Industry Conversations

Conversations hosted by CMU faculty between Industry Professionals and 2020 graduates on a wide variety of timely topics

New Graduates

Welcome to the Conversation!

Join any conversation you’d like.

Move from conversation to conversation at your convenience.

The host and facilitator will help guide the interaction, so please feel free to ask questions and follow their guidance.

Directions

How Does This Work?

To join a conversation, simply click the "Join This Conversation" button and a live Zoom webinar will open in a new window. To leave a conversation, simply click the "Leave Meeting" button in your webinar window

Do you have a question? Click the "Q&A" button and type in your question.

Abundance From Adversity

Abundance from Adversity

Join this discussion about the changing nature of our art forms both in terms of the social contract, the community dynamic and the empowerment of the artistic voice to drive change in the industry.

Kim Weild
Faculty Host

Kim Weild
Option Head

Associate Professor, The John Wells Directing Program | Kim's Bio

Amy Nichols
Faculty Host

Amy Nichols

Director of Student Services, Assistant Head | Amy's Bio

Commercial

Commercial Ventures

From Broadway to Las Vegas; cruise ships to national tours, this discussion focuses on art for the masses, entertainment for its own sake and the joy of spectacle!

Rob Thomson
Faculty Host

Rob Thomson

Associate Professor, Lighting Design | Rob's Bio

Rick Edinger
Faculty Host

Rick Edinger

Associate Teaching Professor Music Theater
| Rick's Bio

Fot The Camera

Work For the Camera

If cameras and life captured through a lens, in frames, is important to your storytelling process and the way you think as a creative individual, and you are driven by how to craft a world controlled through this art form, engage with others here!

Wendy Arons
Faculty Host

Wendy Arons
Option Head

Professor, Dramatic Literature | Wendy's Bio

Andrew Smith
Faculty Host

Andrew Smith

Assistant Professor, Acting
| Andrew's Bio

Adjacent Opportunity

Adjacent Opportunity

Are you interested in alternative paths that individuals with dramatic arts backgrounds have forged and the utility they have found in their training within diverse fields? Add your voice to this discussion!

Lisa Velten Smith
Faculty Host

Lisa Velten-Smith

Assistant Professor of Voice | Lisa's Bio

Mindy Eschelman
Faculty Host

Mindy Eshelman

Associate Professor of Costume Design | Mindy's Bio

Themed Entertainment

Themed Entertainment

This room will facilitate dialogue amongst those creators, designers, developers and producers of work centering around an iconic character, a beloved topic or shared societal zeitgeist.

Dick Block
Faculty Host

Dick Block
Assoc. Head

Teaching Professor, Design | Dick's Bio

Hugh Hanson
Faculty Host

Hugh Hanson

Associate Teaching Professor, Costume Production | Hugh's Bio

Community Focus

Community Focus

Do your passions lay in arts education? Community outreach? Theatre for young audiences? Cause driven work or other community focused endeavors? Your voice is important in this conversation!

Justin Lucero
Faculty Host

Justin Lucero

Assistant Professor, The John Wells Directing Program | Justin's Bio

Mica Harrison
Faculty Host

Mica Harrison

Director of Recruitment & Enrollment | Mica's Bio

Artist Entrepenuer

Artist Entrepreneur

Artists who forge their own creative pathways to tell stories their own way, who put their own work forward where there seems no space, or who want to share their “good idea” with the world come together here in dialogue.

Rob Handel
Faculty Host

Rob Handel
Option Head

Associate Professor, Dramatic Writing | Rob's Bio

Joe Pino
Faculty Host

Joe Pino

Associate Professor,
Sound Design | Joe's Bio

Out Of The Box

Out of the Box

Does your imagination stretch beyond more traditionally defined theatrical experiences and are you interested in forging creative new pathways toward storytelling or audience interaction? Join these like-minded guests!

Sartje Pickett
Faculty Host

Sartje Pickett
Co-Option Head

Associate Professor, Sound Design | Sartje's Bio

Jonathan Vandenberg
Faculty Host

Jonathan Vandenberg

Visiting Professor,
The John Wells Directing Program | Jonathan's Bio

Social Profit

Social Profit

The community in which you thrive is where you want to build a family of simpatico artists who come together to provide a home to critical voices that shape the work and support local values and ideologies.

Megan Monaghan Rivas
Faculty Host

Megan Monaghan Rivas

Associate Professor, Dramaturgy | Megan's Bio

Tina Shackleford
Faculty Host

Tina Shackleford
Option Head

Associate Teaching Professor, Stage Management| Tina's Bio

Connect with our Graduating Students

Schedule One-on-One conversations with students from our Acting/Music Theater, Design, Directing, Dramatic Writing, Dramaturgy, and Production Technology and Management Options. Simply complete our brief “about you” form, select the student or students with whom you wish to meet, and hit "Let's Connect." We will be in touch shortly. That's it ... happy connecting!

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