Newhouse School of Communications

August 19, 2009

More than two dozen college students set up camp in North Hollywood. Each lands a film industry internship. They take classes at Universal Studios' Hollywood lot. Learning and networking ensue.

Sound like a movie plot? It's not. It's reality for 28 Newhouse School and School of Visual and Performing Arts students this fall. They are members of the inaugural Los Angeles Semester class. The satellite campus program engages students in professional internships, specialized course work and regular interactions with industry leaders.

The fall semester students-all juniors-are housed together in an apartment complex in the Toluca Lake district of North Hollywood. The group are Newhouse Television-Radio-Film majors and students enrolled in VPA's Bandier Program for Music and the Entertainment Industries

Their LA Semester is built around a 20-hour-per-week internship matched to each student's interests and abilities. Internships span a range of disciplines, including animation, music, digital media, casting, editing, film and television development and production, pre- and post-production, and marketing and distribution.

In addition, LA Semester students attend classes in their respective majors convened at their living space and at Universal Studios. To complete their course load, they are taking a variety of online courses offered by SU's College of Arts and Sciences.

The program was shaped jointly by SU faculty and a distinguished group of Southern California alumni.

Spearheading the program are campus founders Aaron Sorkin '83, multi-award- winning writer/producer and creator of NBC's "The West Wing"; Rob Light '78, managing partner and head of music at Creative Artists Agency (CAA); Brian Frons '78, president, Daytime, Disney-ABC Television Group; and Larry Barron '87, senior vice president of programming, FremantleMedia North America.

SU's LA Semester program is directed by accomplished television and film producer Andrea Asimow.

"Having worked in Hollywood for over 25 years, I am thrilled to be part of this effort to bring Syracuse University to Los Angeles so that students who wish to pursue careers in the entertainment industry can benefit from studying with and working for the many outstanding professionals who will be participating in this endeavor," says Asimow.


Additional information on SU's LA campus and the initial semester program is available at http://LASemester.syr.edu.

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