SEMSATIONAL STORIES ‚94 Esq. Bethany Grabiec ‚ By Eliza Kaye 12 Esq.
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Lights, camera, action!” is a phrase that Bethany Grabiec, Vice President, Employment Counsel at Paramount Pictures, is very familiar with. Bethany’s Bethany Grabiec ’94 Esq. journey to the West Coast, however, started in Buffalo and more specifically, at SEM. Bethany graduated from SEM in 1994 and describes it as very small and somewhat intense, but at the same time, it fostered an environment where girls could be independent. At the time Bethany attended SEM on the Wincenc music scholarship, the head of school was Robert Foster, but by the time she graduated, the head was Sally Briggs. Throughout her time at SEM, Bethany was involved in music and theater. She played Glinda the Good Witch in the Summer at SEM production of “The Wizard of Oz” the summer prior to her freshman year and played the role of Agnes Gooch in the Spring Musical “Mame” during her freshman year. Bethany continued to perform with the Glee Club throughout her time at SEM and gave a senior vocal recital to the school just prior to graduation. Bethany gave regular solo performances at morning meetings in the Chapel. She also performed in numerous musicals and choral groups at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute and the Gow School. Bethany continued to enrich her performing arts education when she attended the renowned school of music at Indiana University. After her freshman year, however, Bethany realized that music was not the career that she wanted to pursue and
transferred to Barnard College in New York City. On what she explained as a whim, but based in a life-long interest in Russia and Eastern Europe, Eliza Kaye ’12 Esq. Bethany declared herself a Russian Studies major. Upon graduating from Barnard in 1998, Bethany decided that she wanted to put her Russian language skills to real-life use. Thus, Bethany enrolled in a post-graduate program in Moscow for six months from JuneDecember, 1998. Bethany explained her time in Russia as interesting to say the least. However, while she was in Russia, Bethany continued to study Russian language at a private university in Moscow while interning at the international law firm Clifford Chance. However, while in Russia, the economy collapsed and many Western businesses were reevaluating their Russian presence. Bethany explained that at that time, things became very tumultuous and she knew it was time to leave. Upon returning from Russia, Bethany was unsure of her next step, but knew that she wanted warm weather, so she took a leap of faith, moved out to Los Angeles, and began working in the entertainment industry as an executive assistant in the General Counsel’s office at Artisan Entertainment, which became Lionsgate Films. Impressively, Bethany simultaneously enrolled herself at University of Southern California, where she attained a Master’s in Communication Management. After she experienced the legal side of the entertainment industry, Bethany decided to pursue law as a career, and attended University