Andrea de Fraga, a 2004 MAM graduate of the Business & Entrepreneurship Department, shares her thoughts, advice, and how Columbia has prepared her for the real world.

What is your current job and how did you get there?

“Controller, Cinespace Film Studios. I was previously the VP Finance for Towers Productions. When I was getting my masters at Columbia, I interned at Towers and worked my way up from there.”

What field are you working in?  

“Finance for the film and television industry.”

How did the Business program @ Columbia prepare you for what you do now?

“I use accounting everyday! In most businesses the metrics for measuring success are bottom line driven, but that isn’t always the case when you are making a television show or film.  When you are dealing with an artistic endeavor you have to take into consideration how it is accepted by the audience, so just making money isn’t always the only goal.”

What was your most valuable Columbia experience?

“The network of friends and colleagues that I made at Columbia have led to every job I have had since graduating. They are also the people I turn to when trying to navigate my career.”

In what way did your Business degree help your career?  

“It gave me the skills I would need to excel.”

Do you have any advice for current Columbia students?

“People are always going to tell you how hard it is to succeed in whatever field you are interested in, but people succeed in those fields everyday, so you have to try!”