Zachary Skipp ’11 Zooms in to Talk about the Film and Entertainment Industry

Accompanied by Bowdoin Career Exploration and Development’s Joshua Machat and Jessica DePaiva, Skipp spoke about his career in the entertainment business and how his college education factored into his dreams.

Though he had fallen in love with film at an early age (he made his first documentary at age eleven), Skipp knew he wanted to get a liberal arts education before attending film school. At Bowdoin he majored in Spanish and art history, but was also able to integrate film into his studies.

“When I went abroad, I went to film school in Argentina, which was amazing,” he said. He also took several film courses with Professor of Cinema Studies Tricia Welsch and did a summer internship with documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney’s production company in New York City.

After graduating from Bowdoin, Skipp moved to Los Angeles, California. Coming off the recession, employment opportunities in the industry were scant. Still, he was able to land an internship at a media management company while he applied to the film and TV production program at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.

Skipp was candid about the difficulties he faced in his transition from Bowdoin to film school. “I started at USC, and it was so different from Bowdoin,” he said, smiling. “I was so used to the small college atmosphere where people were helping me. There was not really a lot of organization going on, but it was also a good crash course on how to figure things out yourself."

He debated leaving the program to work at an agency after his first year, but with the encouragement of a USC professor, he decided to stay. He changed his focus to independent film finance and sales, interning with William Morris Endeavor, MGM, Universal Pictures, and XYZ Films, before graduating and taking on a full-time role at United Talent Agency (UTA).  

He began in the talent department, working for an agent who empowered him to start pitching clients. “It was crazy, but it was a fun crash course into what it was like to be an agent,” he said. Eventually, Skipp would move to the TV-for-Literature department at UTA. “The TV-lit departments are known for being the premiere part of every agency,” Skipp said.  

Skipp encouraged students on the call to also consider starting their careers at an agency. “It’s sort of the liberal arts of the agency business,” he explained. “I thought it was really cool that, especially at UTA, you’re encouraged to move around and get a lot of different experiences.” It was that experience that helped him figure out where he wanted to take his career next. 

“I knew that I wanted to work on the acquisition side in film at a streamer that worked in the independent space, so Apple was always a dream for that reason,” Skipp said.

That dream came to fruition about a month ago when he started his new job—albeit from home, due to COVID-19. He hasn’t been able to go to the office yet, but he told students this hasn’t inhibited his work. “Basically, my job is just to watch movies and read scripts all day to see if they’re a good fit for Apple, so sort of perfect for quarantine,” he said and laughed.

Skipp recognized that the leap from Bowdoin to film can be a scary one, but he told students that the College is what really prepared him for what he does today. “I went into the film industry thinking there’s going to be a particular way to do everything,” he said. “Everything that we’re doing, Bowdoin prepares you well for. You’re taught to think, instead of how to do specific processes. I’d never done script coverage before but I’ve read a million books in my life and I have an opinion, so I can share that opinion,” he said.

Skipp concluded the call with some parting advice for students: “The industry is completely creative and you can do whatever you want. As long as you’re passionate, excited about what you’re doing, and a person that people genuinely like to get along with, you’ll make it far.”