Suzanna Lorenz

• Can you tell us about your professional background?

I did my end-of-studies internship at Canal+ in business development. During this internship, I applied for another internship at DEMAIN Conseil, a consulting firm specialising in the retail, leisure and media industries. I wanted to continue to explore the opportunities available to me, and in particular, via an internship more focused on strategy and project management. I also liked the prospect of working with different players on different projects. I joined the firm in January 2020 for an internship and was then hired during the COVID period. 

During my 3 years at DEMAIN, I carried out several very varied missions. I started with missions for different actors of the press, ranging from the reorganization of a newsroom to the conception of a subscription strategy. Then I worked for France Télévisions for a year and a half, which was really an integrated mission for the client, more focused on project management. Finally, I worked for a year for the city of Paris, on a project to launch two platforms for participatory democracy. 

These three years at DEMAIN Conseil brought me a lot and allowed me to become more mature professionally, to know better what I wanted to do. I thought for almost a year about what I wanted to do next, and I realised that I wanted to return to Africa (I had done my internship at Canal+ in Guinea). So at the end of last year I went to Senegal to work in film production. At the moment, I work as a freelance on projects for music videos, commercials and documentaries. I am also in charge of finding financing and post-production. In the long term, my goal is to work on short and feature films.

• How did you get the idea to leave for Senegal and start freelancing?

It is the result of a long process of reflection that lasted a year, and I did not of course take this decision overnight. As I said, I had already lived in Guinea with my internship at Canal+, and I really wanted to return to West Africa and also to work in production. I hesitated for a long time between Abidjan and Dakar. It turns out that Dakar offers a richer environment in terms of independent production, so I opted for Senegal. 

What was key for me was to make a smooth transition. I didn't quit my consulting job overnight, I moved to Dakar at the end of last year while continuing to work for DEMAIN remotely, first part-time, then gradually decreasing for a "soft landing". This is certainly the best advice I can give to someone who decides to change jobs, to embark on an ambitious project, is to find ways of transition.  

This smooth transition allowed me to continue to have a rhythm of work when I arrived in Dakar, and not to find myself with nothing overnight. I was able to start building my network on the spot, to 'feel the ground', while still having a safety net. Also, the fact that I had worked for three years as a consultant allowed me to save money to be able to launch this project more comfortably.

• How does your CV and professional background serve you today in your entrepreneurial adventure? How did you approach this position coming from a consulting firm?

So, to be honest, my CV in itself is of no use to me, most of the projects are done by feel. What is very useful to me, however, is the experience I gained at ESSEC and in a consulting firm. I have acquired a certain self-confidence when I go to see people to propose that we work together, I am capable of bouncing off their comments, I am capable of learning quickly about subjects that I do not know and above all I am capable of having a good understanding of the issues and needs of my potential clients. I think that the combination of preparatory class, business school and consulting firm has really given me rigour and a strategic and operational mind. It also gives me the weapons to make the right choices and to have the confidence to refuse certain projects.

• What prompted you to join the chair and what did you get out of it?

I wanted to specialise in a certain field, to have a specialisation that made sense in terms of what I wanted to do when I started working. When I applied, I was really very focused on film production, and the chair allowed me to broaden my horizons, to discover other professions in the media field, and it made me want to work more on media strategy. The real plus of the media chair is certainly its practical and not only theoretical orientation. You have the chance to meet and talk to so many people in the audiovisual and film world

• What is your best memory from the chair ?

It was our trip to Los Angeles, and more precisely when we went to visit the offices of American companies, notably Paramount. We had the chance to meet Paramount executives, we really had a privileged moment of exchange with them, and I asked them many questions. This also allowed us to realise that in the United States, they had such a different way of thinking than in France, their vision of the media ecosystem is so different from ours, particularly with regard to the search for funding. In France, public funding still plays an important role in financing projects, which is not at all the case in the United States. This pushes them to constantly think about the audience and the targets when they produce content. This is very inspiring for me today. In Senegal, there is no established model, everything has to be done and thought out. If I become a producer in a few years' time, there is a lot to learn from the French and American models, and the chair has enabled me to become aware of this and to open up my horizons.

• What advice would you give to the Chair's students or those interested?

I would probably say not to be a careerist. I find that in retrospect the most inspiring people are the people who did the most unusual things. I really like the term serendipity (= ability to make an unexpected discovery by chance and to understand its usefulness (scientific, practical). For me, things happen gradually, and it is in retrospect that we manage to reconstruct the pieces little by little and to find meaning in them. For me, you have to make choices when you feel like making them, and not think in terms of what they can bring you in 5 years

• What is the question you would have liked to be asked?

What are my dreams for the future? 

• To become a production manager in Senegal for feature films

• To become a police commissioner 

• To become a kite surfing pro