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Article: Dawn Clare, Paramount Executive

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Dawn Clare, Paramount Executive

"It's much more fun than playing with widgets.  I bring entertainment to the world." --Dawn Clare, Director, International Business Development, Worldwide Pay Television Group, Paramount

Harvard Business School Grad Dawn Clare is the Director of International Business Development for the Worldwide Television Group at Paramount.  After graduating from business school, she spent two years as a consultant with Booz-Allen & Hamilton, and joined Paramount's Worldwide TV Group in 1997.  Vault.com asked her to describe her career path, as well as a typical day on the job:

I used my Harvard alumni network to find out about jobs in the entertainment industry.  Through a connection I met with my current boss to have an informational interview.  Coincidentally, a position opened up, and they brought me into the ranks of Paramount.  Now I wake up every morning at 5:30 or 6 a.m. and do exercise and yoga on the beach near my house.  A lot of people here think I work a really long day, but compared to the other MBAs in consulting and banking it's a great life.  I'm sure I make more money, too, when you put it by the hour.

A Day in the Life of Dawn Clare:

8:30a.m.

I usually arrive at my office on the Paramount lot in Hollywood and consult with my palm pilot before putting together a to-do list for the day.  Then I go through publications like Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, and the Wall Street Journal.  I make my first round of international calls to Europe.

10a.m.

I begin evaluating reports on new research territories to enter, as well as new clients and studios to work with.  You can enter a market in a number of ways, so you always have to keep several coals in the fire.  My next round of calls goes out to Latin America.  Often, when I have a quiet day planned, the phone will start ringing in conference call after conference call.

~

12p.m.

Quick lunch before starting in on afternoon conference calls.  I may have to call someone regarding a border operating issue, or regroup on a meeting about how a late breaking industry deal is affecting a deal that we [the TV group at Paramount] made the day before.  That's the nature of entertainment industry-it's dynamic and you have to be able to turn on a dime.  My group takes the strategic approach of what's best for Paramount over all; we determine where to place a product-HBO, Showtime, Basic-and then make the deals to distribute it.  There are two main options to consider in these deals.  We can license a product or make an output deal that pays a company $x for whatever they produce. I almost function as a consultant, in that I am as concerned with the implementation of strategy as I am with making a fast and profitable deal.

2p.m.

After lunch I'll meet with the VP of sales to discuss, for example, what are the perks of a new licensing deal we made with a studio, and how we can design a structure that will get the most value out of the movies that we provide.  About once every two weeks we will have internal meetings to discuss what's on everyone's plate.

3p.m.

Daily meeting with my internal staff-a full time manager and an intern.  This is followed by any number of meetings, mostly with people and companies outside of Paramount. I am in a cross-worlds position.  I have to consider what's going on in the entertainment industry, what's going on with, let's say, the economy of Brazil, and how a long term strategy can grow out of a financial decision that had to be made in a heartbeat.  My group takes the strategic approach of what's best for Paramount overall, and that's the nature of international business.  You have to make decisions that are beneficial in a broad scope and over the long term.

5p.m.

Make whatever necessary calls to Asia, followed by Australia.  Do more research and project follow-up.  I may be called into meetings at this time or I may just use the time to flush out the details of a proposal that will be presented to a pay-TV client the next day.  Beyond the deal-making component of my job, we help manage the financial strategy, business plan and miscellaneous other dimensions.

7:30 or 8p.m.

Quitting time.  Jump into convertible and drive back to my Santa Monica house by the beach.

~

Next Steps

I am fortunate in the sense that I am in International Business Development, working closely with deals and mixing between creative and financial worlds, which is exactly what I wanted to be doing.  I do get calls from Internet entertainment companies from time to time, though I am dubious that this is the best route for me to take.  I struggle with what is the winning piece in that one.  My immediate goal is to levitate myself to the next level at Paramount.  My giant-step goal is to be the head of my own company or studio.

Advice to MBAs

MBAs tend to want the power seat, and if you are an MBA in the entertainment industry, the creatives are driving the bus.  You have to be a very balanced person to achieve a comfortable niche within this.  You're working in an industry that is working from another perspective.  I feel very comfortable walking into a meeting and talking to a film's sound editors and sitting down to crunch numbers.  Hollywood is not the bastioned intellectual environment.  Decisions are made quickly and impulsively. MBAs need to be wary of their own arrogance if they wish to enter the entertainment industry.