Ori Chevio

New York University, Stern School of Business

“A storyteller with an entrepreneurial mindset, intent on making the world a better place.”

Fun fact about yourself: I owe my love for reading to my first job ever – a bookseller!

Hometown: Tel Aviv, Israel

High School: Aleph High School of the Arts

Major: Stern-Tisch BS/BFA Dual-Degree in Business (Finance) and Film & TV

Minor: English, BEMT (Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technology)

Favorite Business Course: Law, Business and Society

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

• NYU University Leadership Honors Course Fellow (2020)
• STEBA (Stern-Tisch Entertainment Business Association) – Board Member and Student Mentor
• NYU Josh Goldfaden Award for Expository Writing (2019)
• NYU Student Government Financial Affairs Committee – Board Member
• NYU Stern OutClass (Stern’s official LGBTQ+ organization) – Member
• NYU Orientation Leader
• NYU Stern Coronavirus Response Fellow
• UJA-Federation of NY Jean and Albert Nerken Scholarship Recipient

Where have you interned during your college career?

• HBO (Home Box Office) – Original Programming Intern (Santa Monica, CA)
• eOne (Entertainment One) – Scripted TV Development Intern (Santa Monica, CA)
• A24 – TV Development Intern (New York, NY)

Where will you be working after graduation? FIFTH SEASON – TV Development & Production

Who is your favorite business professor? Since Stern has a wealth of incredible professors across many different disciplines, it’s really challenging to pick a single professor. That said, Prof. Joe Pichirallo, who runs the colloquium course for the Stern-Tisch dual-degree students, is a phenomenal professor, mentor, and a true advocate for all his students. He brings his deep expertise of the entertainment industry to every class he teaches, and he’s always intent on ensuring his students are ready for the many real-life scenarios that await them outside of the classroom. He cares deeply about the success of his students, and he always asks for input and feedback to ensure the classroom is having relevant and vital discussions. Most importantly, Prof. Pichirallo is an incredibly supportive mentor who keeps his door open to all his students throughout their time at NYU and beyond.

What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? I have professors who jokingly say I’m living proof that a business education is applicable in every industry and is cross-disciplinary in its core. So many people enter the entertainment industry with a creative or a liberal arts background, and my unique business skillset has consistently surprised and impressed executives at every internship I’ve had. In our modernized world, understanding the language of business gives you a unique competitive advantage and the ability to understand how every organization operates, regardless of the industry you choose to enter. It’s a great power that comes with great responsibility, and it’s important to always remain mindful of the power businesses have, and to always about how we can utilize that power to make a positive impact on our community and society.

What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? First, finding purpose and developing a greater sense of self-awareness are two qualities that will be paramount to your success at business school.

Majoring in business is an incredibly rewarding experience because it allows you to build a unique, diversified skillset that can applied across many different industries and situations. However, it’s also easy to get overwhelmed with the wealth of possibilities it offers. A core pillar of my time at Stern was the required Social Impact curriculum, which helped me understand not only the higher purposes of business organizations in our modern society but also the powerful role of purpose, intention, and personal values in my own career.

Second, network! The business world is ultimately much more about people than it initially seems to be and being curious about other people’s experiences is one of the greatest assets in a business student’s toolkit. You’ll be surprised how many people will be genuinely interested in your journey and future!

What has surprised you most about majoring in business? Coming to Stern from an arts school, I never would have thought that I’d end up concentrating in finance. I believed it was all about stocks and formulas, and I knew I wanted to focus on a discipline that’ll be challenging and intellectually stimulating. Luckily, Stern’s curriculum is built in a way that allows us to take classes across different disciplines before we pick a concentration. As a result, I found myself in an introductory finance class as early as in my second semester at Stern. I had somewhat of a lightbulb moment in that course because I realized how much finance requires you to think critically, find evidence, make an argument, and get people on board with it – which are all skills that are crucial not only to your business career but also your life at large. I quickly fell in love with this mode of thinking and declared my concentration right away.

Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? Something I tried to consistently do –= but I wish I had done more of – was experimenting outside my academic or professional areas of focus. We go through school thinking that we must already know exactly what job we’ll have after graduation or what our career is going to look like – but the reality is almost always the opposite. Our time in school is exactly the time for experimentation, open-mindedness, and trying different avenues. Every experience will enrich you in its own unique way, and diversifying your portfolio can tremendously help you down the line. If you’re a marketing student curious about entrepreneurship, join your school’s entrepreneurship club or pick an elective that can help you understand this area better! You’ll never know what you’ll learn, so I urge every business student to keep an open mind and try to never say never!

What business leader do you admire most? Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO & HBO Max, is a one-of-a-kind business leader and a role model who I really look up to. Under his purview, HBO premiered some of its most successful and culturally-impactful TV shows ever – from “Succession” to “The White Lotus” and “House of the Dragon”. All the while, it was launching its new streaming service, HBO Max, in 2020 and cementing its place as a top contender in the streaming wars. I think Casey is a phenomenal example of a business leader and senior executive who has the unique ability to be creative and work with artists while remaining strategic and business-oriented at the same time, which is exactly what I aspire to do in my career. Interning for his team remains one of the biggest accomplishments of my time at Stern.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? I’m so proud of the work I did with the Stern-Tisch Entertainment Business Association (STEBA). So many important conversations about increasing access and diversity in the entertainment industry are taking place now, and some people think this work is reserved only for the higher-ups who have the power to act. However, I believe it also starts with us – the young people who are going to run the industry one day – and we have the responsibility to look out for each other. That’s exactly what happens at STEBA, where members not only rigorously attend weekly meetings but also form an incredibly valuable community where they’ll eventually end up as each other’s colleagues for many years to come.

Which classmate do you most admire? A classmate I deeply admire is Skylar Carroll (Stern ’23), who is also a Stern-Tisch dual-degree student. Skylar is the perfect example of the inter-disciplinary potential that lies within our program, and her ambition and maturity are a true inspiration for all of us. Famous for working regularly during the school year, Skylar is such a hard-worker and a cross-disciplinary thinker. She is always involved with her community, and somehow manages to be at five different places at the same time. She juggles the quantitative & analytical aspects of our program along with her creative pursuits with such ease, and she always finds the time to help fellow students in need of advice or assistance on a project.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? I simply couldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the uncompromising and consistent support of my amazing parents. Moving across the Atlantic to attend business school was no easy feat and deciding to pursue a career in the entertainment industry was not an easy choice either. These are just some of the unusual and ambitious life decisions which I’ve decided to make, and my parents have backed me up throughout every step of the way without a shed of doubt. They’ve been unequivocally accepting of my choices and have been there for me at every imaginable moment from the very beginning. I learned the importance of determination and focus from my mother and the power of hard work from my father. Together, they have provided me with an infinite toolbox of strengths and values which I put to work every single day. I’ll never take them for granted.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1. Develop and produce a successful TV show
2. Travel the world and build businesses abroad

What are your hobbies? There isn’t much spare time when you’re working towards earning two degrees simultaneously, but you also have to make time for yourself and your community. To recharge, I like to take long walks around New York, explore the city with friends, exercise, and read.

What made Ori such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2023?

“Ori is a non-traditionally aged student who came from the Tisch Film and Television department into our Stern-Tisch Dual Degree program.  He entered the program in 2019 after being at Tisch for a year. Prior to that, Ori had been serving his compulsory time in the Israeli military (he is from Israel) creating documentary and other film content. Ori has spent almost five years at NYU through this program and in that time he has become a crucial mentor for incoming and new students in the Program both from Stern and Tisch. He has worked in the Tisch Film and Television department as a student worker alongside his intensive Tisch and Stern coursework throughout all of his years in the program and has taken on many highly coveted internships including at HBO.  At Stern, he went out of his comfort zone and found a love of finance and is currently taking and excelling in high-level coursework in that area as his concentration.  I think Ori exemplifies the amazing students who emerge from our unique Stern-Tisch BS-BFA Dual Degree Program.”

Jessie Rosenzweig
Director, Academic Initiatives and Advising

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