Bruin Leadership & Entrepreneurship Entertainment Academy

Learn how budding leaders take their skills to the next level to stand out among the crowd. The Bruin Leadership Academy takes elements from UCLA’s nationally renowned, campus-sponsored program, the Bruin Leaders Project, to explore what makes a successful leader. Drawing from the Social Change Model of Leadership which promotes self-awareness, interests, talents and values, students will learn to view leadership as a process rather than a position.

Our Entertainment Academy examines how industry elites have shaped the role that entertainment and media play in our society. This course will explore how media moguls like Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner built their media empires and why Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos purchased the Washington Post. Students will also learn about how the entertainment industry makes decisions on topics like casting and representation of cultural heritage on screen; highlighting how the portrayal of difficult political or social realities can shape society and how industry leaders must balance the line between making decisions for social reasons and the need to drive profits.

This course will also examine the role of social media in today's entertainment industry, examining different social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch and YouTube, to see how people are able to develop content that makes them relevant. Students will explore how today’s internet personalities created and maintained their brands as they rose to prominence and track those individuals’ impacts on society. This academy will examine the successes, failures and scandals that have followed many social media stars while looking at the different metrics and strategies used to navigate this rapidly changing medium.

Learning Outcomes

• Apply the Social Change Model of Leadership to develop personal leadership strategies and self-awareness.
• Analyze how key media leaders built and transformed their organizations through strategic decision-making.
• Evaluate how entertainment industry leaders balance social impact with business profitability.
• Assess the influence of media representation and casting decisions on cultural narratives.
• Connect leadership theory to practical challenges in media organization management.

Information is subject to change as instructors finalize course content and syllabi.