Entertainment Council is an ASUCD unit involved in bringing Snoop Dogg, Cake, DJ Tiesto and Drake to campus.
“My personal approach and mission this year as the director of Entertainment Council has been to connect UC Davis students with quality entertainment,” said Henry Chatfield, director of Entertainment Council.
The level of involvement EC actually has in the shows and concerts varies. The group works by contacting agents through emails and phone calls. Dates, venue and how much the artist will be paid also makes a large impact.
“There are a number of factors that go into this but its pretty straight forward: talk to the student body,” Chatfield said.
Entertainment Council checks an artist’s fan page, in order to check the number of likes or followers they have. If they have too many followers, it can be determined that booking them is out of their budget.
If an artist is projected to do well at UC Davis, the Entertainment Council will work out a deal with the agent, based upon a set contract.
“Last spring an ASUCD bill was passed to allow us to have a $100,000 reserve to put on large shows. Our proposal to have access to the reserve has to be unanimously approved by the ASUCD President, Financial Controller, and Business and Finance Chair, which can be quite a process,” Chatfield said.
Most of the time, Entertainment Council does not provide funding for the full show. The level of involvement in the show determines the financial stake Entertainment Council holds.
“Our idea is not to make money, but to let the students get a low price. Essentially, the goal is to break even,” said Assistant Director Tim Chin.
Currently, the Entertainment Council is working on announcing events on their Facebook fan page and website. According to Chatfield, student suggestions are welcomed and Entertainment Council would like help from student groups with publicity.
With shows in the works, Entertainment Council looks forward to bringing quality entertainment to the student body.
“One show is confirmed for Whole Earth Festival weekend where we’ve booked one artist and have a few others we are negotiating terms with. We’ll probably be announcing that show in about a month. We are also in the final stages of closing a deal with a pretty awesome hip hop act and if they accept our offer we would be presenting that show completely financially backed by Entertainment Council in mid May,” Chatfield said.
Upcoming concerts that the Entertainment Council has contributed to include Drake on March 7, Steve Aoki on March 14, Bon Iver on April 17 and The Shins on April 23.
DANIELLE HUDDLESTUN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
