The Audrey Cohen College MBA in Media Management degree program is a one year MBA program in Media Management, the first of it's kind, that was designed by CCNY Alumni, Dr. Faye Ran-Moseley, the program director and Assistant Dean of the Audrey Cohen College School for Business . In the MBA in Media Management program, each student has the opportunity to develop their own media related idea either as an entrepreneur or as an intrapreneur. The ideas developed and presented by students of this program as their thesis projects are widely varied. Each term of three semesters, seven intense courses are taken by MBA in Media Management students on weekends every Friday night and all day Saturday. The course load added to the careers and home lives of students requires their full attention and participation. A featured part of this degree program that is included in the tuition is a trip to the Cannes Film Festival.
In May 1998, the entire student body of the Audrey Cohen College MBA in Media Management Masters degree program spent ten days and nights at the 51st Annual Cannes Film Festival. A stretch limousine met the students as planned at Audrey Cohen College on 75 Varick Street at 4:00 PM. The driver whisked them past the packed traffic there by the midtown tunnel quickly arriving at the airport. There they met with other students as well as their Entertainment Law professor, Steven Greenwald. The first flight was a long one on a wide jet, that took eleven hours, flying over the Atlantic Ocean before landing in Frankfurt, Germany. The stewardesses helped the time to pass by closing many window shades, feeding the passengers several meals, snacks and drinks after they passed out headphones and magazines. An unplanned four hour stopover in Frankfurt allowed the students to check out the local German hospitality. The oddest sight was seeing people though not many, smoking cigarettes inside the airport unlike recent American laws that prohibit such behavior in public.
The next plane, a much smaller jet, carried the students and their professor over the Swiss Alps. The plane descended gliding over the Mediterranean Sea and into the Nice airport. Dr. Faye Ran-Moseley met them with the most adorable pink and black mini-bus and driver who carried the excited troop to their hotel. Along the way, they enjoyed the pleasant weather while viewing the sights, palm trees, boats, beaches and the people of France. The cobblestone driveway and swimming pool at L' Ermitage Du Rio soon meant that they had arrived. The entered the elegant ground floor of the hotel where Dr. Ran who had arrived a few days ahead saw to it that every one was settled into their single, double or triple occupancy rooms. The hotel, one could see from the lounge, had it's own dock filled with yachts ready to sail into the Mediterranean Sea. My roommate and I occupied a large bungalow off to the side of the hotel. Other students had rooms with balconies or other great features. That evening, everyone met for a specially prepared dinner that was served in the hotel dining room.
The trip remember was not for pleasure, so naturally the next morning as well as on other mornings, classes and lectures were conducted after croissants, coffee and a breakfast buffet. Other classes were held in the hotel and most guest lectures were held by the pool. Before heading for Cannes, as we were located in Mandeliou la Napoule, every student was given bus and train schedules as well as any other vital information that would be needed, especially the address to our hotel. All met later in Cannes at the International Film Festival official headquarters where they picked up their VIP 51st Annual Film Festival badges and shoulder bags that contained a wealth of information, books, schedules and even an umbrella!
That second day in Cannes we spent acquainting ourselves with the manner in which business was conducted there at the festival. Major film companies each mostly located in a suite at either the Carlton Hotel, Majestic Hotel, the Noga Hilton or on Yachts in the Marina. film Industry leaders presented to buyers, their most recently produced film projects. In Cannes, one could find financing or distribution channels for their finished film products. While camera flashing crowds pushed against the barriers to catch a glimpse of passing movie stars, the students felt privileged to show their treasured badges that gained them entrance into every major hotel as well as into various theaters and pavillions, as well as into the main pavilion where new films were premiered daily throughout each day. Student projects and assignments for various courses surrounding development, production and marketing media products required interaction within the various venues where research and contacts could be made. Every student as part of their marketing and public relations component carried their business cards as well as other promotional materials to share with industry contacts. In my own case those materials included a "one sheet" as well as a synopsis of my film. The film industry features "one sheets" that are pretty much 8 X 10 or 8 X 11 versions of the movie poster and are used to introduce a film along with a brief synopsis of the plot. Included is a list of the attached stars who will be or who are in the film. Video tapes of finished films are also played for buyers in the hotel suites.
A series of Guest Speakers met with the students over the course of their trip. Each guest shared insight into their own start in the business, development of interests and their current careers. The students were well received by the prominent German banker, Franz Afman, in his home in Cannes. He graciously gave his time, answering questions as well as telling about his own interest in the film industry. "You can not operate in this business unless you have a great affinity for the people" he said, talking about the people who create films. As a financier, one of his favored past projects was his involvement in the production of the film "Baron Von Muchenhausen", based on a children s story. Another guest speaker, Alex Ben Block, met with the students in a lounge of the Majestic hotel. Alex Ben Block, of the Cannes "Hollywood Reporter" magazine shared how he started out with a hobby of clipping and categorizing various articles about the media and film.
Sheltered by canopies, students met on various mornings with other prominent guest speakers under the morning sun by the hotel pool. A wealth of information about the business of film, as well as insight was gained through the generosity and sincerity of speakers such as Krysanne Katsoolis of Fox Lauber Films, Dyanne Fries of Fries Entertainment, Mayra Langdon Riesman of Film Scouts, Michael Hauser of Storm Entertainment, banker Franz Afman from Amsterdam, and Johannes Sclott from Belgium, the Chairman and CEO of Odyssey Pictures as well as the newly appointed director of the Cannes Film Museum.
In addition to frequent daily trips into Cannes, students and faculty visited the city of St. Paul De Vence. This little mountain city allowed no cars or bicycles in it's narrow stone streets. The pink and black mini-bus waited at the bottom of a hill with other tour buses while students made their climb. Later they visited a nearby museum which was also at the top of a mountainous hill. On another trip to Nice, students traveled via train spending a full day visiting two prominent museums that included the works of Chagall and Installation Art, as well as shopping and sightseeing through the city of Nice.
Late afternoons, students and faculty met after independent study, in the lobby of the Majestic Hotel to compare notes and plan later activities. Several students had the opportunity to take side trips to Monaco and Italy was reported to be only five hours away. The students met one Midnight in Cannes at the exclusive Hollywood Reporter Party. Another party several students attended was the famous all star party held every year in the Castle in Mandelieu. Ten days felt like thirty days away from home. Each and every day was filled with excitement and adventure. Lectures, classes, trips, museums, luncheons, dinners, guest speakers, daily networking in Cannes, attending symposiums, viewing film premieres and attending parties made each day a very full one. While the beach was constantly there to enjoy, there was little or no time to enjoy it. U.S. dollars and French Francs traded at around a 1:6 ratio. In Cannes and Nice, a little cash went a long way. ATM machines in Nice provided more than eight local denominations such as Italian Lire, German Marks or French Francs.
The last evening in Cannes, the students and faculty members enjoyed a seven course seafood dinner. Overall the Cannes trip was more than had been expected. The accommodations, activities, services, and amenities were superb. The next trip to The 52nd Annual Cannes Film Festival, will hopefully be made open for other community members as well as MBA in Media Management students to be able to attend. I hope to be able to make the trip again. It will no doubt be different from my first trip to Cannes yet familiar and full of new information, and contacts. At the conclusion of his lecture, Johannes Schlott when asked for advice said that people should first dream their life and then go out and live their dream. Professor Greenwald pointed out how Dr. Ran-Moseley had dreamed of developing the MBA in Media Management program and was now living her dream. In fact each of us were living our own dreams by planning, producing and marketing each of our own individual ideas through her dream of an MBA in Media Management degree program, that was made into a reality.
