Mary Rohlich and Lesley Feinstein
Hollywood Connection
Mary Rohlich ’03 and Lesley Feinstein ’03
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Our Ten Questions: Mary
- 1. What is your favorite flavor of Babcock ice cream?
Ii know this is really sad, but i rarely ate Babcock ice cream. i don't have much of a sweet tooth and was most likely having a brat instead! - 2. What do you most miss about campus?
I miss the terrace the most. It's one of those special places you can enjoy long before and long after graduating. I loved going there on a summer night, listening to music, watching the boats and enjoying some good wisconsin beers! There's a great balance of energy and relaxation that's hard to find anywhere else. I wish I was there right now... - 3. What is your favorite mode of transportation?
Despite having to drive all over LA and commute an hour to and from work... I still find road trips really therapeutic. Alone, or with friends, I enjoy having the freedom to go in any direction at any time, stopping for food or detours, cruising with the windows down... oh, as long as there's no traffic of course. - 4. What items would you take to a desert island?
Books, a lighter, surf board (I've always wanted to learn) and... a Nintendo DS with the brain game + solar-powered batteries. - 5. What was your first job?
My first real job was at brueggers bagels in Iowa City. - 6. Who is your hero?
I think the last time I had to answer this question I was in third grade and I said my parents... and it's still true. They are both incredibly smart and hard-working teachers. They are supportive, trusting, inspiring and most importantly — always laughing and having fun! - 7. What are you reading now?
Since I read a lot for work, I'm usually reading a few things at once:
- just started Freakonoimics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
- current book on tape for the hour long commute: Stephen Colbert's I Am American (and so can you!)
- and... in the middle of two books for work + the multiple drafts of the script we're working on. - 8. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
I receive really good advice on a daily basis, so it's hard to remember or gauge what was best. Plus I have a terrible memory! This is one of my favorite quotes I look at whenever I need a little extra motivation:
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. - 9. What's on your iPod?
Al Green, Atmosphere, Justin Timberlake, Mason Jennings, Pixies, Sigur Ros, Mika, Arcade Fire, New Order, The Cure... - 10. What is your proudest UW achievement?
the hollywood badgers! I am so proud to have helped in creating this group. It's been an amazing learning experience and after 3 years I'm really seeing the affects of having a group like the Hollywood Badgers. Many of our members met in LA through the group and have created relationships that are as close as if they had met in college. We keep alumni connected after leaving madison which makes the transition to a new city much smoother. We also help to find new graduates and other members jobs and internship opportunities. Networking has helped aspiring writers connect with managers and directors with actors and many other connections — it's an immensely talented group of people that continues to grow as new graduates move out to LA! I am so proud of the hollywood badgers and I know that my experience at UW helped me to be a leader and am excited to grow with the group.
Our Ten Questions: Lesley
- 1. What is your favorite flavor of Babcock ice cream?
Chocolate — I almost always go with the chocolate :) - 2. What do you most miss about campus?
I miss football Saturdays on campus. It was so much fun to see the students decked out in red and white and so proud to be Badgers. It was this awesome feeling walking down University Ave. with hundreds of students towards the stadium. There was this energy I can't really describe, but it made me so happy to be a badger. - 3. What is your favorite mode of transportation?
I think traveling by train is fun. It's a great way to see parts of a city/country that you wouldn't normally get to with a car. It's peacful and you get to see great landscapes and scenery. Oh, and the the biggest plus of all is that you don't have to do the driving! After living in LA most of my life I will never pass up an opportunity to not have to sit in the driver's seat in parking lot-style traffic. - 4. What items would you take to a desert island?
I would take a radio, matches, and a swiss army knife - 5. What was your first job?
My first job was as a receptionist in a hair salon. - 6. Who is your hero?
