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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

KCSN Airs Advice for Showbiz Jobs

When tasked with developing content for California State University – Northridge’s public radio station KCSN, Professor Benjamin Davis was overwhelmed with ideas. But one kept coming back to him: A program offering actionable insights about how to succeed in show business, geared toward the ethnic minorities and other populations that had long struggled to break through Hollywood’s gates. “There was this huge storm taking place in my head,” recalled Davis, a former radio and television broadcaster who began his career as a receptionist at NPR. “I thought about all the controversies going on in the entertainment industry – ‘Oscar’s So White,’ among others – and about how hard it is for (minority) students to get into that workforce.” He had noticed that many of the aspiring scriptwriters, producers and composers he spoke with at CSUN were facing the challenging road ahead without the guidance of an industry veteran. While it would be impossible to pair each student with a personal mentor, a radio show featuring guests who had weathered the entertainment world themselves might be an effective way to bridge the gap. “I would ask students if they had any contacts, a mentor, anyone they could look up to who had done this before,” Davis said. “A lot of them would get this blank look on their face – they had no idea what I was talking about.” Thus, “The Hustle” was born. Knowing the show would require a host who had lived the experience of “making it” in Hollywood, Davis enlisted the help of screenwriter and producer Eunetta T. Boone, whose credits include television shows “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and “Roc.” For her first show on Feb. 5, Boone chatted with Hollywood composer Kurt Farquhar who shared wisdom picked up along the course of his career. Later, a music student joined the pair. Boone plans to have a different guest and student on “The Hustle” every week. For Davis, the real potential of the show lies in its ability to offer tips that can diversify the entertainment industry more quickly than Hollywood’s initiatives alone. “It’s one thing to say we’ll have a committee or task force on diversity, but it’s another thing to do something right away that will help fill that diversity pipeline in Hollywood,” he said. – Helen Floersh

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