Episode 156: Liz Jenkins, CFO, Hello Sunshine

This episode generously sponsored by:

Liz is the Chief Financial Officer of Hello Sunshine, the media brand founded by Reese Witherspoon. She tells us all about the company, their mission, and their culture. It’s as good as you imagined. Liz was formerly the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Media Rights Capital. While there, she worked on the deal to bring House of Cards to Netflix, which was then written up as a Harvard Business Review business case, and she talks it about it here as well. Liz is very much one of the best and brightest, and I’m so happy to have her on the show.

Episode 154: Melinda McLaughlin, Chief Marketing Officer

This episode generously sponsored by:

Melinda is the Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme Reach. You may notice that Extreme Reach is the sponsor of this podcast, so that’s how I met her, but I would have interviewed her regardless. She tells us a bit more about the company, and we talked a lot about her journey in her work life. How important it is to be authentic, how self-awareness is key to leadership, and how knitting might be the key to everything.

And how highly paid executives will still tackle each other when something is being given away for free.  Humans are funny.

Episode 135: apparentlyjack, Jacqueline Legan and Katie Koeblitz

This episode brought to you by:

Jacqueline is a veteran Director of Video Production, and currently the Founder and Executive Producer at apparentlyjack. Jacqueline’s background spans almost every aspect of the filmmaking process from development to delivery, in both the branded and Independent film spaces with films and commercials starring well known Directors and Talent.    

With over ten years producing Independent Film, Katie is currently the Head of Independent Content at apparentlyjack. Katie’s production background includes work on both narrative and documentary feature films. Most recently, Katie produced documentaries G-Funk, A More Civil War, and The Untitled MMW Documentary. On the narrative side, Katie co-produced The Land, Galveston, and also had a hand in the coming-of-age film The Kings of Summer, which premiered at Sundance.                      

After many years in the advertising and film  industries, Jacqueline decided to go out on her own to form the content studio, apparentlyjack. apparentlyjack’s mission is to bring cinematic storytelling and storyline driven content to brands and independent film in a variety of formats.               

apparentlyjack champions equality, diversity, and inclusivity both behind and in front of the     camera. They have dedicated a portion of the company to empowering and mentoring other   women in entertainment and are working with various organizations to reach gender parity   by 2020.  For more information about apparentlyjack, visit www.apparentlyjack.com.     

Episode 106: Carrie Maurer and Nina Gianelli, Heart Headed Entertainment

Carrie and Nina are Producers and Founders of the production company called Heart Headed Entertainment. They came up through talk shows and unscripted and then took their careers into their own hands to both have more meaning in their work and to create a more manageable work and life model.

We talked about working in “talk” – you have no idea how much teeth come into it - and how complimentary medicine and healthy living has influenced both their company and their desire for a sustainable life inside of this business. This hour flies by…

You can find Carrie and Nina in all of these places:

https://www.facebook.com/heartheadedent/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/heartheadedentertainment/

https://www.instagram.com/heartheadedentertainment/

Episode 103: Stevie Wynne Levine - Executive Producer

Stevie Wynne Levine, acts as the SVP of Production & Development for Mythical Entertainment and spearheads all creative initiatives for Rhett & Link. A Webby, Streamy, and Shorty Award-Winning Executive Producer, Stevie was named one of Variety’s “Hollywood’s New Leaders.” The only bummer was that particular issue of Variety had the giant portrait of Harvey Weinstein on it. Because he ruins everything.

She was an integral part of building the Internet's most-watched daily show, "Good Mythical Morning," serving as Executive Producer for the past five years, along with overseeing the duo's scripted show, "Rhett & Link's Buddy System," their podcast, "Ear Biscuits," and various other pieces of content racking up billions of views.

Previously Stevie was fortunate enough to produce for some of YouTube’s top talent and leading new media companies including Mondo Media, Studio71, and Red Hour Digital.

She is a force to be reckoned with and a talent to watch.

Episode 98: Natasha Feldman, Actor, Host, Chef

Natasha is an Actor, Host and a Chef. She has a cooking show called Nosh with Tash, which you can find here. She started out as an actor and studied abroad but kept getting distracted by the farmer’s markets and the freshly baked bread.

Her mission is to make cooking accessible and fun for people who like to eat. Which is everyone. Not only is she incredibly charming and a great host, she is also very well educated and really knows what she’s talking about. Her first show was called Cinema and Spice and got picked up by Yahoo.

I think she’s the next big TV food person, but I’ll let you be the judge.

She also has a great sense of humor about her internet trolls.

Episode 86: Shannon and Tia Ayers

Shannon and Tia are writing/producing partners under the company Borndreamer. They came up separately through production and comedy, while still making viral videos and other projects together, until they decided to relaunch the company their mother started years ago. Together, they made the film Firm with a Purpose, which was the Audience Favorite at the Women in Comedy Festival in 2017, and screened last night at the Women in Film Annual Shorts event.

We had a funny and thoughtful conversation that ranged from competitions and collaboration, to motherhood and bias.  What does success really mean? And if you say, “Well, I guess I’m a badass,” are you?

They are launching a podcast called Sister Stuff soon, where they will be telling stories, talking about their journey in filmmaking and trying to make each other laugh. You can follow them and find out more at borndreamer.com. 

