For students living in Eugene, the glitz of Hollywood and the smog of Los Angeles may seem light-years away.
But many Ducks alumni have migrated south to pursue successful careers in entertainment, working with glamorous Hollywood celebrities and acclaimed professionals.
They are the Hollywood Ducks, and the University sponsors an annual event in their honor.
Three years ago, the University handed Jennifer King, the University’s director of regional development for southern California, a daunting task: to find and contact the roughly 4,000 alumni living in Los Angeles County.
The University wanted to increase its profile, seek financial support and make a presence in the area, she said.
“After six months of calling on alumni, I noticed a trend,” King said. “Whether I was visiting lawyers, financial planners, producers, psychologists, editors, writers, site location directors or publicists, they all had connections with the entertainment industry. … We decided to create an event called Hollywood Ducks.”
King then narrowed the list to the 10 percent of those Ducks working in entertainment.
Now nearly 150 entertainment gurus who graduated from the University flock to the Hollywood Ducks event, held at the Beverly Hills Hotel each June. The event is part of Campaign Oregon, a multi-million-dollar drive to raise money for the University’s academic programs, scholarships, research and athletics.
“It has been a success from the beginning and is now one of UO’s signature events,” King said. “Graduates are reaping the benefits of those connections.”
Hollywood Ducks Committee member and University alumnus Sean Smith, born and raised in Springfield, graduated from the University in 1996 with a magazine journalism degree and now works as a senior writer covering Hollywood for Newsweek.
Smith said he will always call Oregon home, and when he visits he marvels at its “kaleidoscope of green.”
He broke into the competitive print-writing industry after graduate school. After working as an editorial assistant at the film magazine Premiere in Manhattan, he moved to Los Angeles.
“I report and write on the film industry-everything from business stories to actor profiles,” Smith said. “Some parts of it are glamorous, but it’s a lot of big egos to grapple with every day. So it’s as exhilarating as it is exhausting.”
“It’s never dull, that’s for sure.”
Another Ducks big shot is Mark Christiansen, who graduated in 1980 in finance. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay area but moved to Beaverton, where he attended high school.
An Executive Vice President of Operations at Paramount Pictures, Christiansen moved east to Colorado directly after graduation, accepting a job with Columbia Pictures.
He then “went where my career took me” and moved to Texas, Iowa, Illinois and, finally, California, he said.
He still makes an effort to visit family in Oregon, and he regularly participates in Cycle Oregon, a week-long bicycle trek through rural terrain.
“I would come back just for the Pinot Noir though,” Christiansen said.
Working in motion picture distribution for Paramount, Christiansen deals with digital cinema, market analysis, dubbing and subtitling films and anti-piracy efforts.
He advised students on how to make smart career decisions.
“My path is anything but usual, but I think the basic requirements for any successful career are reliability, discretion, willingness to take on responsibilities and doing homework,” Christiansen said.
Other Hollywood Ducks include the film producer Gina Matthews, whose major movies include “What Women Want” and “13 Going on 30” and Melissa Holloway, who works with national marketing at Fox Searchlight Pictures.
The Hollywood Ducks event has both increased donations to the University and brought together alumni, King said.
Guests were shocked upon realizing fellow Ducks worked in Hollywood entertainment, King said, and some were even working together on films without knowing the connection.
“You can feel more Oregon spirit in that Los Angeles air,” King said.
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hollywood ducks
What: Each June, University alumni who work in Hollywood’s entertainment industry attend a University-sponsored event at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Why: Nearly 400 Ducks alumni who live in Los Angeles County have entertainment-related careers as screenwriters, producers, editors, financial planners and publicists, among other fields. The annual event raises alumni awareness and raises funds for the University as part of Campaign Oregon.
Who: Sean Smith, 1996 University journalism graduate, works for Newsweek as a senior writer covering Hollywood.
Mark Christiansen, 1980 University finance graduate, is the executive vice president of operations at Paramount Pictures.