Léa, class of 2024: how to combine passion and professional success in the cultural sector

The Master Creative & Cultural Industries Management specialisation allows Léa to envisage a future both in her passion and in more commercial or managerial fields of the arts.

Léa Américo, class of 2024, is a student in the EMLV Grande Ecole programme, specialising in the Master’s degree in Creative and Cultural Industries Management. She has found a way to combine passion and professional success. Here’s her story.

When I graduated from high school, I had to make a choice. I am passionate about theatre and enjoyed my ES baccalaureate, so I joined the EMLV for the Creative & Cultural Industries Management master’s specialisation. This course is complete and allows me to respond to the current challenges and changes in the creative and cultural industries.

I followed a classical curriculum for my first three years, with subjects such as marketing and management. I went abroad for a year in the third year, first to Bulgaria and then to the Netherlands. When choosing a master’s degree, I was a bit lost, but then I found the EMLV.

Combining management and culture

In September 2022, EMLV opened for the first time a new Master’s degree in management of creative and cultural industries. This programme includes both managerial and commercial skills. It allows me to combine my passion for theatre and film while encompassing music, culture, publishing, journalism, luxury, and fashion. It was exactly the perfect mix I was looking for!

In this Master’s programme, we follow pretty standard courses such as finance, marketing, and management, but the programme is still linked to the arts and the cultural and creative industries. It is an all-English Master’s programme with many business development projects and courses taught by IIM professors.

Furthermore, it is not only academic courses but also research work and creating projects for the future. In addition, we are often put in a situation by meeting professionals from different fields of the art industry in the area. At the beginning of the year, we visited a photography studio and will soon see the Tokyo Museum and meet a CSR manager. We will also have the chance to attend a masterclass with music producers.

The balance between art and work

I want to go into film, more specifically production. I could work in programming or cinema management or negotiate contracts with international actors. Because we touch on different fields, we could also work in music, festival organisation or the creative areas, as a programme manager in a museum, for example. The great advantage of this Master’s degree is that, in addition to acquiring the basics in business and management, we are also passionate about art or are already artists. We can therefore apply our knowledge in the areas we are passionate about.

This training allows us to envisage a future in our favourite field and more commercial or managerial areas. We never thought we could turn our passion into a profession. Since we will be in the same class for two years, we are already planning a big project.

At the end of our second year of specialisation, we aim to organise an exhibition in Paris, taking care of all aspects of the event, from finding a venue to finding sponsors and funding, while remembering the artistic element.
This Master’s degree is for those who are interested. Being passionate is an asset because we no longer consider this Master’s programme a simple academic course, but something we love. Everything has taken on a much more professional dimension. We love coming here.

Continuous learning is at the heart of our training

We are in an entrepreneurial dynamic, creating projects with other students in the class, whom we already consider friends and colleagues with whom we will work. This opportunity allows us to work with passion and without constraints. At the end of these two years, we will have acquired a vital background, both in terms of our network and our professional aspirations. Photography, film, theatre, fashion, and other creative sectors are closely linked, and we will retain these valuable relationships for a long time to come, both in a professional and personal capacity.

The impact of the IIM to go further

The courses at IIM are beneficial: Photoshop, InDesign, and design thinking. They are taught in a less formal but creative way by IIM professors. Everything is taught in English, but you should be bold and speak the language.

I was uncomfortable initially, but I soon realised that everyone was very caring. Everyone is very kind. Whether it’s marketing or management, there will always be a creative and cultural aspect with lots of projects to develop and present in the creative and artistic industries we are interested in.

This specialisation trains students with the necessary skills to evolve within these sectors by relying partly on the IIM Digital School’s teaching team.

For more information on the Master Creative & Cultural Industries Management