Winter 2006 - Sacred Heart Schools

Life at Warner Brothers
Pictures, Inc.
What do Bugs Bunny,
Harry Potter, Friends,
and Sacred Heart
have in common
Musette Buckley
(SJSH‘76, SHP‘80)!
When Musette Buckley (SJSH
ʻ76, SHPʻ80) walks around
the 110-acre Warner Bros. campus,
everyone—from the security guards
to George Clooney—knows her name
and greets her with a big smile.
Musette is the Senior Vice
President of Production Resources
for Warner Bros. Pictures, one of the
leading motion picture and television
production facilities in the world. She
works in the newly-emerging field
of product placement. “Remember
when Reeseʼs Pieces appeared in the
movie E.T.” said Musette. “That was
the beginning of product placement.”
For example, Musette formed the
partnership with Samsung so that
their phones appeared in Matrix
Reloaded. She hopes that Samsung
will also appear in Superman, which
releases this summer. And she made
the deal with Chrysler to promote
their new 300 Sedan in Firewall,
starring Harrison Ford.
“The main purpose of branded
integration is to generate revenue
to reduce the costs of production,”
said Musette. Her workday is packed
with meetings for every movie and
show that the studio has in preproduction
at the time. Musette
looks for opportunities for product
placement, and then she builds
strong relationships with consumer
companies such as Apple, Anheuser-
Busch, Chrysler, Kodak, Samsung,
and Coke. In return for their products
appearing in movies and TV shows,
the companies reduce production
costs, generate revenue, and leverage
placement with promotional campaigns.
“My favorite part of the job is my
daily interaction with a variety of
people, from creative production
people to the marketing geniuses of
the world,” said Musette. Her highenergy
personality is perfect for her
demanding job, where every minute is
packed with action. “For one movie,
I proposed ten product placements to
the director during the pre-production
process, and he turned them all
down. Then the day before filming,
the director realized the value, and
wanted all ten delivered the next day.
And we did! That was definitely my
craziest day at work.”
In addition to her high-profile
career at Warner Bros., Musette is a
mother to an adorable two-year old
daughter, “Muzie.” “I love being a
mom, but I couldnʼt juggle a career
like this without a lot of support,”
said Musette. “Little Musette comes
to work for a visit once a week. Her
favorite activity is to ride around the
WB campus in the golf cart to see
the animation studio, the Bewitched
MUSETTE & MUZIE pose on
Halloween (above) and ride on
an elephant at a Warner Bros.
event (below)
house, and the Partridge Family
house.
While fulfilling to her duties as
Senior VP and mother, Musette
also volunteers extensively for
AMFAR, Planet Hope, and The
Dream Foundation. She recently won
Time Warnerʼs prestigious Andrew
Heiskell Award, given to employees
in recognition of their outstanding
public service.
“I first became interested in
charitable works at Sacred Heart
when I was president of Mother
Costelloʼs organization, Castle Youth
Helping Others,” said Musette.
“Our group raised money for people
with disabilities, people who were
homeless, and for guide dogs for the
blind through bake sales and door-todoor
solicitations. Mother Costello
made a huge impact on my passion
for helping others. She was a loving,
compassionate mentor. My experience
in Castle Youth formed the base of all
the service work I do today.”
In general, Musette remembers her
Sacred Heart education as structured,
challenging, and enriching. “At
Sacred Heart I gained a life-long love
of learning, a sense of self-worth,
an appreciation for community,
good work habits, and the qualities
of compassion and respect,” said
Musette.
The Heart of the Matter 13