Like many Marshall entrepreneurs, Napoliello co-founded U.S. Marketing & Promotions in his college dorm, and it has since grown into one of the leading promotional agencies in the country. Currently, he serves as a board member and producer at Radar Pictures, known for films like The Last Samurai, Spring Breakers, and Jumanji.
Gunther has worn nearly every hat in Hollywood, working her way up from production manager to an entrepreneur and Emmy-winning producer on animated shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, and various Turner Entertainment programs. Today, Gunther is juggling multiple projects, including producing Zack Snyder’s Twilight of the Gods, which is due to air on Netflix September 19.
Through these firsthand experiences, the professors lend their students exclusive access to real-world knowledge and connections. In fact, Gunther and Napoliello often use their connections to introduce industry speakers with valuable insights.
“I bring in speakers who are working in the field, who are relevant, who have a point of view, who can talk to what’s going on from their perspective and where the industry is headed,” Gunther said.
The guests’ contributions extend beyond the classroom. Many of them continue to mentor Gunther’s and Napoliello’s students as they embark on their careers.
Additionally, Marshall undergraduates and graduates are uniquely well-positioned to brainstorm solutions to the entertainment industry’s most pressing problems. In a business built on “who you know,” USC’s close proximity to studios, networks, and agencies allows students access to Hollywood’s major power players, including countless Trojan alumni.
Yet, the professors know that networking is only half the battle. Like the industry itself, the courses evolve year to year along with the opportunity for innovation. Napoliello observed that huge studios and entertainment conglomerates are less likely to take a risk than small, nimble ventures eager to break onto the scene and lead the market.
Napoliello and Gunther push their students to think beyond the present, to see into the future or, more precisely, create that future.
“Opportunities in the future always have to do with what the youngest generation is thinking and doing,” Gunther said. “We’re not basing the next evolution on what 50/60-year-olds are doing. We’re basing it on what kids are doing today … That’s where we’re at right now and that’s where we’re headed because that’s who’s going to lead in the next 20 years.”
Now, after over a decade of teaching, Napoliello and Gunther are witnessing their students’ success first hand.
“I’m most proud to say that some of my students have even become colleagues of mine in the business,” Napoliello said. “They’ve got the speed of youth and the ambition to launch their careers. Who knows? They may be my boss one day.”