When you attend the FUTURE NOW Media and Entertainment Conference, you not only gain knowledge, professional connections, and lifelong friends, but you also become eligible to apply for FUTURE NOW’s Mentorship Program.
Currently, in its fifth year, this 9-month-long formal one-on-one mentoring program is one of the greatest opportunities for students and recent graduates to go deeper and learn from today’s industry leaders and professionals. FUTURE NOW Mentors generously give their time and wisdom, provide valuable guidance and feedback, and often open their networks to their mentees.
Meet Mentor Kennedy Medina, Director of Programming at Cartoon Network, and Mentee Elijah Minter, FUTURE NOW alum and aspiring animator.
Anna: Tell me a little bit about yourself, Elijah.
Elijah: I’m Elijah Minter, I’m an artist and my interests are film and animation. After receiving my degree in film, I've been studying animation on my own with resources online and books, so I’m just working on creating. I went to LaGuardia Community College for my first two years, then I transferred for a bachelor’s in Film and TV at Lehman College.
Anna: Kennedy, what do you do?
Kennedy: So my role at the Cartoon Network is the program planning and content strategy director. What that means is that I oversee everything you see on the linear networks in terms of long-term programming. I also manage Boomerang and I also manage kids content that goes up on Max.
Anna: How did you find out about FUTURE NOW?
Elijah: If I recall correctly, I received an email telling me about the program, and since then, I’ve met a lot of mentors and a lot of peers, and I’ve been with it ever since. I’ve been to the online conferences.
Kennedy: I used to work with a lady named Sowon Sawyer who recommended me to FUTURE NOW, and I volunteered [as a mentor for the Speed Mentoring Sessions] at last year’s conference and I thought that the conference was phenomenal. Ever since then, I’ve tried to help them in any way possible.
Anna: What made you want to join the mentorship program?
Elijah: I like learning a lot and working with others, so I thought of it as an opportunity to expand my leadership skills and learn about elevator pitches, acing interviews—just learning different skills that I will need in my lifetime that will help me step into my career. I thought FUTURE NOW would be a great opportunity.
Kennedy: I always wanted to be a mentor, because one of the biggest factors when I was young and trying to come into the media and entertainment industry was that I never had a mentor—someone who could help guide me and show me the ins and outs of the industry and how to grow within it. It wasn’t until I started working and some of my managers took me under their wing and started teaching me all the things that you need to succeed in the workplace that I realized that mentoring is important. If it wasn’t for their help, I don’t think I would be where I am, so I always wanted to pay it forward. One of the ways I do that is by mentoring college kids. Your success is never guaranteed unless you pay it forward.
Anna: Kennedy, how did you cultivate your mentors in the workplace?
Kennedy: I’ll be honest, being a first generation, entering the workplace I really didn’t have an understanding on how to present yourself, how to speak in meetings, how to voice your opinion. I needed to stick my pride in my pocket and ask for help. If you don’t know what you don’t, the only way to figure it out is to ask the question, and I had no one else to rely on except my managers. You try to lean on your coworkers, but you need someone with that experience who’s been through the cauldron to help you and guide you in the direction that you wanna go. It always helps to have an ally in your corner because they will work on the things that you might not be strong on but also elevate those strengths that you already have.
Anna: Could you describe a bit of the FUTURE NOW mentorship process, Elijah?
Elijah: It’s straightforward as you know what you wanna join the program for. FUTURE NOW takes your interest and matches it with mentors who may have an idea of the things you’re trying to pursue. They closely match you with someone you know you can learn from [in] that field. After you sign up, you work with your mentor and determine the days and times you want to meet. It can be as many times as you like. I’ve been meeting with Kennedy three times a month, and we would set deadlines for things I have to get done, like reviewing my StrengthsFinder test and just working on my résumé to [get] it up to par where I can send it off to companies. We would outline the steps I would need to take to help me reach my goal, and that consisted of putting my résumé into play and sending it out to companies I may want to connect with.
Anna: In your opinion, Kennedy, what is the first step to finding mentorship?
Kennedy: Attend events like FUTURE NOW. There are a lot of great organizations giving back to the community, and these organizations have networks. Volunteer with them, and contribute your time. These organizations offer you exposure because you get exposed to professionals in so many different capacities, and [if] you’re volunteering, you get face time in a natural setting as opposed to trying to reach out all the time. Volunteer, and join these nonprofit organizations. These are easy ways for you to network and broaden your horizons. When you volunteer, you’re coming out of your comfort zone and you’re doing something that you don’t always get the chance to do. You develop new skill sets. You might do something that you never thought you’d do and enjoy and that might set you up on a career that you never expected.
Anna: Kennedy, how does mentorship change and evolve in your career?
Kennedy: I think as you are further in your career, what’s important is for you to create a network—a network of folks in all different types of industries and all levels of experience, and just learn from them in different capacities. It’s great when I am learning from colleagues in sports who have a different perspective on the business and they tackle issues with a completely different mindset, but it’s also interesting when you hear a counterpoint from a law firm and how they go about doing business. Having a broad network broadens your horizons because you learn different ways of accomplishing projects from different perspectives, and I think that gives you a lot of different ways to be successful. Being able to tackle it from so many different points of view is interesting and I think it makes you a more well-rounded flexible person that can be relied on when there’s a situation or issue that arises.
Anna: How have you seen yourself grow over the program, Elijah?
Elijah: I would measure my growth based on my organizational skills, and just looking at my résumé from before I entered the program and looking at it now, it looks a lot more professional and it really speaks to me as a person.
Anna: Elijah, what lessons will you take going forward? What will stick with you?
Elijah: Putting myself out there—the things that I learned that I have to do as a professional stepping into the industry. Taking those traits and characteristics that I’ve learned with me into whichever field I go or any projects I’m working on. [Kennedy and I] think almost alike, so it hasn’t been back-and-forth. It’s just been understanding.
Anna: Would you recommend this to others who want to be in the media industry?
Elijah: I would recommend the FUTURE NOW program to anyone who’s in college who’s not sure what they want to do but they’re passionate. I think FUTURE NOW’s mentorship program really does a good job of teaching mentees about how the industry works, how professionalism works, and the characteristics you need to present yourself. If people are thinking about joining the program, I would encourage them to take it very seriously, that way they get the best out of it.
Anna: Lastly, Kennedy, how did you see Elijah grow over the program?
Kennedy: For me, it was about empowering [Elijah] to put himself out there. You don’t make the shots you don't take. This is a brilliant kid who has a lot of talent, very creative, and I had to help him get out of his head and understand that you have to expose yourself. You need to be out there, you need to build awareness for people to see who you are, and all the great productions that you’re creating. I tried to encourage him in different ways—you’re creating all these animated shorts, submit them for awards, reach out to production companies, and let them know that even if they don’t have an internship, you’d love to volunteer in any capacity. And I think that when he finally started sending emails and reaching out and some folks started replying back to him, it was like, ‘Oh, wait a minute, there is an interest in what I’m offering.’ and I think that helped him take more initiative and be more proactive. I want to get him a lot of informational interviews with subject matter experts that can also provide the necessary steps for him to take and further his career and enter the industry, because let’s be honest, media and entertainment have evolved a lot over the last couple of years, especially with the advent of streaming. It’s one of the few industries that evolves very rapidly and you have to adapt. I wanna make sure I give him enough options to succeed and pivot however he needs.
