“If [students] want their creativity to sustain them – which is what we all want, we want to make enough money from our movies so that we can make movies full time – then it's really important to spend time thinking about the business end of [the film industry],彼得·戈登说。, the Course Director for 满帆’s 电影行业 class in the 电影制作硕士 程序. 幸运的是, Peter can teach his students about the practical side of filmmaking by calling on his decades of professional experience at major networks like NBC, 电影频道, 和高尔夫频道.

Throughout his career, Peter was present for several major changes in the television industry. He was working at NBC when the network was purchased by GE, and he was an assistant in the NBC legal department when the network was negotiating their deal to stay at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Peter was also at 电影频道 when the network and its sister channel, HBO, became two of the first cable networks to offer multiplex channels.

“I was the Assistant Manager of Programming at 电影频道 when HBO decided that we were going to start the multiplex, which meant three channels of HBO and two of 电影频道,他说. “我们必须弄清楚这意味着什么. How do you schedule the second channel of a movie cable system? 如何将这些系统落实到位? 你如何确保你没有复制东西? 现在, 当然, 每个人都有多个频道, 所以这很常见, 但在当时, 以前从来没有人这样做过.”

Peter was also part of the team that launched the Golf Channel, one of the first television channels dedicated to a single sport. 编程是他的主要职责. 除了安排高尔夫比赛, Peter and his team developed a 30-minute news show called 高尔夫球场中央，一个叫做 高尔夫频道学院和一个叫做 大突破. Peter helped get documentaries, golf history shows, a live interview show called 高尔夫脱口秀直播，以及该频道的更多节目安排.

“We had to figure out what [a niche sports channel] was from the beginning, and we didn't have a lot of models on which to base it,他说. “从本质上来说, all the 程序s that we did were the first time anybody had ever done them… I also had to figure where they went in the schedule. 你是如何制定时间表的? How do you create the repeats and how you put things together? 在那些日子里我们做了很多实验.”

Peter gained professional experience with negotiating, 投手, 合同, 当他在编程工作的时候. That background grants him a unique perspective that benefits students in his 电影行业 class. The course covers essential business components of the film and television industry, 比如为创意项目筹集资金, 谈判协议, 了解税收和知识产权法, 市场营销, 并提交给电影节.

“在我做过的工作中, most of my time was spent negotiating licensing deals and drafting 合同, 当然, making long-term plans… I teach the importance of having a plan, 谈判的重要性, 如何阅读合同, how to pay attention to what goes into your 合同.

“(我也谈到)与创意人员合作, working with writers and directors and development people, 接了很多球,他继续说道。. “I was the guy who got pitched all the time when I was in charge of 程序ming, 还有我经营制作公司的时候, 我负责推销. I'm able to work with the students on 投手 and development, 这是我们讨论的问题之一.”

Although his time at major networks led to plenty of exciting moments, Peter’s time at 满帆 has brought him some of his most rewarding experiences. He recently celebrated 10 years with the 电影制作硕士 程序, and he loves staying in touch with students who are making their mark on the industry.

“I still get calls from students who used to be in my class. I'm always thrilled when they call up or email and say, ‘Hey, I learned a lot in your class. 我在考虑创业.’ I just got an email today from students who graduated a couple years ago; they completed a feature and were asking me to help them, 给他们市场营销方面的建议, 例如. 我经常这样做. 当这种情况发生时，我总是很兴奋。.