Persistence of Vision

Film may be art, or entertainment, or education--but it's also business. Very big business. The two cannot be separated--and must be thought about together. That essential insight inspired MPI intern Jonathan Willbanks to found the Southern California Business Film Festival this past spring. As a USC freshman studying business and cinematic arts, Willbanks brought with him to college experience founding and running two successful e-businesses--and the soul of a cinematic entrepreneur. The SCBFF brought together business students and film students in the effort to make short films centering on business--and it was a timely success.

Here's what Willbanks had to say to TheStreet.com:

TheStreet.com: Who is the festival's target audience?

Willbanks: The competitive student film screening will be open to the entire student body and the public. Attendance is free at all of the events, which allows us to market to a very large audience. USC plays an integral role in the Los Angeles community and we want to open it to anyone who might find entertainment or education by attending.

As a business-themed film festival, our primary target audience is business and film students. But given the popularity of film -- especially at USC -- we've seen a lot of interest and participation from students of widely disparate fields of study. We have international relations, journalism, communications, and even a neuroscience student competing in the festival.

TheStreet.com: Why is now a good time to start a business film festival?

Willbanks: I think the potential has probably been there for a quite a while. No one's just seized upon it yet. I do think that the potential for success of a business film festival is probably stronger now than it was just two or three years ago. The whole world seems to be embracing business at an increasing and unprecedented rate. I think students are starting to pick up on this and realize how important a firm grasp of business is -- regardless of their future profession.

Business affects every aspect of our lives. I think that as the world has become more globalized, U.S. businesses have had to step up their game to remain competitive in the now global business services market. Students are aware, or at least can sense on some level, this recent shift toward higher performance, knowledge, and educational expectations in the business world, making them far more open to the exploration of business concepts.

It seems that film students want to enhance their understanding of business, while business students want the practical management experience the festival provides, along with the ability to express their business knowledge and skills through an artistic outlet, an opportunity rarely afforded to business students.

TheStreet.com: What was the biggest challenge the students had in making business-themed films?

Willbanks: Before viewing the final submissions, I was worried that students might try to force the business concepts into the films, making the concepts obtrusive and distracting rather than beneficial and educational. Nearly all of the teams avoided this pitfall and managed to work their business content into the films in a natural way.

TheStreet.com: What is your take on the submitted student films?

Willbanks: We received a very diverse range of submissions, ranging from lighthearted comedies to moving melodramas to dark thrillers. Each team learned something different, but it's clear from the films that all of them learned something about business -- often in creative and indirect ways.

For example, one film, Big Bang, is a comedy about a business student who is given an assignment to create a working business plan. Upon cursory examination, the film simply looks like a modernized short version of Risky Business. But when you break it down, the students (not to mention the audience), have learned about demographics in market research, the value of niche markets, supply and demand and the high profit potential of a high demand/low supply scenario, and market competition.

TheStreet.com: What is your favorite business film of all time?

Willbanks: Without a doubt, There Will be Blood. It packs a heavy duty educational wallop, leaving the viewer with a pretty thorough history lesson on the birth of the oil industry in the US.