"Be not afraid to go up or down [in status or salary]," said veteran Hollywood film producer Scott Ferguson '82, co-producer of Ang Lee's Academy Award-winning film "Brokeback Mountain," giving advice to Cornellians considering careers in entertainment. "Just get the job."

Ferguson and director Tia Lessin '88, Academy Award nominee for her film "Trouble the Water," were featured panelists at the NYC Cornellians in Entertainment event Dec. 8 at the Snapple Theater Center in Manhattan. A third panelist, Mark Henry Johnson, canceled due to illness.

The event was jokingly described as an "effort to build a network in New York City, like Los Angeles, but headier," said Amy Villarejo, chair of Cornell's Department of Theatre, Film and Dance, who moderated the panel. Cornell in Hollywood, an older and larger "sister" networking group with more than 800 members, provided support for the event. Some 50 people, representing Cornell professionals in filmmaking, music, fashion and sports, attended the function.

"Life opens doors, and you go through them," said Ferguson, whose work as a producer on such films as "Recount," "Laurel Canyon," "The Firm" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" has connected him to some of Hollywood's best directors, including Sydney Pollack, Milos Forman and David Mamet, as well as acclaimed New York producer Michael Hausman '57.

"It all started at Cornell," said Ferguson, "during my junior year when I enrolled in [the course] Filmmaking. People made films about the rain. It was a life-changing event."

Lessin's career also began at Cornell where she "hung out a lot" at Cornell Cinema and was exposed to such important filmmakers as Spike Lee. Seeing her grandmother struggle as a garment worker, Lessin was interested in the labor movement. One day, while conducting research on the cause, she noticed a documentary film crew at work and was hooked.

Over her career, Lessin has worked with Academy Award-winning directors Michael Moore, Charles Guggenheim and Martin Scorsese. Lessin's work, which includes serving as supervising producer of Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," has earned her a Gotham Independent Film Award, Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and two Emmy Award nominations (as well as one arrest).

"Awards legitimize what you do," said Lessin, who said she learned early at Cornell how to survive in debt. "For freelance film professionals like myself, the current economy doesn't seem so unusual. You get used to not knowing where you're going to find money to do your projects." Ironically, it was Cornellian Joclyn Barnes '85, Danny Glover's producing partner, who provided the finishing funds for "Trouble."

"We wanted to create a group as strong as Cornell in Hollywood," said Anaiza Morales, chair of NYC Cornellians in Entertainment, an idea that sprang up while sitting around a table with other alumni. Since its inception last year, NYC Cornellians in Entertainment has grown to almost 250 alumni in theater, film, television production, acting and music. The group is working on a Cornell theater night and summer internship program.

"I want to break into the music industry," said Michael Chua '08, a finance professional working in New York, who attended the event. "I thought it would be a good way to network."

John Mikytuck '90 is a freelance journalist, writer and producer in New York City.