The film business was never far from home for Bill Linsman. As a recent college graduate trying to break into the industry, Linsman, born in Los Angeles, started at the bottom working as a soundman at a television station that made commercials.
“I was fascinated by telling a story in 30 seconds,” he said in an email from Los Angeles. “I threw all my energies into that endeavor, and found myself most comfortable with it.”
Linsman, who directs the Boston University Los Angeles Internship Program, has been a veteran television commercial director for more than 25 years. Since 1976, he has directed hundreds of commercials for clients, including Proctor ‘ Gamble, McDonald’s and Taco Bell.
Linsman’s uncle, Philip Krasne, was a film producer whose credits include Charlie Chan films. Linsman is now expanding outside family ties and using his expertise in the industry to help students make their big break.
“Being employed 3,000 miles from home and having to deal with the challenge of Los Angeles helps [the students] to mature and see different perspectives on life,” he said.
“I have a unique combination of skills, contacts and experience that lends itself to running the program,” he said. “I know the advertising business, filmmaking, working with actors, and I know Los Angeles because I was born and raised here.”
The program, which began in 2002, is designed to help students learn about the film industry firsthand, through guests in the fields of film and television, advertising and entertainment management, as well as by offering internships.
Linsman, who graduated with a master’s in fine arts in film from the University of Southern California, began his work at a Phoenix, Ariz. commercial company before becoming general manager and director at a film company in Scottsdale, Ariz. He then opened his own production company, Linsmanfilm, in 1976.
It was near the end of his directing career in 2001 when he decided to accept a teaching position at BU. He worked on the Charles River Campus for two years and was then asked to join the staff of the up-and-coming Los Angeles “abroad” program.
2007 College of Communication graduate Arestia Rosenberg said Linsman created synergy between the colleges and the program. He “believes in it and in the students and what it does for us,” she said.
“They helped give a better understanding of how the [film] business works,” said COM senior Jullian Ablaza.
The program has also appealed to students who are more business-minded. School of Management senior Tom Powers is one of six students who took part in the pilot program for SMG students last semester, which focuses on the business of Hollywood.
“It gave me the opportunity to take entertainment courses that they don’t offer in SMG in Boston,” he said. “It gave SMG students the opportunity to get their hands dirty in the entertainment industry without actually having the risk of being on your own career.”