After 27 years in the entertainment business Warner Bros. executive Ron Sanders’ best advice to students was to find something you love to do.
Sanders, president worldwide theatrical distribution and global home entertainment for Warner Bros., visited his alma mater Auburn Monday along with the cast of “Life of the Party” for the premiere.
He is an active alumnus of Auburn University. He is involved with the College of Business and comes back to Auburn at least once a year for a meeting and a football game.
“I get a lot out of it,” Sanders said. “There were a number of years when I was out of school when I wasn’t involved at Auburn at all. I’ve gotten so much out of reconnecting and re-engaging with folks, wither that I knew at the time or that are currently at the school.”
Sanders recent visit wasn’t just a chance for him to come back to the campus he once called home, but a chance to show off the school to the executives and stars from the film, Sanders said.
During his visit Sanders spoke with business students and answered any questions they had about the entertainment business.
“Do something you really like doing, something you’re passionate about,” Sanders said. “Business can get boring, hard and a lot of mundane activities. But if you’re at least in an area that you have some interest in, then it kind of makes it goes fast.”
He also told students to be open to an and all opportunities because you never know where they will lead.
One of the opportunities Sanders is grateful for that he never thought he would enjoy was his abroad experience. He lived in London for 4 years, something he never imagined he would do.
“That was a fantastic experience,” Sanders said. “That’s why I support the study abroad program… just to get a perspective on different cultures, different ways of doing business.”
Many of the students that attended Sanders discussion were students looking for a job in the entertainment industry after graduation.
Mary Margaret Turton, junior in business analytics, wanted to know how to even begin getting involved in such a closed-off industry.
“I think if you can build a narrative where you’ve shown interest in the industry over time, it just shows an interest in the industry,” Sanders said.
Networking was another suggestion Sanders had for students that want to get involved in the entertainment industry. He also advised students that networking works whenever you are job searching.
Sanders also told students looking for a job in the entertainment industry that working in a job that doesn’t pay the salary you may want or isn’t in the exact position you may want.
“It allows you to get your foot in the industry,” Sanders said. “Once you’re in it’s much easier to get on with a bigger studio, but sometimes you have to start small.”
In order to network, Sanders advised that one of the best ways to do that while still in college is to obtain an internship with a company involved in the entertainment industry.
Sanders final advice for the eager student attendees was to behave as if you have the job two positions above you, that’s how you’ll get to the job you want.
“I’ve always believed in, if I have somebody who is exceeding my expectations, a great employee that gets along with people, is seen as a leader, does things above and beyond what’s expected because they are acting like a boss instead of an employee, then I’m going to start thinking about them as a boss,” Sanders said.
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