Director Of Industry Relations

Loyola Marymount University School of Film & Television (SFTV) is a top-ranked film school located in Los Angeles, CA. The school is recognized for its state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, award-winning faculty, expert staff, world-renowned alumni and innovative curriculum.

Reporting to the Dean of SFTV or their designate, this position works closely with entertainment industry partners, students, alumni and donors and collaborates with faculty and staff, LMU Marketing & Communications, LMU Alumni Relations, and LMU Career and Professional Development to meet the diverse needs of SFTV.

This position in SFTV is responsible for industry and alumni relations, including establishing and maintaining relationships with entertainment industry companies and individuals regarding internships, jobs and careers for SFTV students and alumni; programming industry events with a focus on career development and professional experiences; establishing and maintaining labs, think tanks and other collaborations with external industry partners; creating career opportunities; establishing and maintaining alumni relationships; and planning events in consultation with the LMU or SFTV events teams.

Position Specific Responsibilities/Accountabilities

Strategic Planning & Leadership

• In consultation with, and at the direction of the dean, develop an overall strategy for industry relations for SFTV.

• Responsible for budgeting and scheduling within this department.

• Responsible for hiring, properly training and supervising student workers within the office of industry relations.

• Understand SFTV curriculum and develop programming that compliments what students are learning in the classroom to expand their knowledge of the industry today. Stay current with industry trends, technology, hiring patterns.

• Collaborate with faculty and staff as a member of the Dean's senior leadership team.

• Participate in various SFTV and/or LMU meetings as directed by the Dean as they pertain to development of the Industry Relations Office.

Industry Relationship Management

• Act as primary point person for SFTV's relationships with entertainment companies, organizations, executives, and vendors to maintain and promote LMU's students and alumni as emerging talent and leaders in the industry.

• Represent LMU/SFTV in the entertainment community and increase our participation and visibility at strategically targeted industry events. Promote and encourage student engagement at industry events and develop a strategy to identify and engage with alumni in attendance. Represent LMU/SFTV at entertainment industry conferences, seminars, workshops, conventions as requested by the dean.

• Promote SFTV, our students and alumni, and their creative work to the entertainment industry.

• Produce student and/or alumni labs as needed with partner organizations which includes developing the submission process, setting the goals for the lab, creating timelines, reviewing applications, and providing support throughout the process.

Student Engagement & Mentorship

• Maintain weekly in-person and zoom office hours to establish and maintain relationships with students.

• Work with the faculty and staff of the production office to review student work and maintain a database of student films and creative work.

• Cultivate relationships with students in collaboration with faculty and staff, to identify students and creative projects to promote to the entertainment industry.

• In collaboration with LMU's office of Career and Professional Development, provide career guidance, work with SFTV students on resumes, LinkedIn profiles, interview preparation, cover letters and other tools to present the strongest profiles to enter the entertainment industry job market.

• Educate and assist students and alumni to develop a proactive approach to professional career development.

• Work with students and alumni to track progress and ensure that internship, mentorship, and career opportunities outreach is successful. Develop and maintain metrics for measuring this. Create and maintain a tracking system.

Professional Development Opportunities

• In collaboration with LMU's office of Career and Professional Development, create career opportunities for SFTV graduates, including internships and entry level positions in all entertainment fields. Maintain a robust job database. Create ways to present these opportunities to students and alumni.

• Establish and maintain an internal SFTV job board for students and alumni.

• Work with faculty, staff and SFTV's Marketing and Communications representative to make career opportunities and professional development known to SFTV students via classroom presentations, one-on-one meetings, small group workshops, email, newsletters, social media, and other methods.

• Leverage your industry experience and contacts to build exclusive pipelines with hiring managers, recruiters, showrunners, producers, executives within the entertainment industry.

• Connect students to film and television professionals via film festivals, creative labs, fellowships, and existing relationships with film organizations, mentorship programs, studios, and production companies.

• Monitor entertainment industry job postings and job boards to bring these opportunities to SFTV students and Alumni.

• Monitor and present external industry networking opportunities to students and alumni.

• Identify grants, scholarships, fellowships, and competitions for SFTV students and alumni to further their professional development and careers.

Event Programming & Management

• Act as a representative of SFTV at LMU internal events, as directed by the dean.

