Learn it today, act on it tomorrow. In just 12 months, Full Sail’s Entertainment Business Master’s program can help you expand your professional skills.

There’s no business like show business (or so the saying goes). And for those looking to obtain a graduate degree in business, Full Sail’s Entertainment Business master’s program offers an in-depth focus on skills related to the entertainment industry.

“We’re very similar to a traditional degree program in that we touch on traditional business topics,” explains Director of Graduate Studies Dr. Heather Dartez. “But we are different in that we’re 100 percent focused on arts, entertainment, and media. So while you’ll still find courses in leadership and marketing, you’ll also take classes that dive deeper into the entertainment realm, like Negotiation and Deal-Making, or Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution.”

The goal of the program is to provide graduates with skills to either take their existing careers to the next level or successfully pivot into a new and exciting industry. Since a business degree attracts prospective students from all walks of life, the faculty developed a curriculum that is customizable to a variety of situations. Depending on location and whether or not they are working full-time, students can opt to complete the program online or attend classes at Full Sail’s Winter Park, FL campus.

Students can expect to begin with mastery courses in leadership and brand development. Then, in the fourth month of study, they begin building a digital leadership portfolio.

“The students develop their own website that’s focused on their personal brand, and they have the creative freedom to make it 100% their own,” explains Dartez. “Each month, they add something new to their site.”

There’s even an elective track for students interested in studying sports management. Students following that course of study diverge from their cohort in the eighth month, attending specified classes such as Sports Management and Operations, Legal Issues in Sports, and Sports Marketing and Sponsorship Sales. Then, in their 11th month, they meet back up with the cohort to finish out their degree.

That’s when students in either track take the Business Plan Development course, where they create an in-depth business plan as a final project. They go on to present that plan to staff and faculty in the final month of the program.

“This is hugely beneficial to our students because our faculty brings such diverse experience to the table. We have people who have worked on Wall Street, at theme parks, at Fortune 500 companies, and more. We have accomplished authors and lawyers on the team. It’s a wide range,” says Dartez.

Once they’ve gathered feedback and tweaked all necessary changes, they put everything together into a portfolio showpiece they can use to promote their newly-developed skills. By the time they reach the end of the program, they have a polished website that they can show to potential or current employers to help them advance their careers.

“One thing all of our students have in common is that they’re looking for growth in their professional lives,” says Dartez. “We’re teaching them how to think and look at the bigger picture when it comes to entertainment business, but also how to look at the fine details that make up an organization. We’re helping them to find their fit within the entertainment industry.”