Renee Perpignan '26, Harvardwood 101

Harvardwood 101, self-proclaimed on the program website to have been “demystifying Hollywood since 1999,” brings students to Los Angeles and gives them a peek into the industries of film, television, music, and media. For Renee Perpignan ’26, Harvardwood 101 provided an opportunity to explore her dream career: the music production industry. Perpignan’s passion for music was nurtured through the study of various instruments, including violin, piano, and guitar, from the age of six and throughout high school. At Harvard, Perpignan self-studied the techniques of songwriting and music production, participated in a handful of ensembles, and declared a secondary in Music while concentrating in Computer Science and Government. 

During the first week, also referred to as the “boot camp,” Harvardwood 101 participants engaged in a series of panels featuring alumni from all over the industry—creative executives, screenwriters, film producers, actors, talent agencies, film scorers, and record labels—who spoke about their journeys and current occupations, and revealed insights such as the impact of AI and streaming services on creative careers. The boot camp also brought students on tours to several key locations within those industries. For Perpignan, hearing from Hallwood Media, Rideback TV, Big Machine, and visiting The Recording Academy were the highlights of the week. Following the boot camp, certain students participated in two week-long internships with entertainment companies that they were matched into prior to the program. Perpignan’s stint consisted of shadowing an executive at Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s artist management firm. 

Perpignan noted that the most valuable experiences for her came from being able to meet multiple artists and entertainment professionals and learn about their day-to-day, as well as the scope of their careers. From the boot camp, internship, and living with her homestay host and founder of Harvardwood, Mia Riverton, Perpignan’s multilevel exposure to Hollywood further sharpened her perspective and career aspirations. 

Emiliano Gutierrez Berlanga ‘28, Intro to Creative Entrepreneurship 

The Intro to Creative Entrepreneurship is a two-day workshop co-hosted with the Office for the Arts that helps students kickstart their arts-involved projects through entrepreneurial teaching and guided ideating. The programming is accessible to students of all levels considering an arts-adjacent career. 

A poet, dancer, and scholar in Latin American studies (through concentrations in Government and History & Literature), Emiliano Gutierrez Berlanga ’28 has always loved the arts, but never considered it a sustainable career path. After stepping away from theater in high school to focus on his academics, Gutierrez Berlanga was able to return to artistic pursuits at Harvard. He united his heritage and passions for community building and cultural affinity through the Harvard Undergraduate Candela Latin Dance Troupe. 

Participating in the program further allowed him to work through his preconceptions of combining arts and academics. It not only introduced him to the various ways the arts could be part of his future profession, but also affirmed creative work as a viable career path. 

The most important takeaway for Gutierrez Berlanga was the removal of barriers for his casual and professional art pursuits. “Since art has inherent value to the communities that it's displayed in, creating it will never run the risk of being a waste, whether that is publishing poetry independently, teaching theater and music to underprivileged communities, or giving dance workshops,” Gutierrez Berlanga reflected.

Joseph Foo ‘26, MCS Arts & Museums January Internship 

As a Folklore & Mythology and Classics double concentrator with a secondary in Arts, Film, and Visual Studies (AFVS), Joseph Foo ’26 often spends his days gathering and telling stories. This interest developed out of being far away from his Singapore home. As he started his Harvard journey, art and cultural activities allowed him to keep in touch with his home country, connect with new friends, and share his heritage in meaningful ways. 

However, Foo had long wondered how his studies could concretely impact people. Through his internship at the Pao Arts Center in Boston’s Chinatown, he was able to bridge the gap between the abstract work of his academics and his passion for community building. 

At the Pao Arts Center, Foo’s responsibilities touched upon all aspects of the center’s administration, from the work of the visual arts manager, arts engagement manager, and director, to the development and communication departments. The main projects he assisted on were curating the Year of the Horse art exhibit and planning the center’s Lunar New Year celebrations. Despite these large, culminating projects, Foo noted that the deepest contribution Pao Arts made to its Chinatown community was providing a space for daily artistic engagement. In addition, sitting at the front desk allowed him to cultivate impactful relationships with visitors and learn their stories, especially those who saw their personal and familial histories represented in the galleries. 

Through this internship, Foo learned that his work could directly translate to active contributions through public-facing, artistic enterprise.