KRISTA PARKINSON
With 18 years of experience in the entertainment industry, Krista Parkinson guides hundreds of executives, assistants, producers, talent, crew, students and others in the art of gainful employment in the entertainment industry. Those same principles can be applied by any recent graduate to any sector of business.
When Krista moved to Hollywood in 1997 fresh from Brigham Young University, she had no idea how to find her first job in the entertainment world, much less how to help anyone else. With a phone call from her grandfather and a little luck, she was able to get her first job as a temp at the iconic William Morris talent agency (now WME/IMG).
She worked her way up the career ladder from assistant to talent agent in the then burgeoning reality TV department. She represented talent, producers, directors and writers in the alternative television arena. She secured and negotiated deals with most of the major television outlets such as; CBS, ABC, Fox, NBC, HBO, Bravo, E!/Style, MTV, VH-1, TV Guide Channel, GSN, Paramount Syndication, Sony Distribution, Buena Vista Television and Telepictures. With this experience, she left the representation business to work as the VP of Development for Tony Hawk’s production company 900 Films.
From 2007-14, Ms. Parkinson worked as Senior Vice President of business development and marketing for Content Partners, a unique entertainment finance company that buys backend profit participations in Film and Television. Her responsibilities included developing and maintaining strong relationships with lawyers, managers, wealth managers, and others who have entertainment industry clients while assisting in raising capital for the funds, marketing and working in various stages of the deal making process.
In 2012, ABC Family bought a sitcom based on her life’s experiences where she served as Executive Producer.
Krista serves as an adjunct Professor in the Cinema School at USC where she teaches a course she created called “Breaking Into the Entertainment Business” which empowers students to find and land their first internships and jobs in the entertainment field.
