Hollywood producer Paula Wagner visits

Carnegie Mellon Qatar got a taste of Hollywood this week with a visit by Paula Wagner. The film producer, Carnegie Mellon alumna and university trustee was in Doha with her husband, Hollywood agent Rick Nicita, to serve on jury panels at the Doha Tribecca Film Festival.

Dean Dick Tucker and his wife, Rae, hosted Wagner and Nicita on their visit. Senior business administration student Omnia Khalid and sophomore computer science student Anas Halbawi led a campus tour that ended at a community-wide reception.

Students were surprised to learn that during her years as a Hollywood agent, Wagner represented Matthew Broderick in the film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Sean Penn in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and Demi Moore in “Ghost.”

Wagner also put together blockbuster films “Born on the Fourth of July” and Rainman,” and produced “The Last Samurai” and the “Mission Impossible” series.

“What struck me the most was to see a Carnegie Mellon trustee who actually does this kind of work. It’s great to see a graduate famous for something other than computer science or robotics. Paula is a graduate, an artist and an entrepreneur,” says Khalid, a big fan of “Rainman.”

Wagner spoke to a cross section of students about the rare opportunity they have to earn a Carnegie Mellon degree at the state-of-the-art – not to mention beautiful – campus in Doha.

“Education is very dear to my heart because education is one of the most critical components of what will bring our world together. It’s the thing that opens our hearts and minds to transcend the cultural divide. The things that bring people together are education and higher learning. This campus is a near perfect environment for learning,” says Wagner.

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, Wagner set out for a career as a stage actress. From there she went on to be a successful businesswoman, learning the complicated film business as she went. Though she never studied computer science, Wagner spoke about how the film business is now a convergence of art, technology and business, much like Carnegie Mellon.

“Technology is now driving the arts forward: movies are in 3-D and there is now digital distribution of films. Carnegie Mellon has always been on the cutting edge of invention. In a world full of convergence, there is no better place in the world to learn that than Carnegie Mellon.”