Rocky and the Museum of Art, Gritty and Philadelphia, Michael Moscarelli’s degree programs at Klein and Fox.
All perfect pairs.
Moscarelli, a senior in his final undergraduate semester, double-majors in finance at the Fox School of Business and media studies and production at Klein College of Media and Communication. It’s a combination that has served him well, giving him opportunities to work in the WHYY newsroom and as the director of engagement for The Temple News.
Moscarelli has wanted to be in the media industry since he was young, and he came to Temple to hone his skills in radio. It didn’t take him long to recognize that his place in the media cog was somewhere else.
Moscarelli added his finance major to wean into the corporate side of media companies.
“I think it was partially that I found my strengths lie elsewhere, quite honestly,” he says. “I like the content, I believe in the value of the content and I want to contribute toward making it, but my real skill would be better in marketing the content or figuring out how to fund a new podcast or a news show and then pitch it to investors.”
It’s no secret that there is a disconnect between what the creative and financial sides of media productions want, but Moscarelli hopes his experience on both sides of the aisle will aid his future endeavours.
“A lot of the time, it’s just a misunderstanding,” he says. “Being able to speak to both sides of that, to communicate with both groups of people with different mindsets and goals, is utterly important. That’s why I have stuck with it so far.”
It will probably save him from strong headaches, too.
Both parts of a company have their place, though. While the corporate suits might not understand why the creative group wants a higher budget for a short gag, the creators might not understand why the bigwigs are releasing content on a calculated schedule.
Moscarelli enjoys his role as what one could call a peacemaker.
“You want to be able to communicate with creative teams and speak in a qualitative sense and tell that story, but to back it up, you need to have quantitative skills,” he says.
The Coatesville, PA., native will remain at Temple University for one more year to finish his master of arts in media studies and production. Until then, he hopes to complete at least three more internships.
His workload is enough to make anyone wince, but he takes it in stride.
“For me, it’s honestly a love of the media industry specifically. I’ve really just always loved stories. There’s some value in working in an industry that makes money from telling them,” he says.