Trends in Entertainment Public Relations

Four professionals in the entertainment public relations industry will hold a Q&A-style panel in Old Main 320 on Tuesday, Oct. 26 as part of Texas State University’s Mass Comm Week. The panelists will discuss topics ranging from how they broke into the industry to the use of social media in their work.

Rebecca Feferman handles all press and publicity for the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival. Feferman previously worked as a publicist at ID Public Relations in Los Angeles, where she worked for clients such as Paul Giamatti, John Krasinski and Ed Helms. Feferman was also involved in the national press activities for films such as Mystic River, Matrix Revolutions and Troy when she worked for Warner Bros. Pictures prior to her position at ID.

Paul Osbon manages Quiet Company, an Austin-based indie rock band with a strong social media presence. Osbon does booking, promoting and all social media activity for the band. Osbon will be discussing the impact social media has had on Quiet Company and how he uses it to build the band’s growing fan base.

Brett Cannon is the senior publicist and maintains artist management for Paperthin Media, Austin’s largest music public relations firm. Paperthin Media handles public relations for artists such as Blue October, Quiet Company, Bowling for Soup as well as small businesses such as P. Ellis Drums, Nile Music and The Loft at Malverde.

Elaine Garza founded Giant Noise, a public relations firm with offices in Austin and New York, in 2006. Giant Noise is the home of clients such as The Texas Tribune, Austin Film Festival, Dickies, Rock The Vote and SPIN Magazine. Garza has also managed publicity campaigns for Howard Stern, Alice Waters and Joan Rivers.