Gigi joined the 25-year-old Entertainment Management Program in 2001 as its Director and became the successor Entertainment and Media Management Institute's Executive Director in 2004.  In 1999, she left her prior career in entertainment banking to come to the UCLA Anderson School of Management as the Director of its renowned Applied Management Research/Field Studies (AMR) Program, working with more than 300 organizations on strategic consulting engagements with over 1,000 students. In addition, in 2000 she had been acting Associate Director of the Center for Management in the Information Economy. As a UCLA Anderson Lecturer, Ms. Johnson advises AMR projects for full-time, FEMBA, and EMBA students, as well as occasionally team-teaches entertainment courses in the Institute.

Prior to her arrival at Anderson, Ms. Johnson was a Managing Director/Sr. Client Manager at Bank of America, where she spent most of a decade as a corporate banker in their Entertainment/Media practice in Los Angeles and New York. She advised CFOs and CEOs on capital structuring and long-term financial structures for entertainment conglomerates, movie studios, theatrical exhibition, radio and TV broadcast stations, publishing, cable television, theme parks, and wireless telecommunications. Before her time in banking, she worked for leading advertising and public relations firms in media, as well as at Paramount Television in finance.

In addition to her role in managing and developing the Institute, Ms. Johnson engages companies and Institute alumni, moderates industry and management panels at conferences, provides support for EMA and its officers, coordinates course development, writes on entertainment risk management issues, and engages with research teams on entertainment projects. She also works with a wide variety of entertainment companies as a "business connector" on new technology ventures and business opportunities. She also provides valuable insights for both alumni and students on career direction and coaching.

Outside of UCLA Anderson, Ms. Johnson has been a principal in Maremel Partners, a business development and growth consultant for small and mid-sized firms, since 2001.

Ms. Johnson has her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School ('88) and her BA in Cinema-Television Production from the University of Southern California, where she specialized in documentary filmmaking and film marketing.

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