Lights, camera, action!

By:

Brenna Clairr O'Tierney
M.A. in Strategic Public Relations

Stephanie Arnoldy never thought that she would be able to combine her passion for health and fitness with a career in communications and PR. That’s why she considers the promotion of this past year’s employee wellness campaign to be one of the highlights of her job so far as the manager of employee communications at Warner Bros. Entertainment in Burbank. 

Arnoldy and her team worked with groups throughout Warner Bros. and Time Warner to kick start and promote an enterprise-wide program called Fit Nation. The program was designed to inspire employees to become more active and provide resources to accomplish their goals. Events included a 10,000 step per day walking challenge and a 5K race. The final event of the year was a triathlon training program with over 100 employee participants ultimately completing the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. Together more than 5,000 Time Warner employees participated in Fit Nation events in its first year, and the program received rave reviews.  

“It was incredibly rewarding for everyone involved,” said Arnoldy. “Being able to promote health and fitness was a dream campaign for me.”

Stephanie Arnoldy.
Arnoldy has worked at Warner Bros. since August 2011. She graduated from the MSPR program in 2004 before working at GolinHarris on the Nintendo account and then moving in-house to Yahoo! as a PR manager for the media group. After a return to the agency world to serve as a group manager and director for accounts like PepsiCo and GM at Weber Shandwick in Los Angeles, she was excited about the opportunity to try something completely different. A step away from traditional PR, her role at Warner Bros. allows her to focus on the development of creative communications strategies and campaigns that engage the company’s large, invested internal audience and help shape the corporate culture. She loves that every day brings something new in the internal communications realm.  

Her team strives to inform and engage Warner Bros. employees. Team members communicate the latest on the company’s businesses, strategies, new products, company updates, and more to keep employees connected and in the know. Arnoldy’s responsibilities include executive communication, marketing and promotion of campaigns occurring on the lot, employee events, and content on the internal website called ‘Behind the Shield.’ The site includes company news, behind the scenes insights from movies, TV shows and other key Warner Bros. initiatives, and original editorial and video content. The website recently featured exclusive interviews with members of the cast from the motion picture Argo. 

Arnoldy's job allows her to work with every group across Warner Bros. and develop communication strategies for a variety of promotions and campaigns, including wellness, corporate philanthropy, consumer products, theatrical, and TV. 

“My job changes every day, and I have a really good look at what’s going on throughout the company,” said Arnoldy. 

At the same time, engaging 5,000-10,000 employees, depending on the level of production, can be difficult. 

“Warner Bros. employees are also consumers of the company’s content. They are advocates and fans that have a strong connection to what their studio produces,” said Arnoldy. “We could easily just post a press release, but we challenge ourselves to engage every single person in a way that is meaningful to them. We want to offer something different than what they could find from just doing a Google search.”

Arnoldy can’t thank the MSPR program enough for giving her the skills needed to excel in her career thus far. She credits the program design with adjunct professors and practical experience from assignments for her ability to rise through the ranks quickly and feel one step ahead as she began her career. 

“The MSPR program forced me to assess real world challenges and come up with strategies and tactics to solve them in the same way leaders might in the workplace,” said Arnoldy. “When I graduated, I could think about planning and strategy from a more senior level because I’d been trained to do so by current industry leaders. That helped me to make real contributions early on and advance my career." 

Her advice for current students in the program? Build your network through internships while in school and take advantage of the chance to dabble in all different aspects of PR so that you can determine what strengths and passions you want to pursue. 

“Graduates of the program come out with an edge because they are already trained to think from a high level,” said Arnoldy. “The challenge is finding an environment that will allow you to take on as much as you are capable of. Find a place where people will let you grow, because that’s when you really thrive.”