Schulich Mini-MBA:
Media Mastery in the Digital Age

Discover a comprehensive strategic planning process that starts with setting the vision and ends with monitoring and evaluation. 

Learn to apply the strategic management process to analyze a business and make key decisions. 

Explore the evolving dynamic between creators and audiences and understand how to harness the wisdom of your audience. This session delves into the transformative shift from a gatekeeper-centric model to a democratized approach in content creation and distribution. Participants will explore the significance of understanding micro-communities and their profound impact on content. The course will also examine the economics and business models that define the audience-centric creator economy. Students will learn how to leverage data and insights to effectively identify, serve, and grow an audience. Through engaging case studies, the course will illustrate real-world examples of both successful strategies and notable missteps in the field. 

Explore the role of marketing in the value creation process and how products, services, and strategic branding determine your marketing mix. Conceive, refine, and execute a powerful marketing strategy to grow your brand and business. 

Explore the differences and monetization opportunities between different platforms, and how this will affect your business model. Gain an introduction to the notion of a “content ecosystem” and understand how to build an ecosystem for your own IP. 

Understand how to best navigate world markets, and how to confidently build global vs. country-only deals across platforms. 

Uncover the nature of organizational change and how to manage resistance to change. Set the context of transformation at the individual, team, and organizational levels. Learn, practice, and refine business negotiation skills. 

Examine evidence-based approaches to building agreement during single-party and multi-party negotiations. Discuss best practices and how to ask questions that lead to open and honest responses from a negotiation counterpart. 

Explore the evolution of “convergence culture,” where consumers actively participate in shaping their entertainment across multiple platforms. Examine why some transmedia projects succeed while others, like the later Matrix films, do not, using case studies like Marvel comic films and “The Last of Us”. Identify key characteristics of successful cross-platform projects and develop a framework for effective transmedia storytelling. 

Understand modern investment and finance, including asset valuation, capital budgeting, risk management, and performance assessment. Ethical considerations and management in the global context are integrated into these topics. Analyze financial statements and identify areas for value creation in an organization. 

In today’s rapidly evolving media landscape, the role of online creators is increasingly central to the way content is produced, distributed, and monetized. As a consumer of media, you are likely already familiar with the impact of podcasts, social media influencers, and the power of digital platforms to shape societal narratives. This session articulates the business strategies and economic principles that underpin the creator economy, offering a comprehensive analysis of how value is generated and sustained. Participants will explore the mechanisms of monetization within the creator economy, examining both the opportunities and challenges it presents. By understanding the strategic considerations and economic drivers at play, you will be better equipped to determine whether and how to leverage this space for your own business ventures, enabling you to make informed decisions about participation and investment in this increasingly vital area of the media industry. 

Gain an understanding of the core elements of HR management and how HR practices can substantially contribute to an organization’s performance and objectives. 

This module will feature an in-depth conversation with Diana Williams, CEO and Co-founder of Kinetic Energy Entertainment, who brings a wealth of experience from across the entertainment industry. With a career spanning the development and production of multi-platform IP franchises, and groundbreaking work with both emerging and established creative talent, Diana will share her insights on transforming ideas into IP, as well as the highs and lows of building sustainable, long-term franchises in today’s competitive marketplace.

Participants will explore the role of narrative cohesion in multi-platform storytelling, drawing on Diana’s expertise in building Kinetic’s slate of storytelling IP businesses and her previous experience as Creative Development and Franchise Producer for Lucasfilm. This session will also examine how independent creators can use franchise-building strategies as a foundation for creative success and leverage ownership within the long tail of commercialization in an evolving media landscape. 

Building on what you have learned so far, take an existing Intellectual Property asset your company is currently working with, and create a business plan to monetize it on another platform. Develop and refine your plan. Pitch your idea to a panel of experts and receive feedback on expanding your IP to another platform.