From Happy Valley to Hollywood

The thing about trying to get in touch with Penn Staters who are successful in Hollywood is – well, they’re successful in Hollywood. Some were tied up in script meetings, finalizing the films we’ll see on TV or in theaters next year. One was on set in another country with big-name stars; executive assistants got involved to schedule calls. Another was coordinating the unveiling of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

But, no surprise, they all made time to talk.

“There are only two things I would say in my Oscar speech related to outside family,” said Bradley Gallo (’99 Lib), who’s the president of film and TV at Amasia Entertainment. “One of them would be this camp I went to in New Hampshire, which I actually made my first movie about. And the other would be Penn State.”

Alumni of the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications have achieved success in virtually every facet of the entertainment industry: There are Nittany Lion videographers, editors, producers, directors, animators and publicists, and that’s just half of it. Most agree that making it in Hollywood is a combination of an unwavering work ethic, smart connections and a flexible, positive attitude; a little good luck never hurt anyone, either. And all cite their time in State College as a foundation they continue to rely on today.

‘You have to create your own big break’

Terry City (’97 Telecomm) remembers arriving in Los Angeles and driving around and around, in awe of his new home. Palm trees, beaches, opulent homes and, oh, there’s the set where his favorite movie was filmed. There’s Universal. There’s Paramount. “I remember just going, ‘I want a piece of this,’” he said. “I think when you’re here, you feel it. You can taste it. Everybody is here to pursue a dream.”

After graduating with a telecommunications degree, City knew he wanted to be in Los Angeles but was less sure how to get there. He spent a few years working at Anheuser-Busch in South Florida and assumed his career was going to go the marketing route, until a colleague introduced him to the wonders of L.A.

After arriving in California, City cycled through various jobs, including as a regional sales manager for the “entertainment bible” Variety. There, he was immersed in the behind-the-scenes of how Hollywood works: You name an A-lister; City was in a room with him, he recalls, rattling off names like Robert De Niro, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. “And I got the bug that I wanted to do this, too,” he said. “I want to produce! I have ideas, just like the next guy.”

So he decided to self-fund a TV pilot called “American Tailgater,” based on his experiences at Penn State’s legendary tailgates. He hired a producer who eventually became his wife – and the two teamed up to create Steel Titan Productions, where they continue to develop and produce TV and film projects. Highlights include an Emmy Award-winning ESPN “30 for 30” film called “Playing for the Mob.”

The idea of a “big break” is often misleading, City said: The public hears about new stars who seemingly came out of nowhere, but “that doesn’t tell you the grind they had to go through to get where they’re at.” Sometimes, he points out, you have to create your own big break. For City – who’s on the advisory board of the Penn State Hollywood Program – it was starting his own production company.

You have to be tough. There’s some resilience that goes along with making the move here

Terry City

More than a decade after those first days when he marveled at his new home, he’s still smitten with Los Angeles. There’s no denying it’s overwhelming, he admits – it’s a huge, sprawling metropolis. But it’s also “super, super inspiring.” “You have to be tough – there’s some resilience that goes along with making the move here,” City said. “But this city definitely gives you enough to tease you to keep at it.”

‘Women are busting down barriers’

On a recent Friday, Marguerite Henry (’00 Film) worked late into the evening, finalizing the script on the first feature film she’s directing. The following week, she and her team would start principal production. “I’m just so excited,” she squealed.

If Los Angeles is a city of dreams, Henry is a lesson in the scrappiness it takes to achieve them. After graduating with a film-video degree, she headed to Atlanta to become a tour guide at CNN. But 9/11 happened just ahead of her start date, and tours were halted, which meant she was jobless in a new city. Fast-forward to a string of gigs she found online and through networking: working as a script supervisor on an indie film and as a production assistant with Georgia Public Broadcasting, for example.

After a stint assisting David Copperfield on his live show in Las Vegas, Henry returned to Philadelphia, moved in with her parents and started waitressing at an Outback Steakhouse. It was like starting over – and it didn’t feel good.

So she made a CD of songs that mentioned California, because she knew she wanted to move to LA, and listened to it every day – until it manifested. A contact from one of the Atlanta gigs called and said he had a job for her as a production assistant on “The Sharon Osbourne Show,” if she could be there in five days.

Since then, “one job has led to another,” Henry said – often the result of “making yourself invaluable.” After being promoted to audience coordinator on Osbourne’s show, she worked as a freelance producer on a variety of unscripted shows, including “Criss Angel Mindfreak” and “Ghost Hunters.” During a one-off working on an independent feature film, she met a woman whose company, Mar Vista Entertainment, had openings. Henry interviewed and joined the company in 2015, ultimately becoming its vice president of production and development. During her time there, she made more than 40 films for channels such as Lifetime and Hallmark.

