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MARIANA:<\/strong> MARIANA:<\/strong> DODGE: What is the best advice you have received and\/or what advice would you give current students?<\/strong><\/em> MARIANA:<\/strong> DODGE: What is your favorite memory from your time at Chapman?<\/strong><\/em> MARIANA:<\/strong> DODGE: What have you taken from the classroom and applied to your career?<\/em><\/strong> MARIANA:<\/strong> Mariana Manela Flynn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":526,"featured_media":8907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"custom_author_name":"","chapman_pin_hero_slider":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,385],"tags":[384,816],"class_list":["post-19906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-alumni-spotlight","tag-alumni-spotlight","tag-mariana-manela-flynn"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n After graduating Chapman University, I spent a good amount of time looking for assistant gigs at film production companies. The market was pretty tight and it was very hard to land a good position. At the time, I had a friend (Chapman Alum, Katie Mohr) who was a production assistant at a small TV production company called A. Smith & Co Productions. They were looking for a receptionist. I wasn’t really looking to work in non-scripted but needed the gig and saw it as a stepping stone while I looked for work in film.
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\nIt was around 2000\/2001 and at the precipice of change for the unscripted world. I loved the pace and energy of the shows, and one thing lead to another I started rising in the ranks at A. Smith & Co. I worked there for 6 years and owe pretty much everything I know about production and post to Arthur Smith’s and Kent Weed’s teachings. Eventually I decided I wanted to explore the network world so I had a broader view of the industry. There was an opportunity at USA and the rest is history. I’ve been a network executive in unscripted for the past 9 years. I had the pleasure of working at USA, SCI FI (now SYFY), TLC, and now Lifetime.
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<\/p>\n![\"marianaflynn\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/dodge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2016\/08\/MarianaFlynn.jpg\")
\nDODGE: What was the biggest adjustment you faced after graduation and how did you overcome it?<\/em><\/strong>
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\n The biggest adjustment is really understanding that just because you have a diploma from a reputable university doesn’t automatically get you a job when you leave the school. I had great internships and few connections, but I was looking in a very small pool of jobs. Shifting my focus to understand that every job is going to lead to another thing, and so on, was really important. And in the end it doesn’t matter where you start, you just have to keep that fire in the belly alive and go after your goals.
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\n Best advice: be the first one in, the last one out, and ALWAYS look for ways to make your boss look good. They will notice. Doors open for people who work hard and work smart. Be proactive. Don’t wait for things to come to you, and finally don’t feel entitled. You have to earn everything you are going to get. That’s the basic rule of this industry.
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\n Crewing up and working with my classmates on film projects. That bond is indescribable and truly it mirrors the experience we have in the real world.
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\n I’ve learned that you truly never stop learning.
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\nThanks, Mariana!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"