With the first project he’s worked on during his professional career about to come to fruition, one recent Penn State alumnus credits hands-on experience he gained at the University for putting him in a position to succeed.
Elan Fingles earned his advertising/public relations degree in 2018 and headed to Hollywood after graduation to start a job with Jesse Murphy & James Sears Bryant’s company, Jesse James Films. As an undergraduate Fingles had been selected for the Penn State Hollywood Program, which solidified his eventual career path.
He completed two internships — one at Grandview/Automatik, a talent and literary management and production company, and one with Wayans Alvarez Productions, the production company run by actor Marlon Wayans. He embraced the high-energy entertainment world and planned to return, doing so a week after walking across the stage during commencement exercises at the Bryce Jordan Center. Connections he made during his internships helped lead to his first job.
“I don’t want to sound cliché when saying that the Hollywood Program was life-changing, but I’d simply be lying if I said it wasn’t,” Fingles said. “Without the opportunity to come out to L.A. for a semester, not only would I not have had access to jobs in entertainment — I wouldn’t have even known they existed.”