In March, Henry left Mar Vista to start her own company, Ray of Light Entertainment. She’s already executive produced a Christmas movie for the Hallmark Channel that aired this season, and now, of course, she’s directing the feature film – a thriller – that she also co-wrote. It’s a lifelong dream come to fruition. Life in Hollywood isn’t a fairytale, she stressed; it can be cutthroat, lonely and expensive, and often requires getting a roommate – or 10.

But “I really love what I do,” she said. “It’s a good time (to be in the industry) – women are trying really hard to bust down barriers, and I can only hope I continue to do that and make bigger movies and just keep growing.”

‘There isn’t an average day’

In late October, Krista Ostensen Osche (’00 Telecomm) was totally booked. She’s the executive director of communications for “Wheel of Fortune” at Sony Pictures Television, and she was coordinating the unveiling of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and subsequent celebration. Plus, “Wheel of Fortune” was giving away a home to a lucky viewer.

“It was incredible,” she said days later, still brimming with the energy of the job she’s been in for a decade. “What we do is fun. It’s all positive – people can win life-changing amounts of money.”

There’s no such thing as an average day at “Wheel of Fortune,” Ostensen Osche said. She oversees all press and publicity for the popular game show, which includes handling interview requests; writing press materials; assisting talent with, say, social media or photo shoots; booking celebrity appearances; and cultivating relationships with bookers, producers and journalists – plus much more. Ostensen Osche also creates publicity opportunities; if a “Wheel of Fortune” moment goes viral, she was probably behind it.

“We never know when a contestant will go viral,” she said. “Sometimes we kind of help a situation go viral.”

Ostensen Osche had been angling for a career in the entertainment industry since high school. She kept her focus broad at Penn State and initially thought she was on a production career path. But once she moved to Los Angeles, she started taking temp jobs, landed in PR and “fell in love with it,” she recalled.

Many people in entertainment PR work on multiple shows, and Ostensen Osche said she enjoys getting to focus on just one. “I work hard, I’m present and I have a passion for this,” she said. “A lot of people I work with have a passion for it, too. We really love what we do, and that helps a lot.”

‘Some of us live for it’

In early November, Bradley Gallo, the grad who would shout-out Penn State in his Oscar speech, had just returned home from six weeks in Ireland. He oversaw the filming of “Wild Mountain Thyme,” which stars Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Christopher Walken and Jon Hamm. The movie will release sometime around September of next year, he said, and “has award season written all over it.”

A day after an 11-hour flight, plus the arrival of daylight saving time and a change in time zones, one might have expected Gallo to sound drowsy, or like he had better things to do (sleep) than recount the experience for a fellow alum. But his energy and passion for his work were obvious immediately. “It was kind of amazing,” he said. “The production process is intense, but some of us live for it.”

Movies and TV shows start and end with the producer – work Gallo has been doing for two decades. In his role as president of Amasia Entertainment, the company he co-founded in 2012, Gallo oversees development and production of all film and TV projects. “We’re out there looking for scripts, then we find one and get excited,” he said. Next, he and his team prepare the budget, assemble a cast and crew, scout locations and schedule shooting. “And then eventually, you’re there and directing during the shooting period.”

Days on set are anywhere from 14 to 18 hours long. Everyone goes to bed exhausted – but waking up early the next morning is non-negotiable. Following filming, producers head into around nine months of post-production, an exacting process that turns raw footage into what the rest of us see on the big screen.

There’s no one route to success in Hollywood, Gallo said, describing his path as “a weird zig-zaggy thing.” He wrote his first screenplay when he was 20 years old, and then spent a number of years producing – largely in the reality TV world – before getting a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in 2010.

If you’re a Penn Stater and you’re moving to Hollywood, there’s a support system there for you. You just have to reach out.

Bradley Gallo

But films continued to call to him, so in 2011, he joined Troika Pictures, where he made films like “Careful What You Wish For” with Nick Jonas and “The Call” with Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin. Then he departed to launch Amasia, where the films he’s proudest of include “Them That Follow” with Olivia Colman and “Mr. Right” with Anna Kendrick.

Persistence and tenacity have been key to his career success, Gallo said: “You stay around long enough to where they have to let you in.”

He’s on the advisory board for the Penn State Hollywood Program, and every year, his company enlists numerous Nittany Lion interns. “If you’re a Penn Stater and you’re moving to Hollywood, there’s a support system there for you,” he said. “You just have to reach out.”

‘It’s really DIY’

Anthony Layser (‘01 Film) is the vice president of content partnerships and programming at XUMO, a streaming platform – which means he’s found success in a role that didn’t exist when he graduated with a degree in film-video. At the time, streaming services were in a nascent stage; Layser is one of a number of Penn State grads who have become leaders in tech and media fields that weren’t established when they began their professional careers.

That speaks to a flexibility that can serve those in Hollywood well as the industry evolves.

“There’s a lot of talk about what you can do to ‘break into the industry,’ and I’m making finger quotes right now,” Layser said. “The bottom line is, a lot of the time, it’s really DIY.”

During his time at Penn State, Layser wrote for The Daily Collegian; he also credits producing a documentary with now-retired professor Barbara Bird as a major influence on his future career.

