Kiska Higgs ’01, president of Production & Acquisitions at the independent film company Focus Features, returned to her undergraduate roots this semester to share her experience, insights and advice as a philosophy major and beyond with rising and graduating seniors in the department.
Higgs was the guest speaker at the Department of Philosophy’s annual Undergraduate Princeton and Beyond Dinner where she reassured students that they will all be okay. “You absolutely need to maximize your education both in the philosophy department and your network, and in the liberal arts education as a whole,” Higgs stressed. “But it's all going to work out and it’s just a matter of how, or when and how, you want to shape your life.”
As for the shape of her life, Higgs had the storied career trajectory of starting in a mail room (at the talent agency WME) some 20+ years ago and – through what she describes as a mix of luck, timing and preparation – rising to the executive suites at Focus Features, producers of award-winning films including “Conclave,” “The Holdovers,” “Belfast,” and “Promising Young Woman.” And while she admits that particular career path likely no longer exists, Higgs sees a definite connection between her philosophy studies at Princeton and the success she’s had in a volatile industry like film.
“I'm sure you've heard this all before, but philosophy teaches you how to think. It teaches you how to be discrete and to the point with a sentence and with an argument,” Higgs said. “You also develop a certain level of comfort with chaos and irrationality which can be useful in Hollywood!”
Higgs emphasized that philosophy teaches you how to look at something and have a big picture view of it, which she feels is super helpful in times or industries where there's constant transition. “When other people are just looking at what’s in front of their face or whatever the newest crisis is, I've always felt like I've been able to zoom out, look at patterns, look at ways of thinking and apply that and I do think that is from my philosophy training,” Higgs explained. “I also think one of the things that has allowed me some success in general is an interest in inquiry which is definitely related to having been a philosophy major" she added.
“And maybe this isn't fully philosophy degree related, but if you can sort of take intent or the assumption of malice out of things, your life will be so much easier,” Higgs added as a final note. “That's probably my biggest piece of advice. If you pretend like there's never any malice in anyone's doings, you'll be golden because everything will be a laugh or a surprise.”
As for her senior thesis advice, Higgs recommended picking a topic that is interesting and maybe even solvable and attacking it in chunks – not leaving it until the last minute. “In retrospect, I think my thesis adviser, Gil Harman, was very kind when he called my thesis ‘banal’ because it was beyond banal," Higgs admitted. “I picked a subject that was laughably untackleable for a 21-year-old” she added. "And if I had to do it all over again, I’d work on it in discrete bundles because I'm definitely a last-minute person – and that was not conducive to non-banal thinking!”
Higgs also encouraged students to take advantage of the brain power that surrounds them here. “This is the one time in your life where you have access to these people," she reminded students, "because most of you are probably not going to be reading philosophy at age 45.”
The Princeton and Beyond dinner is annual department event which began back in 2017 under former Department Chair and McCosh Professor of Philosophy Michael Smith, with the purpose of bringing Princeton philosophy undergraduate alumni from a variety of fields – both academic and non-academic – back to share insights and advice from their experience doing independent work, navigating their career paths after Princeton and the value of a philosophy degree in the larger world.
“Princeton and Beyond provided a wonderful opportunity for undergraduate majors and minor students to connect with each other and with our faculty in a more casual way over dinner," said Christine Chen '25. ”The guest speaker, Kiska Higgs, offered an honest look into her life and career within the film industry after Princeton, and challenged us to look within ourselves for skills we have cultivated in our philosophy and, more broadly, Princeton liberal arts education as assets in the job market.”