It’s not easy to start your own business…especially when you are fresh out of school, and still figuring out the ins and outs of adult life. However, Chapman University now has a great new service for Dodge College graduates that will help them get on their feet and start their business in the form of the Entertainment Launch Labs.

Run by the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship, the Entertainment Launch Labs aims to teach entrepreneurship by actually doing the things needed to make a business a success. The dedicated space is for entrepreneur teams to mentor and help student entrepreneurs with the resources they have just for that reason. The Garage, as it is affectionately called, has conference rooms with whiteboards and flat screens, private and shared office space, open collaboration space, and an open and airy atmosphere to help kick start your creativity.

Their goal is to help people get their business plans together and think outside the box to achieve their goals. Need help finding funding? They can help with that. Need legal advice? They have that covered, too. Want some tips from recent grads who are currently making it? It’s all there!

At the start of each semester, and summer session, the Entertainment Launch Labs accept applications for consideration for their program. From there, students will have to pitch their idea in order to get to the next step, where they will have access to all the resources the Launch Labs has to offer. While there are currently only 9 businesses operating out of the Launch Labs, they expect to have 30 by the next semester.

the garage of the launch labs


The Garage



Shan Steinmark, director of the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship, encourages all types of businesses to apply, from animation to aerial photography.

“Everything is a good idea,” said Steinmark.

The Launch Labs has already had successful businesses launched from within their walls. While visiting them on a recent tour, I met Jennifer Re (BFA/Digital Arts ’15), who is part of Well Told Entertainment! Bill Kroyer put Re and her team in contact with Steinmark.

“We met with him, applied for a position in the incubator program, and here we are!” said Re. “The Launch Lab has been such a valuable resource in helping us accelerate our company. They have helped us find office and meeting spaces, assigned us a mentor who currently works in the entertainment industry, given us access to their legal and accounting teams, and provided us with numerous networking opportunities.”

Well Told Entertainment! also includes Sam Warner (BFA/Digital Arts ’15), Matthew Rebong (BFA/Creative Producing ’15), Marcus Meler (BFA/Digital Arts ’15), and Andrew Thompson.

Right now, Re and her team are working primarily on creating content for Augmented reality applications and platforms.

“The project we are working on currently deals with the educational application of storytelling through characters in AR space, and we’ve found that they pair well with one other,” said Re. “We provide programming, modeling, texturing, rigging, and animation services to create this content.”

Overall, the Launch Labs is a fantastic resource for students looking to get into the business world. To find out more information on how to apply, visit the
Launch Lab’s website
. They are also hosting a Spring Mixer and Open House on Wednesday, February 17. More details on that
can be found here.