O.U.Z. holds Media Symposium

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Ohio University Zanesville held a media symposium this week so local students who are interested can learn about the business.

O.U.Z. invited David Phillippi the Assistant Director of the movie Seabiscuit, Ryan Bradford WHIZ Production Manager, and Big Ten Network Producer Erica Wohlreich to speak about their experiences and to give advice on how the students can find a career in media.

Photo By: Quay DeVoll

“Now looking back and thinking ‘I started off right here in the same shoes as these students and I always knew that I wanted to be behind the camera,’ but the steps I had to take and the people I had met along the way,” Wohlreich said. “That’s how I really got to where I am today.”

Each speaker shared their journey in the business and gave advice on what it took to achieve their goals. Phillippi in particular shared three core principles to succeeding.

“One was passion and that goes with your attitude of just finding something you love and going for it,” Phillippi said. “The next thing was education, be an expert and whatever your passionate about be an expert and the third was networking. Go to events like this, meet people who are doing the job that you want to do someday.”

O.U.Z. is having the media students learn hands on throughout their schooling. Wohlreich and Phillippi both recommended working hard and networking with professionals. For they both got to where they are today, because they did so themselves.

“We all know in the TV world, you got to start somewhere and it’s just so cool to see at this campus how creative they’re being in the outreach to the students,” Wohlreich said. “To show them that anything is possible and if you set your mind to it in being into production and doing something in TV. Then there is no reason you can’t.”

“So I grew up in a really small town, came to O.U.Z. and just loved the course work and the classes were small so we got our hands on the equipment right away,” Phillippi said. “Really what I got most out of this school is confidence and understood how to work with others on how to do a successful production.”

Students from O.U.Z., Morgan High School, and Mid-East Career and Technology Centers attended the Media Symposium and were able to engage in a panel discussion with the speakers following their presentations.