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Hi,
I am a 26 year old engineering graduate from India. I have done bachelor's in chemical engineering from a very reputed institute (regularly listed among the top 5 in India), followed by an year in software industry. Then I shifted to finance and am currently working in an offshore captive of an investment bank on the trading side. However I have always wanted to work in the film business. I tried to find out about how to get into the business side in the Indian film industry (just internet research), but there was nothing for people like me. Most of the opportunities are only in the creative side, since the industry here is highly unorganized.
I have been doing research and have found out that there are schools in US that offer an MBA with a media/entertainment specialization (like NYU Stern, UCLA Anderson, Columbia university etc.) I am actually looking for a specialized MBA and I don't want to do the regular MBA since I am sure I don't want to be in finance/consulting etc. but only in film business.

My question is, with an engineering background like mine with no prior experience in the media field, will schools like Stern give any consideration at all to my application? If no, what can I do to get myself ready to apply for such a program? I was thinking of applying this year, but if content of my application is too inadequate then I will maybe apply next year.[/u]

As a former film industry person, I feel i can speak directly to your question. Although no longer very active as a professional, I am in the Director's Guild, having joined from the ADTP, or Assistant Director's Training Program in the early 1990's, which is a great way into the film business for those without prior film experience. The bad news is, it's only open to US citizens. As for grad schools, I would look at USC and UCLA if you are serious about the film industry, as both schools have a film department in addition to a boatload of alumni in the biz in the US. You need to decide what you want to do in the film industry specifically, however, since you will get very frustrated if you don't know up front. The film industry is very compartmentalized and you want to make sure you take the right road from the outset, since it's difficult to move around once you are labeled. I would also recommend the book Wannabe: A Would-Be Player's Misadventures In Hollywood by Everett Weinberger, which is a great first person account of someone who got their MBA and tried to get into the film biz--not the easiest route.

Thanks a lot Bryant for your reply. You just mentioned USC/UCLA in your post. How would you rate NYU Stern's EMT program in order to get a foothold into the business side of the film industry in the US? I am asking this to just get a general idea.

I am already in the process of finding out what kind of work exactly would I want to do in the film business. However what would you suggest, is this something that has to be decided before applying for an MBA or something that has to be decided while doing an MBA but before landing a job? From my engineering experience, I think what seems to be interesting from a purely theoretical point of view feels different when one is exposed to it first-hand. Hence I feel that I can make a good decision on what I want to do only after being exposed to the field which means after my summer internship if I manage to land up one in a company related to the film business.

Please do not hesitate to let me know if you feel this is not the ideal way to approach.

@Saiprasad.munagaal - where did you end up going? I'm looking into media entertainment program as well, so wondering how that is working out for you.