Business club reaches out to new medium in entertainment field

If actors like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, as well as arguably lesser actors like Rob Schneider and Jessica Alba, all make up the top 1 percent of successful members of the entertainment industry, what chance is there for the rest of us?

The Business Careers in Entertainment Club is creating opportunities for students in unlikely mediums.

“BCEC is for students interested in the business side of the entertainment industry,” said junior Matt Morrison, BCEC president. “There’s no other outlet for this type of work, so we provide a hands-on experience along with contacts in the industry.”

“We provide a world of networking opportunities,” said junior Brittaney Norris, vice president of BCEC membership. “At least give it a shot to find out what we’re up to. You can be involved as much or as little as you want.”

The club comprises several committees such as film and TV, gaming, music and sports, all of which work on their own business enterprises but come together for larger projects.

This year, each committee has been pursuing individual projects. The music committee currently works to promote the Addicted to Music Concert set to take place during Little 500 week in April. The concert is a benefit gig to promote awareness of drug overdose.

Both the sports and gaming committees are working with other companies and associations for their projects. The sports committee is promoting the King of the Court, a three-on-three basketball tournament similar to last year’s event sponsored by EA and Rockstar.

The gaming committee, one that has been re-established from previous years, is marketing for GameZombie.tv, an online gaming Web site currently functioning as a class at IU.

The film and TV committee has had the most recent success. The group signed a deal with Universal Studios to promote some of its upcoming films.

Co-director of the film and TV committee Jordan Zavaleta is in charge of many of the promotions.

“For each movie, we have to throw three events,” Zavaleta said. “When ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ came out on DVD, we hosted a karaoke night.”

The advance screening of “Role Models” on Nov. 5 in the Whittenberger Auditorium at the Indiana Memorial Union was organized by BCEC.

Zavaleta’s contacts with Universal are already turning into job options. Zavaleta received an internship with Production Management Company BenderSpink.

He’s one of several to find work through BCEC. Former club members have found jobs at HBO and the Endeavor Talent Agency.

“BCEC got his (former film and TV committee director) head in the right direction, and now he’s getting paid as an assistant director,” Zavaleta said.

Yet Norris, also the assistant director in the film and TV committee, is helping BCEC produce its biggest project yet, a documentary on the Little 500.

“It’s like a live version of ‘Breaking Away,’” Norris said. “We’re following five teams, three male and two female, to find out how the riders’ lives are affected. It shows they are really just average, everyday people that deal with schooling, fraternities and other events.”

This project incorporates all the committees of BCEC. They are working to compose music, write a script and release it in time for the next Little 500.

“Being a centralized group that branches out, we are combining and collaborating to make much bigger things,” Morrison said.

“For most people, you can make a great script in a writing class, and then it all ends,” Zavaleta said. “We’ll build your resume up, get in touch with people in the business, clue you in on how the industry works and get you headed in the right direction.”