I never like answering this question because so many people have been heroes in my eyes. But, if I had to pick for the moment I'd say my grandparents that live in LA. They are both Holocaust survivors. Each of them are the only survivng members of their families. After surving the war they moved to America which is where they met. They were able to educate themselves, support a growing family and pass down their Jewish tradititions. Overcoming a horrible event like that and being able to survive and live a fulfulling life is nothing short of heroic to me... - 7. What are you reading now?
I just finished reading The Pact and now i'm reading Like Water for Chocolate. - 8. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
I think the piece of advice that has stuck with me throughout my life is "Listen to yourself." It's something that takes a lot of practice, but has always come through for me in tough situations or hard decision-making moments. - 9. What's on your iPod?
Anyone who looks at my iPod list would really have no clue how to describe me based on the artists in there. I've got artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to The Temptations to The Counting Crows to The Dixie Chicks to Alicia Keys. I just love music! - 10. What is your proudest UW achievement?
Hollywood Badgers is definitely my proudest UW achievment. It has been amazing to put my passion for the entertainment industry together with my passion for helping others. The group is growing so quickly and every year I hear how students are so thankful for the group's existence. They tell us how it has improved their confidence levels in pursuing their professional dreams. It's been a great personal experience for me in that it's made me a more willing risk-taker and a more confident leader.
Profile
Mary Rohlich ’03 and Lesley Feinstein ’03
UW Majors: Both Communication Arts
Profession: Co-founders of the Hollywood Badgers
For six years, Mary Rohlich and Lesley Feinstein traveled similar, but parallel, paths. Both arrived on the UW campus in 1999, pursued degrees in communication arts, graduated in 2003 and moved out to Los Angeles to start careers in the entertainment industry.
But it wasn’t until March 2005 that the two finally met, when Rohlich was working for Columbia Pictures and Feinstein for BWCS Agency. After being introduced by a fellow UW grad, the two became fast friends and soon developed a common goal: to help Badgers in the LA area find their way in Hollywood. The end result was the creation of the Hollywood Badgers.
The Hollywood Badgers is a nonprofit professional networking group created by Rohlich and Feinstein to help UW alumni living in the LA area and current UW students get a head start in the entertainment industry. Through access to industry job and internship postings, contact information of other alumni in the industry and event postings on the Web site, hollywoodbadgers.com, UW alumni and students are able to network into a sometimes inaccessible entertainment industry. The group even offers tips on Hollywood lingo, résumé best practices and the best places to live.
Rohlich and Feinstein attribute much of the group’s success to its members’ shared passion for helping other Badgers. It’s this passion that has helped catapult many alumni and students into careers in the entertainment industry. “My experience has been great,” notes former UW student Erin Janzer ’07, “because without the help of certain Hollywood Badgers, I wouldn’t have ended up with the three incredible internships I have now!”
Since its beginning two years ago, the group has expanded to include more than 120 members — and continues to grow. In addition to their careers and work with the Hollywood Badgers, Rohlich and Feinstein maintain an active connection with the UW as well, making frequent trips back to Madison to serve on information panels for students eager to make the jump to Hollywood.
Mary's Essay
I grew up in Iowa, Massachusetts and Japan, but from the moment I stepped foot on the UW campus, I felt that I was finally at home. So many people and experiences have impacted my life — from my family, my education, and my friends — but what I can say with utmost certainty is that my UW experience inspired wholeheartedly the creation of The Hollywood Badgers.
In March 2005, I was living in Los Angeles and was looking for interns to work at Columbia Pictures. I realized that not one UW student had applied for an internship. I thought back to the days when I was an intern in LA and thought how great it would have been to meet more Badgers. I connected with Mary Rossa at UW who put the word out to Comm Arts students who were interested in applying for internships. Not long after, I was introduced to Lesley Feinstein, a class of 2003 UW graduate (like me) who was working in the business. We became fast friends with one goal in mind: help current students in Madison find their way in Hollywood. Very soon after our first meeting with a handful of alums, the e-mails started flooding in. The word was spreading that an entertainment-based Badger group was in the works, and everyone wanted to be a part of it.
