Kuratko said. \nUslan said he enjoyed returning to Bloomington because it reminded him of where he came from and what he had been through.\n"I love coming back to IU," Uslan said. "It's like coming home for me."\nUslan said he believed the most important parts of success are determination and a willingness to keep trying despite rejection.\n"Be passionate about your work," Uslan said. "... If you don't love what you do, you are condemning yourself to a very, very difficult life. Number two is have a high level of frustration. ... The people that persevere, the people who are willing to knock on doors until their knuckles bleed, are the ones that tend to cross the finish line"