This episode generously brought to you by:
Sarah is the Director of VFX Sales at Picture Shop and has been a Supervising VFX Producer for the last decade. She is a wealth of knowledge of that side of the business, which is a side not that many people are expert in.
Some of her credits include Veep, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black – basically my streaming queue.
And she taught me the word sanctamom. Talk about descriptive…
This episode is generously sponsored by:
Allegra is the Senior Vice President of Physical Production at Paramount Pictures. Before becoming an executive, Allegra was a Producer and Production Manager on no less than four Transformer movies, along with Paranormal Activity 4 and a favorite of mine, The American President. If you need to see even more credits, here is the link to her IMDB page. She is a serious badass. One might even call her the Michael Bey whisperer.
We talked about what it took to rise to the top of the production world and how she made the shift to a studio job. What is important? What matters? What factors into your important career decisions?
This episode is generously sponsored by:
Jeanette is the Head of Production for Blumhouse. Her credits include Get Out, Insidious, The Purge, Paranormal Activity and approximately eleventy-hundred other things. She is also the founder of Catchlight Films and an entrepreneur. She has several projects that she will tell us about.
Jeanette’s story starts with a fiery redhead who could light up Las Vegas with her power and goes through visual effects, horror films and releasing a software app for worldwide filmmakers, and even collaborating with yours truly on an audio series. She has her hands in a lot of pots and makes it look pretty easy. I assure you, it’s not.
And this important tidbit: Lure them in with snacks.
Deborah is a television producer – think The Mole, The Amazing Race, and Fear Factor. And then she wrote a book about it called One Year of Reality and How It Nearly Killed Me: My Life Behind the Scenes. And I believe her. She showed up in a sling. She has stories. She told a couple of them to me on the show and to get the rest, buy the book.
And you can find Deborah in all of these places:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pkrmama
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/digitaldebwolff
Twitter: @pkrmama
Wordpress: prodmaven.wordpress.com
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/
Alexis Giostra is a Productivity Alchemist, whose focus is on helping people (mostly women) do less to accomplish more. Who doesn’t want and need that? I found our conversation incredibly juicy, as we delved into things like quantum physics, and law of attraction, and the seven hermetic principles of the Universe. Very woo. Very LA.
Alexis Giostra is a thought leader in the field of productivity and she is the subject of Alexia Anastassio’s (EP 80) next documentary. You can learn more about her here: http://www.strangecharmed.com/ and you can order her planner here: https://amzn.to/2qJnkX1
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.
Sherry Lansing is the subject of the biography, ”Leading Lady - Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker,” by Stephen Galloway, out in paperback today. Sherry has had a long and successful career as a filmmaker, Studio Head, and philanthropist. She was Chairman and CEO of Paramount Studios for 12 years, after being the President of 20th Century Fox. Some films made under her watch include Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Titanic, The Accused, First Wives Club…and the list goes on.
She is the founder and CEO of The Sherry Lansing Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to cancer research, health, public education, and encore career opportunities.
She is also a co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer, an initiative which funds multi-institutional cancer research “dream teams.”
In addition, she serves on the University of California Board of Regents and on the boards of the Broad Center, the Broad Museum, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Carter Center, Encore.org, the W.M. Keck Foundation, the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
Among her awards and honors are…
National Women’s Hall of Fame
Stem Cell Action Leadership Award, World Stem Cell Summit
Patron of the Arts Award, Screen Actor’s Guild
American Association of Cancer Research Humanitarian Award
Big Brothers and Big Sisters Legacy Award
Outstanding Woman in Film, Women In Film
Economic Equity Award, Women’s Equity Action League
Horatio Alger Humanitarian Award
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, 79th annual Academy Awards
In this episode, Sherry talks about coming up through the ranks, the keys to her success in the midst of a lot of “noise”, and her secret meeting with Jimmy Carter.
Hilary is the Vice President of Production Finance at CBS Studios. Here’s a story about how the entertainment industry lures you in. If your first couple of jobs are Seinfeld and Waiting for Guffman, are you really going back to corporate audit? Of course not.
Hilary tells her story of how she worked her way up through production accounting, to production finance on the studio side with a brief stint in the production department.