Lesley and I quickly realized that this group wasn’t just about helping out new graduates trying to get into the business — it was also about re-creating the UW bond we all felt in Madison, but this time, in Los Angeles. We wanted someone to watch the football games with and “jump around,” we wanted people to reminisce about State Street and talk about how nothing beat the Terrace in the spring time. There was also a strong desire to help each other out — I’d get e-mails about job postings that said “would love this for a Badger!” The group was growing faster than we could keep track of. How could we reach out to students? Who were we? Who did we want to be? Once we got going we couldn’t stop. We found out about the Kevin M. Anderson Memorial Film Mentorship which paid for a UW student to move to LA and intern. This was exactly the kind of scholarship we wanted to contribute to, so we teamed up with them. One of our member’s mother is a lawyer who helped us apply for non-profit status. Another member created our Web site. With the help of many alumni in numerous capacities, we eventually founded The Hollywood Badgers.
I never had any interest in being “president” of anything, I never had any desire to get up in front of a group of 100 students and talk about getting a job and I certainly never thought I would start a non-profit. After three panels in Madison, and hosting several events in LA, I still get nervous. But there was a need for this group. My experiences at the University of Wisconsin made me stand up and DO something. They inspire me to come out of my shell and fly back to Madison and talk to students about their resumes, where they should look for housing, how to find a job. They inspired me to take the initiative to set up internship opportunities to help someone get their foot in the door. They inspired me to learn how to set up a business, how to throw a fundraiser, even how to delegate. My experiences at the University of Wisconsin impact my life on a daily basis through The Hollywood Badgers.
Lesley's Essay
The day I arrived onto the UW campus eight years ago for a student tour, it was a really cold and rainy day. I remember seeing countless store windows on State Street decorated in red and white school paraphernalia accented with cheese hats. Now, for a girl from sunny California this wasn’t exactly what I grew up thinking I would fall in love with when I went looking for the perfect university. This little town, though, has an incredibly contagious ambiance to it.
It took me only a few months of classes and walks to Camp Randall to see Badger football games to realize what makes the University of Wisconsin so special — passion. It is in its professors, its coaches, its sports fans, its students and in its alumni. For four years I felt so thrilled to have this unique network surrounding me. It was incredibly nurturing and optimistic. I was receiving a great education, and my activities on campus provided a strong sense of community and purpose, inspiring me to follow my passions in life.
Right after graduation, I returned to Los Angeles and tenaciously began my pursuit of a job in the entertainment industry. I always wanted to work in entertainment and decided to give it my best shot. I landed a job quickly, immersing myself in the “biz.”
A couple years later in March of 2005, I became fortunate to cross paths with Mary Rohlich. We graduated in the same class, but had never met. She, like me, has a love for UW. We kept talking about our amazing experiences at UW and how we both felt this need to fill a void that we knew was a crucial one — we wanted to connect with UW students who had a passion for the entertainment industry. We wanted to give them a way to tap into alumni resources that existed in the Los Angeles area and provide them with the tools they needed to make their goals of working in the entertainment field a reality. Our dream went even beyond that — we wanted to create a special local network for alumni who work in the entertainment industry so that a strong community could develop among Badger alumni who share a passion for what they do professionally. We began to talk about how to service both of these needs and with the help of a few other fantastic young alumni in Los Angeles, we formed Hollywood Badgers.
This grass roots idea turned into a powerhouse non-profit organization. The success of Hollywood Badgers can only be attributed to passion that is shared by its alumni members and by the UW students who have become a key factor in our success. Passion is what I have taken away from my UW experience. My visits back to UW are now punctuated with the information panels that Hollywood Badgers present to eager students. Our board meetings and fundraisers are builders of continued UW spirit and prosperity in the real working world. My passion for this group keeps me dreaming big and motivates me to continually take on greater challenges. UW has made such an enormous impact on my life and I hope that Hollywood Badgers will make a lasting impact in the lives of Badgers who choose to live and work in the entertainment community.