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Web series shows biz in the buff

By Jackie Hong

Move over The Avenue, there’s a new Ryerson-based web series hitting your YouTube playlist each week.

The Naked Entrepreneur, better known as Sean Wise, is an assistant professor from the Ted Rogers School of Management (TRSM).

Every Wednesday he unearths the stories and struggles behind someone in the business community.

“[As] an entrepreneur myself, I know if it’s going to be, it’s up to me,” Wise said.

Wise was inspired to create the show when he noticed the lack of Canadian-made content about successful entrepreneurs.

The first episode was shot in September 2012. Guests have included Dragon’s Den and Risky Business co-star W. Brett Wilson, software consultant and Ryerson graduate Michael Petrov, and interior decorator Debbie Travis.

Although The Naked Entrepreneur is Wise’s brainchild, Ryerson students do everything from preparation to post-production.

Students in the entrepreneurship course choose the guests that appear on the show, while RTA students are responsible for production aspects like filming and editing.

A 45-minute episode takes roughly 50 hours of work to produce.

“It’s a great crew, everyone generally likes each other,” first-year RTA student Julia Jones said. Jones is a makeup artist for the show, and also helps to prepare the set. “Sean is very patient. He expects high quality, and we do our best to deliver.”

Once episodes are finished, they are digitally distributed to Ryerson business professors to use as a resource in lectures.

According to Wise, the name of the show was the idea of the dean of the Faculty of Communication and Design, Charles Davis, who thought The Naked Entrepreneur reflected the purpose of the production.

“Many of our students know the successes of our guests, [and] the show aims to give students access to the naked truth behind such successes,” Wise said.

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