Post-graduation, Layser spent six years as a writer for TV Guide. At that point, none of his colleagues cared about the magazine’s website, he said; they were focused on the print product. Soon, the staff knew to “just delegate (web tasks) to Tony,” which allowed him to become intimately familiar with what types of content got clicks and what drove user engagement.

Eventually, Layser joined AOL, where he developed and oversaw original video content, including flagship series like “You’ve Got.” That allowed him to pivot into video strategy, a role that directly led to his next move: overseeing U.S. strategy with a company called dailymotion.

Then, in 2017, he joined XUMO, where he does business development with entertainment and media companies to bring TV and movie titles to the streaming platform.

Over the past year, Layser has been particularly proud of the movie catalog he’s built at XUMO. The company made a deal with Paramount, for example, the result of eight months of work. He also enjoys examining movie and TV catalogs to identify overlooked gems that could be used to create rich channels. Earlier this year, he collaborated with America’s Test Kitchen to make a 24-hour channel that consists of the popular cooking show’s universe of episodes.

“It took off right away,” he said. “It’s fun and exciting to look for those types of catalogs and figure out how to package them.”

‘They want you to start tomorrow’

Life in Hollywood can be glamorous – and relentless. David Coppola (’01 Telecomm) is a freelance video editor who currently works on MTV’s “The Jersey Shore” and has a long resume, with credits including “The Voice,” “America’s Got Talent,” “Dancing With the Stars” and “The X Factor.”

After graduating with a telecommunications degree, Coppola figured he might go into radio; he’d worked at a State College station. But he’d also enjoyed the end-of-season video editing he’d done during his time in the Blue Band. So he sold his tuba to make some quick money and, one week after graduation, moved to Los Angeles, sleeping on a couch in a house with three other Penn Staters.

One roommate hooked him up with an editing job on “The Apprentice,” which Coppola ultimately worked on for seven seasons – the start of what’s become a long career in the reality TV world. Location-wise, he wouldn’t have been able to make a go of it from anywhere else and stresses the importance of being in L.A. before starting to look for work: “They want you to start tomorrow,” he said.

Being freelance means a lot of moving from job to job, and having to constantly think ahead and be proactive: If Coppola knows he’s going to be free in January, he has to start asking around about upcoming positions months earlier. Some people work on one big show and then take four months off, but he prefers to keep steady work.

Speaking of which: Unscripted TV generally equates to an intense workload. Coppola recalls working 100 hours a week from May until Christmas on “The X Factor,” and he missed his daughter’s birthday two years in a row due to “Dancing With the Stars.” Think about it: If a live crew is filming in New York during the week, the footage might not make it to Coppola until Saturday, ahead of a Monday airing. “Edit is where it all ends,” he said. “We’re the people who actually make the show, so we’re here until it’s done.”

Those who achieve success in Hollywood experience a payoff that’s worth it – but it’s smart to be realistic, too. “It’s definitely not like, ‘OK, I’m gonna line up this 9 to 5 job I’m going to have for the next 30 years, and it’s gonna have a 401K and all that stuff,’” Coppola said. “It’s more, come out here and work your butt off, and you have to do everything for yourself."

‘Be willing to be a student’

Caleb Yoder (’16 Film) always knew he wanted to work in the entertainment industry, probably doing something with animation – but his exact plan shifted a few times. That’s where the importance of internships came in.

The summer after his sophomore year of college, Yoder, who studied interdisciplinary digital studio with a concurrent major in film-video, was a production intern at C-Net in State College. “It wasn’t the most exhilarating work, setting up for those government meetings, but it let me put ‘videography internship’ on my resume,” he said.

That set him up for another internship, the summer after his junior year, with DreamWorks Animation in Los Angeles. He filmed and edited in-house events and classes for the education department – and after graduation, returned to the company as a videographer. Having a job lined up before he made the cross-country move was huge, he recalled.

During three and a half years at DreamWorks, Yoder jumped around, ultimately moving into a role as an assistant animatic editor. Animatics, he explained, are similar to storyboards and used to time out things like music and dialogue before an episode is animated. That experience led to his current role as an assistant editor at Bento Box Entertainment, a company he joined in May.

Yoder said he’s having fun and enjoying Hollywood. Networking has been helpful as he’s established his career – though that’s not exactly the right word for it. What you’re really trying to do, Yoder said, is make friends. A good attitude, especially at the lower levels of the ladder, is also crucial.

“Just being willing to be a student, even though you’re out of college, and learn, is pretty important,” he said. Moving to California immediately after graduation can be difficult, especially given that the city isn’t cheap. He urges anyone considering it to make sure they’re financially prepared before jumping in prematurely.

Once you’re there, it’s a grind, for sure. It may never be easy. But as Yoder put it, and the others agreed: “It’s worth it.”

Angela Haupt

'09 Journ

Managing editor, Health: U.S. News & World Report; features contributor: The Washington Post

@angelahaupt