Hopkins in Hollywood

A group of Johns Hopkins undergraduate film students now gets a firsthand glimpse of the entertainment industry, as Southern California–based alumni gather annually to talk about Hollywood.

The Hopkins in Hollywood panel currently takes place during an annual weeklong Intersession course in Los Angeles, which gives roughly a dozen students a behind-the-scenes look at the film and TV business. The course includes set visits as well as hours of planned networking with JHU alums and the panel at CBS Studio Center, which has attracted a rotating cast of screenwriters, producers, agents, and executives.

Luke Kelly-Clyne, A&S '10, who created the panel about five years ago, said the aim is to let students interested in media and entertainment know there are many Hopkins graduates who have blazed the trail. His own trajectory serves as somewhat of an inspiration.

Kelly-Clyne started at Morgan Stanley but began performing comedy around New York City, writing humor for publications including McSweeney's, and taking classes at Upright Citizens Brigade to form a portfolio of comedic work that brought him to College Humor. He eventually relocated to LA and took over production company Big Breakfast before co-founding independent studio Hartbeat Independent.

"My trajectory was rooted in this knowledge that even if I failed, I wanted to fail at doing the thing I was really passionate about," he said. "What I try to communicate to students through Hopkins in Hollywood and a course I teach called Demystifying the Entertainment Business is that sometimes you'll fail, and even if you do, you'll be OK—there's a second act," he continued.

Kelly-Clyne moderated the event by asking questions to featured panelists related to their career trajectories and aspirations. As in years past, students were engrossed in the discussion and ended with lively queries of their own.