Finance in Entertainment and Media

Question

Does anyone have any thoughts about career paths for someone with an interest in a finance related function with a focus in the entertainment and media industry? I'm looking to get into a role that would allow me to get exposure to the innerworkings of the industry, but from a finance point of view. From what I can tell it seems like someone who is interested in combining a finance and entertainment focus would end up in corporate finance at a large media conglomerate (i.e. Time Warner) or focus on this industry at an asset management firm or bank. Any thoughts?

riverripper · Answer

I have a few friends who went into media and a few more still looking. Its a very hard industry to get into. They tend to place little value on the MBA, so finding a job that is going to pay the same 100k+ salary as other jobs is really tough. They also tend to look for people with a background in it.

sternwannabe · Answer

riveripper just curious what type of job functions were your friends seeking within media? That sucks to hear they place little value on the MBA.

3underscore · Answer

Finance for a Media company is the same as Finance for any major corporate, except for the media company having to play around with magic metrics to make their business look stable.

Oh, and more people in the office have asymmetric haircuts.

jordanhendrix · Answer

And paisley ties.

TwoThrones · Answer

I am definitely interested in this question as well.

jordanhendrix · Answer

I worked in entertainment for a while, some people have JDs, some have MBAs, either way getting in to these job is tough.
Part of the reason is that its such a specific field many times the only people who are good at it have been around for a while and worked there way up.
Some of the biggest names in entertainment started as mail room guys in talent agencies.
Of course there are room for MBAs, but it would be at larger places.
My friend is in finance at Sony, he went there after a couple years at Blackrock and no MBA.

skaballet · Answer

Pretty much all the people I know post-MBA who got jobs in Media & Entertainment went into marketing. And yes the MBA isn't really valued or even necessary. For finance most places have an advisory/strategy group. For this group though they want IB and/or consulting experience which is a bit limiting if you don't have that. I'm sure there are other groups that do more like corporate finance too.

kb798 · Answer

most corporate finance/FP&A jobs in M&E don't require you to come out of a top tier MBA program. however, there are strat groups that only recruit out of H/S, but like the post above states, you need to have IB/PE/consulting experience pre/post MBA.

also, pay for FP&A in M&E is paltry compared to the industry. you're going to make about 20% less than your peers, so be prepared for it. people come to M&E because they're passionate about the industry, culture, and product.

USCTrojan2006 · Answer

kudos. Nice reply.

Finance in Entertainment and Media

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