She’s now at the point in her career where leadership and mentorship has become as important as getting the numbers right. It’s legacy time, and when you can see big trends in the industry and are positioned to make a difference, you do.
Laurie is a Creative Producer. She is a producer on the shows “The Magicians,” “Aquarius” and “Trumbo.” She is a self-described schtunk from northern Indiana who can’t believe her luck in being completely in the action in Hollywood.
Be grateful, work hard, get involved.
You can find Melissa here:
Instagram: @francescanatalephoto
Twitter: @darkheartwriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darkheartfilms/
The Sound of Settling: https://www.facebook.com/soundofsettlingmovie/?ref=bookmarks
Newsletter sign up: http://eepurl.com/b3ct39
Lily is a Writer. She started out as an actress in the theatre, is a fellow Violet (NYU) and runs a female writer’s group called Bechdel Babes Writing Partners.
Her group is putting on a FREE industry only showcase welcoming Producers, Directors, Showrunners, and Literary Managers/Agents on March 22nd and 23rd. I’m going, meet me there. Get your ticket here: http://www.bbwritingpartners.com/showcase.
We talk about Lily’s mid-career change (a familiar theme in my circle), a bit about ‘kids these days’ and the importance of keeping arts in schools, and the vital need for women to be front and center in telling the stories.
And this career changing moment: “How are the kids? Pass the salt.”
And I had a big sense memory while I was editing. Voices are distinct.
Lisa is an Actor/Writer/Producer and Amy is a Writer/Producer/Actor and together they are creating a film and multimedia project called “Freelancers Anonymous.” These women are super smart and have their eye on the very big picture. Lisa was in the much-acclaimed web series called Easy Abby and is an accomplished voice over talent, among many other credits. Amy’s credits include CollegeHumor.com, An Emo Bromance, Break In, and a children’s book series called Jenny Morgan: Certified Genius.
They tell us as much as they can about their project and their process. Any more and they’d have to kill me. That’s fair, I guess.
Come listen and have a laugh with us. We cracked up a lot.
You can follow Freelancers Anonymous and find out more here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FA_themovie (@FA_themovie)
IG: https://www.instagram.com/freelancersanonymous/ (@FA_themovie)
FB: https://www.facebook.com/freelancersanonymous/ (@freelancersanonymous)
https://www.freelancersanonymousmovie.com/
This episode is brought to you by...
Molly is a Songwriter, a Songwriting Consultant, and an Author. She was a staff writer at A&M Records, and has won numerous awards and been nominated for an Emmy for her work on Happy Endings. She also helps songwriters shape their songs and get them to market, and has written books to that end. You can find Molly and her services at songmd.com.
She has a method, and after talking to her I feel like I could write a hit song! I’ll keep you posted…
And this, when your family considers songwriting to be a few steps below being a drug dealer or a prostitute, it is very motivating to be successful.
Amanda is an Attorney turned Film Producer, whose first film Magnum Opus is available now on Amazon Prime. Amanda is incredibly determined, and when she puts her mind to something, she gets it done. Everything can be figured out.
And here is something we should impart to all of our children, especially our girls – take opportunities to fail. It is so important. If you are too afraid to fail, you won’t take chances and do the things that really scare you. And that is where the real success lies.
Magnum Opus is streaming everywhere, including on amazon prime (http://amzn.to/2zbuTqY), iTunes (http://apple.co/2ybu0zy), google play, etc. Please follow and share on social at:
https://www.facebook.com/MagnumOpusMovie
https://twitter.com/MagnumOpusMovie
and you can find the trailer here: http://www.magnumopusmovie.com/trailer/ (sharing is caring, and every time a person shares or clicks buy, an attorney saves her soul).
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.
Vicki Saunders is an entrepreneur who started an organization called SheEO.
SheEO is a leading global innovation in the female entrepreneur marketplace. Our radical new model to finance, support and celebrate female entrepreneurs has received global attention by capturing the hearts and minds of women around the world. [from the SheEO website]
You have to hear about how this works. If you are a woman looking for how you can concretely help women’s success and make a tangible difference, this is for you. If you are an entrepreneur looking for a boost of capital and an incredible circle of radical support, this is for you.
I’m in, and I would love for you to be too.