Dyllon Young ‘15, a staff product manager at HBO Max, and Michelle Chung ‘20, an assistant at Simon and Schuster and publicity assistant at Scribner, reflected on their respective media careers in a virtual panel held on October 20. The event, which was moderated by Kat Roberts ‘22 of the Career Center’s Connect Identity Team, focused largely on the relationship between media and identity, especially in a professional environment. 

Looking back on their time at Hamilton, Young and Chung recalled some of the media-related extracurriculars with which they were involved. As a Chinese Political Economy major, Young cited mostly his experience as a theater minor and CAB co-chair as being “tied to some of the work and storytelling I do [now].” Chung mentioned a variety of media jobs and positions, including freelance writer for the College Communications Office, Arts & Entertainment writer for The Spectator, and Career Center employee—the last of which, she said, provided her valuable exposure to “the promotional media side of things.”

Young began his path to the media industry after being contacted by Nickelodeon. “They took a chance on me and I took a chance on them,” he said. “It was big corporate America… [I didn’t] have that kind of experience working inside of this complex organization that had this much scale and obviously influence on kids’ lives across the world.” After a few years at Nickelodeon, Young ended up moving to his current position at HBO Max. Chung said that she was initially unsure which professional direction she wanted to take, before realizing that “the kinds of internships and experiences I wanted all had to do with these skills that aligned with media and entertainment.” Spending more time at positions in these fields, with such companies as Penguin Random House, cemented Chung’s interest in a media-centered career.

The panelists then turned to the event’s central theme of identity—something, they said, that has become increasingly foregrounded in professional settings over the past few years. “I had never really thought about the concept of DNI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) before we were looking at some of the things that happened with George Floyd,” said Young. “In my everyday work, I’m trying to bring [my identity] to the forefront… we can use our influence to really drive change.” He highlighted the “lack of underrepresented stories and communities” on such platforms as HBO as an area in need of improvement. 

As someone working in a “predominantly white” industry, Chung said that her position “is subverting the stereotypes” surrounding both Asians like herself and the typical media professional. On the role of identity in an average workday, Chung described how she tries “to give my insight on stories that I think need more exposure,” providing the recent example of a book by a Vietnamese-American author with refugee parents. “It was like seeing my identity in a book that I got to advocate for,” she said. “I was really lucky… I hope to have more experiences like that.”