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Saturday Night Live Case Study Elena G. Simon (860)-918-6469 [email protected] i) Night Live ii) Nature of the work: Live Sketch-Comedy Series (1) A live late-night show featuring , a new guest star host each week and a guest artist/band. The television series has also produced movies based on reoccurring characters that originated on the show. (2) Up-and-coming comedians (stand-up, sketch and improve) are featured as weekly players on the show. Many of these players also write for the show. Throughout the show’s 35-year run, many of these comedians got their start on and have had long, successful careers in part due to their weekly exposure on the show and some of the SNL (Dan Aykryod, , , , , , Christopher Guest, , etc.)

The guest performers benefit from the exposure by hosting the show to promote their new or . iii) Sample Projects & Clients (1) : The Lonely Island is a comedy troupe consisting of , and , best known for their musical parodies. SNL producer discovered the troupe and they began writing for “SNL Digital Shorts” featured as pre-recorded comedy segments or musical parodies on the show weekly. Regular exposure on Saturday Night Live led to much success, including an Emmy award for “” (featuring ). Many of these videos included collaborations with a popular actor or recording artist, usually the host or for that week. MacGruber: The Lonely Island also created the reoccurring sketch “MacGruber” (based on the show 1980s MacGyver). The sketch is currently being released as a feature film set to hits theaters this May. Saturday Night Live, as mentioned before,has spawned many hit comedy films based off of sketches and characters that originated on the show. : Also a Lorne Michaels affiliate production, SNL’s writer Tina Fey launched her own show (30 Rock) based on her experience as a writer at SNL. (2) Clients are the comedians and writers who are featured players on the shows. Their weekly exposure on a major national network allows their work to be seen by viewers at home and online. This is excellent promotion for the talents and many have achieved ongoing success in their career from getting their start Saturday Night Live. iv) Size & ownership (1) Saturday NIght LIve is part of the NBC Universal Entertainment network. It is not specifically stated how many people work for the NBC Television division however there are specific departments. (2) NBC Group is broken down into divisions: NBC Television Network, NBC Local Media Division, Telemundo Network & Stations, NBC Entertainment, NBC News, NBC Universal Sports and Olympics, NBC Television Networks Distribution, NBC Universal Digital Distribution, Bravo, Chiller, CNBC, CNBC World, ION Media Networks, MSNBC, mun2, About Oxygen Media, Sleuth, (formerly Sci-Fi), Universal HD, USA Network, The Weather Channel Properties, International Channels, Universal Media Studios, Universal Cable Productions, NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution, and NBC Universal International Television. Distribution http://www.nbcuni.com/About_NBC_Universal/Company_Overview/ NBC_Universal_Television_Group.shtml (3) v) Producer Ladder & number of positions Executive producer: Lorne Michaels Produced by: Director: Supervising producer: Ken Aymong Producers: , Michael Shoemaker Head Writer: Writers: Doug Abeles, , Alex Baze, Jessica Conrad, James Downey, Steve Higgins, , Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, , Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, John , , , Marika Sawyer, Akiva Schaffer, John Solomon, , Kent Sublette, Jorma Taccone, Bryan Tucker Writing Supervised by: Paula Pell Film producer: James Signorelli Musical directors: , , Katreese Barnes Musicians: The Production designers: Eugene Lee, Akira Yoshimura, Keith Ian Raywood Costume designer: Tom Broecker Announcer: Production: Produced by SNL Studios in association with Origination: NBC in http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/about/ vi) Hiring Practices NBC offers a full range of opportunities at NBC Universal from Corporate functions in Finance, Human Resources, and Information Technology to Theme Parks, Motion Pictures, and Television operations. Many of these new hires (talent and writers) are discovered through the comedy scene in major cities (NY, LA, etc.) Other positions are found through advertising listings for interns, PAs, office and administrative assistants, finance managers as well as other positions. These job listings can be found on the NBC Universal website.

The producer hires the talent and writers. Depending upon the job, each position is to be filled with an applicant of certain requirements and experience. Talent and writers are discovered or met through connections. You may not submit any kind of audition material to their office. SNL sends scouts to various clubs and venues throughout the country. If they find someone of interest, they set up an official audition through the talent’s agent.

NBC Universal receives hundreds of resumes on a daily basis. Unfortunately, they are unable to respond to everyone that applies. They wish to pursue your candidacy, they will be in contact with you. vii) Skills/Experience being sought NBC and Saturday Night Live are looking for comedic and musical talent as well as production skills in lights, sound, cameras, editing. Promotional, marketing and administrative experience is also being sought after for positions. viii) Compensation All positions have a wide range of compensation as well as requirements. For more information on hiring practices and job opportunities, the NBC Universal site has a page dedicated to finding a successful career at NBC. http://www.nbcunicareers.com/ ix) Available Info Information can be found on the NBC Universal website as well as the Saturday Night Live main page. http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/about Sample reels can be found on www..com and DVDs can be purchased at the NBC online store http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com and on Amazon.com featuring “best of”, Season DVDs and tribute compilations. x) Summary assessment (your personal judgment of opportunities in this place) NBC Universal and Saturday Night LIve are difficult to obtain positions in but not impossible. Internships are always available for college credit. Jobs can be found on Media Bistro, Mandy.com, Craigslist and other job listing sites. There are also the East and West Coast page programs (although no directly related to SNL) where many famous professionals have got their start in the entertainment business.

“In an industry where change is the only constant, it is refreshing to know there are a few things that have remained the same. Starting in 1933 and continuing to the present, the NBC Universal Page Program has had a long history of success. We are extremely proud of those who took advantage of the opportunity given to them as Pages and went on to make their mark in broadcast history. , Ted Koppel, Willard Scott, Eva Marie Saint, Regis Philbin, Michael Eisner, Steve Allen, , are among those in the entertainment industry who have utilized the Page Program as a training ground to showcase their talents and build distinguished careers.” - http:// www.nbcunicareers.com/earlycareerprograms/pageprogrameast.shtml

Who to contact for internships: Send a cover letter and resume to:

NBC, Attention: Saturday Night Live Internships, , , NY 10112.