Media Services, one of the entertainment industry’s leading accounting, payroll, and software providers, has established a $100,000 endowment to support the graduate program in producing at New York University’s (NYU) Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts.
Media Services announced the endowment to more than 200 guests attending a recent event at Showbiz Store & Café, Media Services’ retail and production resource center on W. 21st Street in the heart of Manhattan’s commercial, television, and film production district.
“We are committed to supporting the entertainment industry and are excited this endowment will be a permanent source of funding to help emerging talent with their formal training,” said Media Services’ CEO Greg Pickert during a brief presentation at the annual event. “We regard NYU as one of this nation’s top film schools and we are thrilled to partner with such a reputable institution.”
Among the guests attending from the Tisch School was John Tintori, chair of the Graduate Film Division in the Kanbar Institute of Film & Television. “We want to thank Media Services for its extraordinarily generous grant, which will help more students pursue careers in producing,” said Tintori. “I cannot express how much this means to us and our students.”
The endowment, named “The Robert Oberman, Greg Pickert, Media Services Graduate Film Production Fund,” is earmarked for students in the Dual MBA/MFA Degree Program in Producing. This new program, a partnership between NYU’s Stern School of Business and Kanbar Institute of Film & Television at the Tisch School of the Arts, is designed to bridge the gap between the “creatives” and the “suits.”
“We are in the business of entertainment, the financial side of film, television, commercials, theater and live events,” Pickert continued. “The producing program is a good fit for our endowment since it brings together the business and creative aspects of the industry, and cultivates highly employable individuals for the markets we serve, mainly independent production companies and film and television studios and networks.”
“The way films are being made, financed, and distributed is changing, and we think it is incumbent upon us to anticipate the future and develop the educational tools necessary for the next generation of producers to meet the demands of the entertainment industry,” added Tintori. “Our program will equip aspiring film producers and studio executives with the knowledge to better navigate the fast-changing landscape of financing and filmmaking today.”
About Media Services and Showbiz Store & Cafe
Established in 1978, Media Services is one of the entertainment industry’s leading accounting, payroll, crew booking, and software companies, serving feature, television, commercial, corporate and Internet productions world-wide as well as music video and residual clients. Media Services is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in New York and Boston. The company is committed to driving the industry through constant innovation by offering best-in-class software solutions through its product division, Showbiz Software. In addition to its proprietary production accounting, payroll, budgeting, scheduling and time management software, the company offers a wide range of other entertainment industry software, books, tapes, and supplies through its Showbiz Store & Cafe in West Los Angeles and New York as well as its online store at www.showbizsoftware.com.
