Tripod Home | New | TriTeca | Work/Money | Politics/Community | Living/Travel | Planet T | Daily Scoop

Name: Chris von Goetz
School: University of Vermont
Job: Rising TV Mogul
Age: 23
The Verdict: Sure, he's someone's assistant. But when you get to help determine the fate of primetime television, who cares.

NBC needs a young, hip new TV show to fill its Thursday 8:30 time slot. Someone comes up with an idea about six friends living in Manhattan -- a show that would be simultaneously about everything and nothing. An inspired moment of brilliance, or a complete waste of neural energy? If this sounds like the type of job decision you want to be making, check out Chris von Goetz's Cool Job.

At 23, Chris serves as the assistant to NBC's Senior Vice President of Prime Time Programming. His job involves every aspect of producing a television show -- from conception to writing to auditioning to filming. The four or five shows NBC premieres each fall are selected from an initial pool of about 50 contenders, and it is part of Chris's job to help with the weeding-out process. He reads and evaluates scripts, attends tapings, and scours local comedy clubs to discover new talent. Not only does Chris help determine what millions of people watch each week, he even knows Ross, Phoebe, Chandler, Rachel, Joey and Monica.

Getting your foot in the door in the competitive TV industry is difficult, says Chris. His major at the University of Vermont -- political science -- didn't have much to do with the entertainment industry. (Some cynics might disagree.) However, the summer after his junior year he scored an internship at NBC; success in that internship led to his current job.

For those looking for a career in television, Chris recommends thinking big but starting small. He suggests doing an internship at the biggest name show biz organization possible. Although some recent grads are attracted by the prospect of earning more responsibility at a smaller operation, Chris swears that "name brands are everything."

Most important, Chris advises, is to choose a career that involves work you consider fun. And what does Chris do for fun? He answers confidently. "Watching television," of course.