• Program and organize (with SFTV's events team) professional development events for SFTV students, including inviting industry guests (agents, managers, executives, talent) to share their knowledge of the entertainment business. Moderate these events, as needed.

• Ensure the programming slate is robust and augments and enhances the student learning experience inside the classroom. Engage faculty, department chairs and graduate directors in appropriate planning of events that meet the curricular and co-curricular needs for students in relation to career pathways.

• Bring in diverse working professionals to increase students' network and understanding of opportunities available to them.

• Develop and employ strategies that ensure maximum student engagement in applicable programming and events attendance.

• Play a key role in the vetting of new programming requests/proposals.

• In collaboration with the SFTV events team implement best practices in terms of basic theater and event operations including box office, seating, and theater load-in/out. Ensure best practices for all online events. Ensure events are produced in a sustainable and professional manner that meets quality and content standards and expectations of LMU.

• Establish and manage budgets for individual events and programs in collaboration with finance department; exercise fiscal responsibility to ensure amounts spent are within budget and reasonable relative to the purpose.

• Maintain knowledge of university practices, policies, and systems including but not limited to transportation, public safety, risk management, budgets, purchasing, Mazevo and Workday.

Alumni Relationship Management

• Establish and maintain relationships with SFTV alumni. In collaboration with SFTV's Marketing and Communications representative, create ways to keep alumni informed of the latest jobs and networking opportunities.

• Engage alumni in SFTV in an ongoing and meaningful way, including campus visits, workshops, guest lectures, etc.

• Engage alumni to promote current SFTV students to them.

Additional Duties

• Perform other duties related to the position as directed by the dean or their designate.

Loyola Marymount University Expectations

Exhibit behavior that supports the mission, vision, and values of the university. Promote an environment that supports diversity and inclusivity. Communicate and employ interpersonal actions that model high standards of professional, responsible, accountable, and ethical conduct. Demonstrate a commitment to outstanding customer service.

Requisite Qualifications

• Typically a bachelor's degree in business, film and television production, marketing, public relations or extensive industry experience as an agent, manager, marketing executive or public relations executive. Master's, JD or MFA degree a plus.

• A minimum of seven years of experience in the entertainment business working with entertainment companies, studios and organizations, agents and managers, talent, emerging filmmakers, content creators, and industry professionals.

• Experience as a talent agent, manager, marketing and/or public relations executive preferred.

• Experience creating marketing and public relations materials required.

• Experience with social media a plus.

• Established network of entertainment industry contacts.

• History of working at a university and with alumni a plus.

• Extensive experience and understanding of the film, television, media, public relations, marketing, social media, new technologies and sports industries.

• A commitment and passion for working with students, emerging and diverse talent to achieve their goals and raise the public profile of students and alumni. Experience in advising a plus.

• A self-motivated professional who enjoys and is capable of productive networking and building substantial relationships with new partners and potential collaborators and who will be comfortable collaborating with SFTV faculty, staff, and others to maximize opportunities for students and alumni.

• Ability to work well under pressure and quickly adapt to short deadlines and changing priorities.

• Ability to effectively manage and perform multiple tasks or responsibilities simultaneously is a must.

• Ability to identify and focus on the most urgent or important tasks first.

• Position requires discretion, confidentiality, excellent people skills, conflict resolution skills, organizational skills, time management, multi-tasking, deadlines, flexibility.

• Exemplary communication skills, including written communication, public speaking, ability to write executive reports and presentations, basic copywriting.

• Must approach work proactively with strong organizational and leadership skills.

• Strong supervisory and administrative skills.

• Strong computer skills with PC and Mac (MS word, Outlook, Excel, Power Point, Keynote. Strong proficiency with Zoom, tracking databases and software. Ability to learn new programs.

• Ability to research, analyze data and present data.

• A strategic, innovative thinker who can work independently and take initiative, as well as work well within a team.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of this position.

#HERC# #HEJ#

Staff Regular

Salary range

$84,800.00 - $114,500.00 Salary commensurate with education and experience.

Loyola Marymount University, a Carnegie classified R2 institution in the mainstream of American Catholic higher education, seeks outstanding applicants who value its mission and share its commitment to inclusive excellence, the education of the whole person, and the building of a just society. LMU is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing an environment free from discrimination and harassment as defined by federal, state and local law. We invite all persons in the full diversity of their being, life experience, and beliefs to apply. (Visit www.lmu.edu for more information.)