Life after graduation — this is the one fear that all freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors have in common. Not only is it the beginning of adult life and a higher level of responsibility, but there is the ever-looming uncertainty of finding a job and being successful that intimidates even the bravest of souls.
Monday afternoon, Adam Galen, a 2014 ASU alum with marketing and economics degrees and a minor in film and media studies, spoke with students and faculty about his experience of life after graduation as the film and media studies homecoming week speaker.
During an interview before the event, Galen said that he had left for Hollywood merely days after graduating to begin looking for work, diving right into the job hunt.
“I literally moved out to Los Angeles four or five days after I graduated,” he said. “I picked up and just moved out.”
Within days of arriving, he had his resume out to everybody in town and called up everyone that he knew, asking for help.
“Ultimately the reason I got the job I did is because I actually went out with a friend one of the first nights I was there, he introduced me to some of his other friends and one of them wound up sending me the listing and helping me get the job I have now," Galen said.
Galen is currently a manager of worldwide sales and digital affairs at Preferred Content, the company he started working for after moving to Los Angeles following graduation.
Preferred Content’s main business is domestic film sales in the indie film space, Galen said.
“We are like a sales agent for them to get the movie distribution,” he said.
Galen helped with the marketing of several films with the company. He said one of his favorites was "Buddy Moon," a comedy about two friends going on a camping trip after one of them breaks off his engagement.
"It is like a ridiculous hiking road trip, almost buddy-comedy," Galen said. "It was a really funny movie, and it could've been small and just not gone anywhere, but I was able to sell it to MGM and it got a theatrical release. It was like a big success story for that space and it was for clients that were really easy to work with."
In order to prepare himself prior to moving to L.A., Galen said that he had a lot of internships to get ready at places such as Indian Paintbrush Productions, Mandalay Pictures, Level 1 Entertainment and Resolution.
Galen said Kevin Sandler, associate professor and director of internships in the film and media studies program, was a great resource to set up internships to propel Galen into his career.
Sandler said that when he is helping students look for internships, such as Galen, it could happen a variety of ways.
“Adam found some of his own (internships), and I also found several,” Sandler said when reflecting on his time with Galen. “Some come from alumni who are out in the industry … others come from me meeting people in the industry — a lot of the times at film festivals — and trying to set up relationships with them in order to place our students at their companies.”
Sandler has been teaching at ASU since fall 2008 and said that he has enjoyed helping students go on to succeed in life after college.
“I feel great pride for our students, for our department, for our school," Sandler said. "Since we’re not in L.A., we are not in New York. We are in a smaller market and for them to achieve what they have done is a testament to what we have going here.”
Sandler asked Galen to speak as this year’s homecoming week speaker for the film and media studies department because Galen fell under all the right criteria he looks for in a speaker.
He said he looks for someone who is a recent graduate, "who has succeeded in the industry in some significant role within that time… Each year you try to bring out somebody who’s in a different sector."
This was the second year that the department had a homecoming speaker, but the film and media studies department has often had speakers come throughout the year to speak with students.
The event drew a diverse crowd, including Amelia Buell, a freshman studying aerospace engineering.
Reflecting on the event, she mentioned that she had been thinking about changing her major or adding a minor with film and that this was very helpful in her decision making.
“Definitely more likely to add a minor now,” she said.
During the event she had asked several questions of Galen, one of them a common question amongst those looking toward future careers: money.
“Is this a good line of work to make money?” Galen said during the presentation, repeating her question with a chuckle. “No.”
Galen said several times in his presentation that you have to be hungry for this work.
“If this is something that you want to do, you really, really have to want it,” Galen said. “It’s not easy. It’s a really a stressful, competitive industry in general … Picking up your life and relocating to L.A. is a lot, and if you are going to do it, you better really want it in the right way for the right reasons, otherwise it is easy to come back with your tail between your legs.”
To learn more about internships like Galens visit the film and media studies internship website.
Reach the reporter at balnero13@gmail.com or follow @BaldnerOwen on Twitter.
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