On October 12, students gathered at OCS to listen to a panel of artists share their personal experiences in their respective creative fields. The panel consisted of a wide range of artists, including Dorothy Aufiero, a film producer at Red Hawk Entertainment; Diane Borger, a producer at the ART Theater in Cambridge; Mark Nolan-Schou, a professional ballet dancer; and Livingston Taylor, a singer/songwriter and professor at the Berklee College of Music.

Many of the panelists brought up their initial uncertainties in career choices: the majority had little idea of what they had wanted to do for a living, but ultimately ended up where they are now through both persistence and trial-and-error. This is certainly the case for Aufiero, who had no idea what career to choose when she was in college: she only knew that she “wanted to get into the entertainment business.” After landing a desk job at Channel 38, she worked her way up through the office until she was working at a higher level and more directly with the television production itself, before quitting that job to work in the movie business. She emphasized that her success in the field came from mostly from personal dedication to any position she held in the office. “As my grandfather says,” she quoted, “You have to put your heart into your job.”

Another panelist, Borger, spoke of her passion for theater and how such a devotion to an art can lead to a career in entertainment. She had “always wanted to work in the theater,” and ultimately ended up as a theater producer. According to her, careers in theater depend heavily on “luck and [having] prepared minds meet opportunity.” Perhaps surprisingly to some students, she advised her audience not to worry about having an undergraduate theater degree, because theater is such a “practical industry” that degrees do not carry much weight. Instead, she urged her audience to focus on doing as “many things as [they] can,” in terms of extracurricular theater activities.

Borger also highlighted one of the pitfalls of the industry – its exclusivity. “The arts is a people industry,” she recognized, “so it really is all about who you know.” While she recognized this characteristic as a negative one, she told her audience it is best to simply embrace the fact, and take advantage of the vast opportunities and connections available at Harvard.

Panelist Nolan-Schou also shared his story of his career in the arts, although his is more unconventional. He started ballet as an accident when he was very young, after his mother signed him up for classes, and after training for his whole childhood he dropped out of high school to train more seriously. As he has dedicated most of his life to dancing, he knows the industry inside and out. “Being a dancer or any kind of performing artist is so physically and mentally demanding,” he pointed out, “because we put blood, sweat, and tears into it. You’re naked to the world when you’re on stage, so it’s hard to keep your emotions out of it.” Aside from these strenuous challenges, Nolan-Schou raised the issue that there is “no money in the arts,” and so his is not a particularly lucrative profession. But why does he continue to dance? “When you’re dancing out there on stage,” Nolan-Schou spilled, “you’re untouchable. And that’s the most incredible feeling anyone can have.”

Working in entertainment is no easy feat, but the personal rewards consistently outweighed the costly prices for each of these panelists. As Aufiero eloquently stated, “Nothing is easy, no matter what career you choose; but if you always believe in yourself you can really do anything.”

—Julia Eger, ‘14