Episode 83: Selyna Warren and Marissa Read, Producers, Writers, Actors, Directors

Selyna and Marissa are Show Runners/Executive Producers of their YouTube Red show called Foursome. They sold their first show at 24 and they are going strong, making their unique mark in this business. They are prolific writers, passionate actors, and have just added Directors to their resumes.

And they have warned you, steer clear of the common table at Republic of Pie if you don’t want to get caught in their uproar.

Episode 81: Nicole Feenstra, Actor, Writer, Producer

Nicole is an Actor who also wrote and produced her webseries called Broken Hearts Division. You can find it here: www.brokenheartsdivision.com. It is hilarious, with a brilliant premise. There is a division of LAPD that prosecutes crimes of the heart. At least, there should be.

She came up through theatre and also advertising and marketing. All of her skills came together in producing the pilot to her series and launching a crowdfunding campaign.

We did this interview as a simulcast facebook live and Instagram live and it now lives on video on YouTube and you can watch it here: http://bit.ly/2zYt8CE

Episode 77: Women in Entertainment Summit 2017

Patty Jenkins talks with WIE Co-Founder Gretchen McCourt  

On November 2nd, I went to the third annual Women In Entertainment Summit.  I love this event.

The day started out with Geena Davis. The Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media Studies has provided a heap of data surrounding women and girls in media. She presented some data on the day, and as usual, representation of women on screen and behind the scenes are still dismally small.  There are some very easy fixes however, and this is a point that really resonated with a lot of people.

She told us that Media can actually fix the problem is has created.

There was a also a lot of talk at the conference about the parts that we own - namely, confidence and advocacy. 

On the side, we talked about #metoo.

During the lunch break I caught up with McKenna Koon and Dana Kelly who both work at FullScreen, and I talked with Shirley Davis, EVP of Production at Alcon Entertainment.

On this episode I share a lot of the high points and inspiration from the day – from women such as Geena Davis, Victoria Mahoney, Dee Rees, Jordyn Wieber, Christine Simmons, Gabrielle Carteris and Greta Gerwig.

It was a great day, and this is but a tip of the iceberg.

And my must see films list from the summit: LadyBird, Mudbound, Fear Us Women

Episode 71: Myah Hollis, Writer, Producer, Actor

Myah is a Writer/Producer/Actor.  She recently released her webseries called Or Die Trying.  Watch it here.  It’s really good.

She says you can’t enter the entertainment industry without people throwing the likelihood of your failure in your face.  And yet, she persisted.

I’m glad she did.  This is a woman who is going places.

And Twilight.  Can we just talk about Twilight?!

Episode 54: Kate Mines, Actor

Kate is an actor.  And a writer and producer. She recently created and produced the series called Dropping the Soap that can be seen on Amazon. Her other acting credits include Doubt, American Crime, Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, The Mindy Project, The Mentalist…all the shows you love. She was in the scene where Denny got his heart transplant on Grey’s. Say no more.  I’m a fan.

She produced Dropping the Soap in part to get exposure doing comedy.  Which she did.  Jane Lynch is in it too by the way, along with a lot of other faces you will recognize.

She gives a lot of great advice about producing and about acting.  For acting – know your place and be a good guest.  If you are invited to a dinner party, bring a lovely bottle of wine, don’t lug in the entrée.  And when producing, ask. Have good material, and they will show up.

And all the real networking happens at school.

Episode 51: Bri Castellini, Writer, Producer, Director, Actor

Bri is an award-winning indie film and web series writer, producer, actress and director.  And her day job is as the Community Liaison at Stareable, a web series community. She is of the generation that is creating their own content, putting it out in the world, and getting lots of accolades and attention. I gotta say, I love that.  It’s ballsy and brave.

We talked about faking it until you make it, finding real confidence, and embracing your femininity.

And show business is mostly jazz hands.

You can find more about Bri here.

Episode 42: Baked Goodes

Five women, Erin Dooley, MacKenzie Horras, Molly Reynolds, Anna Mehle and Caryn Ruby got together to put on a show, and it became the webseries called Baked Goodes, which debuted on 4/20. Caryn was unable to join us this day, as she was out of town, but I had the rest “in studio.”

These women are go-getters.  They wanted to work, so they created it.  What struck me as so unusual about this bunch is that they worked by consensus. They really made the effort to reach consensus every step of the way.  Their process sounds unusually pleasant, collaborative, and efficient. They did a lot of work very quickly with very little budget.  It can be done.  They are badass.

Watch Baked Goodes here and tell all your friends.

Episode 40: Carole Angelo, Digital Creative and Producer

Carole is a Digital Creative and Producer at TBS/TNT.  She came up through the digital world at NBC when digital was barely a thing, and she helped create it.  Along the way, she launched some obscure series you’ve never heard of, like “Friends” and “Seinfeld.” And her digital work with “The Office” launched the writer’s strike.  Yup.  She is patient zero.  But, it all got worked out in the end.

We talked about growing up at a studio, negotiating (or not), and would I please stop bringing that up?!  This was a really fun interview, even though I’m pretty sure she drove off with my parking pass.