Federico Carmona spent the time between earning his bachelor’s degree and enrolling in graduate school working for one of the biggest film production companies in his home country of Venezuela. 当时，他以为自己已经把一切都弄明白了.

“我的梦想是在好莱坞工作，”费德里科回忆道. “当我开始考虑研究生项目时, I was looking for a school that would provide hands-on experience.  I already knew how the system worked – I just wanted to see how it worked in the U.S. 对比拉丁美洲. 我就是这样找到《十大菠菜台子》的.”

费德里科于2014年开始攻读电影制作硕士课程, and it didn’t take long for him to realize that for all his experience, he still had much to learn when it came to the film industry.

“I came into the program thinking I was going to be the most prepared in my class because I already had so much experience. 但我不知道的事情太多了，”他说. “My classmates were from different backgrounds with different levels of knowledge. 在某些情况下，我能够教给他们我所知道的. 在其他方面，我可以向他们学习.”

After graduation in 2015, Federico moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of working in Hollywood. He found a job with Expression Entertainment, an international film distribution company. Working in sales wasn’t exactly Federico’s idea of living his dream, but he was able to network – a few months into working he got a call from a Venezuelan director he knew who was making a music video in Miami.

“我去拍了视频. What I didn’t realize was that the gig wasn’t intended to be a one-time thing. 这是一次工作面试，”费德里科说.

导演在Rimas娱乐公司工作, which specializes in creating digital content for artists like Ozuna and Bad Bunny. They were looking for a general production manager to handle the in-house studio division of the company. 在他完成第一部音乐录影带之后, Federico got another offer from Rimas to produce a series of videos in Puerto Rico. 他写了一份自由职业者的报价，然后寄了过来.

“The president of the company called me and said, ‘I don’t think you understand. We don’t want you as a freelancer; we want you to join the team permanently.’ It was perfect timing because I was looking for stability and a pathway to legal immigration. They agreed to sponsor me for my permanent residence, and I’ve been working with them ever since.”

他在Rimas工作了一年, the company decided to expand their business model to include a record label. At this point, Federico had worked on dozens of music videos as a producer. His boss was impressed by his ability to efficiently execute a strategy. If he could handle the logistics of the music video production process, 为什么他不能做同样的事情呢? 为了验证这个理论, the company sent Federico on the road with reggaeton duo Jowell and Randy for an entire year.

Federico returned from tour to find himself with a new job title – label manager. In a lot of ways, his work managing a label is similar to working in video production. He leads a team and works to build promotional strategies for more than 30 artists, 包括乔威尔·兰迪和坏兔子. He no longer thinks of himself as having it all figured out. He credits much of his success to being open to new experiences, which is something he can trace back to his decision to attend 满帆.

“I look back, and I’m so glad I decided on a program that was comprehensive and hands-on,” he says. “I still use practical things I learned in that program every day, whether it be a knowledge of production or the basics of entertainment law when I’m working with our lawyers to negotiate a contract. But the biggest takeaway is just to be constant and persistent. 娱乐业每天都在发展. You have to be open to learning no matter what level of success you reach.”