Day in the Life of a BCA Major

By: Kristen Adams ‘25

Business Cinematic Arts, or BCA for short, is a unique major offered by the Marshall Business School and the School of Cinematic Arts for students interested in learning about the business side of the entertainment industry. As a freshman, I have enjoyed the classes I’ve had to take thus far, ranging from economics to film classes, and am excited to see all the new opportunities I’ll have coming up. Here is a rundown of what it’s like to be a BCA major at USC!

Classes

During my first semester, I took BUAD 304 (Organizational Behavior and Leadership), MATH 118 (Calculus), WRIT 150, CTCS 190 (Intro to Cinema), and CTWR 404 (Foundations of Comedy) as my 2-unit elective. I really enjoyed my classes during this semester because I had a nice balance between math-oriented classes and film-oriented classes. CTCS 190 was, hands-down, my favorite class because I was introduced to a wide variety of films from different time periods and genres, including Parasite, Get Out, Singin’ in the Rain, Pillow Talk, and Sunset Boulevard. BCA majors also have our own CTCS 190 discussion section, which was a great opportunity to meet and bond with other BCA freshmen.

MATH 118 and WRIT 150 were my more rigorous classes during this semester; MATH 118 encompasses many elements from Calculus 1, Calculus 2, and Calculus 3, and having a study group for this class definitely helped with my understanding throughout the course. WRIT 150, as its name suggests, requires a ton of writing, but my professor utilized the grading contract (shoutout to Dr. Taylor!), ensuring that students who complete all of the required work are guaranteed at least a B in the course.

BUAD 304 is definitely a group-oriented course, and I developed valuable skills in communication and leadership while working with a randomly assigned team to complete a presentation and a research paper using organizational behavior (OB) concepts learned in class. While I honestly struggled with this class a bit, given the relatively broad curriculum, I consistently reminded myself that while OB concepts may seem like “common sense,” they are not often “common practice.” Learning about effective communication media, leadership styles, company cultures, and hierarchical structures gave me insight into how to become a proactive business leader in the future, whether I end up as an executive in the entertainment industry or a manager in the consulting industry. 

CTWR 404 was a ton of fun, where each class we got to watch a movie; my favorites included The King of Comedy and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. We also had the opportunity to meet various guest speakers, including Jordan Weiss, creator of the Hulu show Dollface. In fact, it was this class that inspired me to pursue a minor in Screenwriting!

This semester, I will be taking ECON 351 (Microeconomics), CTCS 191 (Intro to TV and Video), BUAD 310 (Statistics), GESM 120, and CTWR 411 (Television Script Analysis) as my 2-unit elective. Similar to last semester, I have a nice balance between business and cinematic arts classes. It is definitely refreshing to have a break from my more math-heavy classes through my TV-related courses.

The one downside of a BCA major is that it can be relatively difficult to fit in a minor, let alone a double major. This is because the BCA curriculum is very structured, meaning there’s not a tremendous amount of room for flexibility and exploration of other electives. For example, after meeting with my advisor, I can fit a Screenwriting minor and a semester during my junior year to study abroad, and still graduate within four years – however, it will be a tight fit, and I will not have much room for other courses other than my required course load. 

Summary

Overall, as a BCA major, I feel like I am a Marshall student first, and an SCA student second. One great perk of being a BCA major is that I have access to emails regarding internships and opportunities from both Marshall and the School of Cinematic Arts! For example, I get weekly emails about film screenings, guest panels, and entertainment internships from SCA, and I also get weekly emails about networking events, internships, and panels in the ABC’s (accounting, banking, and consulting) from Marshall! I absolutely love the BCA major because of its interdisciplinary nature, and I don’t feel pigeon-holed into doing just film or doing just business. Instead, I have the freedom to explore what excites me; at the moment, I am most interested in becoming a film producer for Marvel or a consultant at Deloitte! Whether I end up in a more business-oriented or film-oriented role, I feel like I will have garnered the necessary skills for either field, and I look forward to seeing what I do with my major post-graduation. 

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