Giselle Bodden (B.A. ’12) has used her degree in a myriad of areas throughout the media industry from Los Angeles to Miami. She walked onto the Florida State campus with a variety of interests, but found that she particularly enjoyed the creative process of writing, shooting and editing a film.

She explains, “Growing up, I was always fascinated with the arts and storytelling. One of my theater classes required us to complete a short film, which whetted my appetite for visual storytelling.”

Bodden dipped her toes into the entertainment industry before even graduating with the Los Angeles Television Experience (LATE) program. Under Dr. Robert Perkury, she lived and interned in Los Angeles, got exposure to the entertainment industry and connected with the FSU alumni community in LA. She interned at Red Varden Studios with the Hollywood Assistant Training Program created by the tough yet knowledgable television producer Zig Gauthier. She also interned at Principal Young Entertainment, where she learned the inner workings and functionality of how a talent company operates.

With the LATE program, she also attended weekly meetings where Dr. Perkury interviewed various industry professionals. Some of the interviews that she remembers the most were with FSU alumna and screenwriter Jaime Linden and FSU alumna and VP of Marketing at Lionsgate Tori Cross.

Bodden shares, “Our LATE weekly meetings were very engaging and inspiring. We got to hear how they got started in Hollywood and what their jobs entail and at the end they would offer us advice. In most cases, the advice translated to work hard and never give up.”

Bodden stayed in California after graduating, moving to Hollywood to further break into the industry. As an executive assistant at Legacy Entertainment, she worked closely with the company’s president to learn how product placement deals were executed for television and film. She also worked as a production assistant at Shine America, offering an extra hand wherever she was needed.

She says, “These positions were essentially learning experiences and became like notches on my belt to help me progress to the next step. It was a really great time for networking because I got to meet many influential people who worked in or with the company and help them with their projects.”

Bodden believes that her degree, the relationships she has worked hard to establish and maintain and her excellent work ethic have guided her to her current position with Discovery Communications as the media planning coordinator.

At Discovery Communications, Bodden works with a huge communication circuit. She is responsible for getting promotions to broadcast so that they can air on Discovery Kids in Columbia and Discovery Turbo throughout Latin America. She also plans specific strategies according to certain guidelines and works with the production department to ensure that promotional elements are produced and delivered on time. Sometimes, she gets to visit the screening room to watch an early premiere of a new Discovery show. Each day is not quite like the day before.

Bodden shares, “My favorite part of my job is actually the communal environment that Discovery fosters. We’re on one team with the same goal, which in part is to boost viewership across our networks and to satisfy our audience’s curiosity about the world with our content.”

In her spare time, Bodden enjoys reading, traveling, writing, and dancing salsa. She is merging all of her hobbies by working on a fiction novel entitled Farandulera: Nights as a Salsa Dancer. The novel explores the themes of identity, self-worth and love through the eyes of a mysterious young woman who is exploring the underground Latin dance scene. She plans to release the book this Fall.

To learn more about the Communication programs available at Florida State, follow this link.