If you’re thinking about heading to the Marshall School of Business at USC or the Paul Merge School of Business at the University of California for your MBA, then a career in the entertainment industry better be on your radar. Just as Philadelphia is known for its pharmaceuticals, LA is known for entertainment.
According to Forbes, Los Angeles is the “Entertainment Capital of the World.” It leads the world in the creation of motion pictures, television production, video games, and recorded music. It’s estimated that one in every six of the city’s residents works in the creative industry.
If you decide to attend the Anderson School of Management at UCLA for your MBA, you can follow their Entertainment and Media Management career path. It combines a solid, top-quality, generalist MBA enhanced with focused entertainment/media classes and student-driven real-world experiences. It’s a perfect pairing for a career in Los Angeles.
Another option is to pursue your MBA at the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University where you can take advantage of their four-day curriculum-based training program to get your Certificate in Film and Television Finance. The course is taught at the MBA level and is designed for professionals in the entertainment industry.
Then, once you earn your MBA and the necessary certificates, there are a variety of entertainment companies for you to consider. In fact, there are too many to list, but we’ve compiled some of the leaders in the industry.
Landmark was co-founded by Anthony (Tony) Christopher in 1980, and is a global entertainment design firm that creates theme parks and attractions, live entertainment productions, and virtual reality. Aside from the creation of Caesars Palace, they’re best known for creating rides such as “Jurassic Park: The Ride” and the Las Vegas production of Phantom of the Opera.
Ranking 57th among America’s largest public companies, Disney is a global leader in family entertainment. It’s headquartered in Los Angeles County and for 90 years, they’ve been leaders in animation, theme park attractions, and cutting edge television. Their 2014 sales equaled $48.8 billion, and they have over 180,000 employees worldwide.
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.
Live Nation is the largest live entertainment company in the world. They operate concert promotions, venue operations, sponsorship, ticketing solutions, and more. Somewhere in the world, a Live Nation Event is held every 20 minutes. Their 2014 sales made $ 6.8 billion, and they have over 11,000 employees worldwide.
Activision Blizzard is an American video game publishing company. They are most well known for their multi-million dollar video game franchises such as Call of Duty, StarCraft, and Warcraft. With 2014 sales of $4.4 billion and 6,800 employees worldwide, they’re the 5th largest gaming company by revenue.
Herzog & Company is an Emmy® Award-winning entertainment company and a leading marketing and creative content producer based in Los Angeles. They originally only handled theatrical marketing for blockbuster film franchises but have expanded to produce critically acclaimed original programming for network, cable, and digital outlets.
Fox Entertainment Group is an American entertainment industry that operates four domains. 21st Century Fox provides production facilities and services for film, television, and related entertainment industries. They are one of the six major American film studios with movies such as Star Wars, Avatar, and Die Hard. They are also responsible for producing a variety of television series including The Simpsons, Glee, and Empire. They recently celebrated their 80th anniversary as a studio.
E! Entertainment Television, LLC
E! is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by NBC Universal Cable. It features reality television, feature films, and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry. As of February 2015, E! had an audience reach of 94 million American households.
Other Entertainment Companies in the Los Angeles area include, but are not limited to:
- Alcon Entertainment: Established in 1997 by film producers Boderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, Alcon is an American film production company with a ten-year motion picture production agreement with Warner Bros.
- AllScreen: A media syndication platform backed by heavyweights like Mark Cuban and Y Combinator, AllScreen clocked in at No. 29 on Inc’s list of 5000 America’s Fastest Growing Companies. Its 2014 revenue was $10.8 million, and it’s grown a whopping 7,965 percent since 2011.
- Animax Entertainment: An animation and interactive production studio that produces content for all screens. Dave Thomas founded Animax in 2001, and their current clients include Disney, ESPN, Warner Bros, and more.
- Anschutz Entertainment Group: The company is an American sporting and music entertainment presenter. It is the world’s largest owner of sports teams and sports events.
- Base FX: Base FX is a three-time Emmy Award-winning visual effects and animation company with an office in Los Angeles and production studios around the globe.
- Capital Music Group: An American-based front line umbrella label owned by Universal Music Group that oversees the handling of record labels assigned to its division.
- Entertainment Studios: The largest independently operated syndication producer/distributor for broadcast television, Entertainment Studios was founded by Byron Allen in 1993.
- The Jim Henson Company: An American entertainment company, Jim Henson is a leading producer of children’s and family entertainment and is best known as the creators of the Muppets.
- Midroll Media: A producer of popular podcasts such as WTF With Marc Maron, Midroll Media is proving that podcasts can be profitable. At No. 150 on the Inc. 5000 list, it has a three-year growth rate of 2,616 percent, and a 2014 revenue of more than $7.9 million.
- Paramount Pictures: A film studio, television production company, and motion picture distributor, Paramount is ranked as one of the “Big Six” film studios of Hollywood.
- Rainmaker Ad Ventures: Rainmaker is an online media buying company led by Drew Kossoff. It landed at No. 400 on the 2015 Inc. 5000, with a 2014 revenue of $8.3 million, up 1,180 percent since 2011.