Episode 84: Amanda Upson, Producer

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). 

Episode 60: Suzanne Lyons, Producer, Author, Teacher

Suzanne is a film producer, author, speaker, teacher and inspiration. You may remember the Flash Forward Institute in the early 2000’s.  She started that. She is the Co-Founder of Snowfall Films. She wrote Independent Film Producing: The Craft of Low Budget Filmmaking.

From humble beginnings in Canada, where she was told she could be a teacher, a nurse or a secretary, she quickly realized she was as smart as the men running things and might just have a go at that. At 29 she was the first female VP at a TV Network.

She is all about accountability and going for it. In this business, the key differentiator is who has actually done the work?

“In what other industry on planet earth do people relinquish their power in running their own lives to someone else (i.e. agents and managers?)”

And this: we are living on earth to experience joy and expansion. No limits.

Grab a cup of tea and settle in. Then, find more here:  http://www.suzannelyons.net/

Episode 44: Jennifer Freed, Owner/President Trevanna Post

Jennifer is the Owner and President of Trevanna Post.  Trevanna is a post production accounting firm focusing on film and television, with offices in New York and Los Angeles.  She tells us her story from being the young blonde out of Stanford who “would never make it in Hollywood” to having a successful and thriving business for more than 20 years. Take that, naysayers. 

She talks about the importance of her mentor, working hard and learning as much as you can, and balancing a thriving family life – for herself and for her employees. And for the artists out there, we can’t emphasize enough how important the business and accounting side of this business is. It helps to make better creative decisions.

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.

Episode 39: Beatriz Mascaro, Co-Executive Producer

Beatriz is a Co-Executive Producer on Teen Mom OG.  What’s OG?  She’ll tell us.  Her other credits include Say Yes to the Dress, Teen Mom, What Not to Wear, and A Wedding Story. She is producing Teen Mom while being knee deep in raising two tiny humans – one of them is less than a year old. She is a big team player, both at work and at home. 

We talked about raising the next generation of workers – and seriously, why is there so much parenting required at work? Here is the advice:  work hard every time.

I will warn you, the audio on this episode is not awesome.  I think her interview is worth it though, so try to stick with it.

Episode 36: Diana Chang, Producer

Diana is a Producer in the world of short form and social media. She currently works at the Food Network as a video producer for their Snapchat Discover channel.  At the time of this interview, she was at Mashable, creating Snapchat and social media content every single day.  As she said, the internet lived in her office. The pace is fast and furious and creativity is constant.  So fast, there doesn’t seem to be much time to discriminate.  That’s the good news.

This is a quick episode, but mostly because we talked really fast.

Episode 29: Kathryn Leigh Scott, Actor / Writer

Kathryn is an actor and writer. She started her career in Dark Shadows and went on to act on television, in film and in theatre.  Some of her many credits include The Great Gatsby, The Turn of the Screw, Hawaii Five-O (the first one), Baretta, Cagney & Lacey, Knots Landing, Dallas, Matlock, Broadcasting Christmas…..I think you get the idea.  Here is a link to her IMDB if you want to see the whole list.

She is also a writer and started a publishing company.  Her books include Jinxed, Down and Out in Beverly Heels, The Bunny Years, Last Dance at the Savoy and the upcoming If Not Now, When?  You can read more about Kathryn on her website here.

We talked about the genesis of If Not Now, When? (my new mantra), how women must take control of their finances, and how close we all are to the edge. She discusses that period of life when women become invisible and have to come to terms with all the ticking clocks – not just the baby one.

And that time she took Gloria Steinem to task in the New York Times for giving up on romance after 50. I’m on Kathryn’s side on this one.  We must keep hope alive.

Episode 21: Sara Fischer, Production Executive, Shondaland

Sara is the Head of Production at Shondaland. Wowza. She worked her way up in the business as an Assistant Director, UPM, Producer and Production Executive.  Here is her jam-packed IMDB page. She has a St. Elsewhere baby, a Chicago Hope baby, and a Thirtysomething baby. Who among us can say that?

She recently joined Shondaland, as Shonda Rhimes is building an empire of badass women, of which Sara is one. Her biggest piece of advice - people are in this business a long time, and your paths are going to cross again. Be nice.

Here’s the other secret, no matter how successful you become, you still feel like that kid who was getting everyone coffee.

And remember that awesome video that introduced Hillary during the Democratic convention this summer?  Sara produced it.

Episode 18: Andrea Ciannavei, Writer

Andrea is a television writer….and so much more. She’s also a rabble-rouser, New Yorker, Italian. My first impression of her was that she is a woman who lives “balls out.” Out loud.  Wide awake.  She feels all the feelings and tries to sort them out, while living with as much truth as she can muster. This is what makes an artist.

Some of her television credits include The Path, American Odyssey and Borgia. She has worked with Tom Fontana.  She works on the WWP Writing Workshops for the Writer’s Guild Initiative.  She did a lot of work with Occupy Wall Street.  She is an activist, a teacher, a badass.

We talked about being at Juilliard and having an imposter syndrome, being fired by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and how that was great, gaining 40 pounds in impoverished Africa, then losing 100 in LA.  And my new favorite phrase “the conspiracy of denial.”

I thought our talk was delicious and I hope you do too.  **We did it with a lot of f-bombs, though.  You’ve been warned.

Episode 17: Kool Marder, AFI Mentor/Production Executive

Kool is currently a Faculty Mentor at the American Film Institute. Prior to that, she was a Production Executive, Producer, DGA UPM, Location Manager, Production Coordinator – name the production job, she has done it. Kool has overseen and/or made about 100 films.  How many people can say that, let alone how many women?

Some credits include, Blue Valentine, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street 5, Casual Sex, Fried Green Tomatoes, American Pie, Erin Brokovich, The Fast and the Furious, and Bourne Identity.

We talked about the early days, when cell phones were in briefcases and coordinators prepared call sheets on typewriters. You think it’s hard to make movies now….

And now for Kool's Tales from the Trenches.  Is it a federal crime to receive cocaine via fedex? From UPM to Expert Witness in the Big Easy.

Episode 16: Ida Lee Henderson, Production Accountant

Ida Lee is a freelance Production Accountant. She has worked on films and television, notably Rizzoli & Isles, Brothers & Sisters, Because of Winn-Dixie, Planet of the Apes, and everyone’s favorite movie, Rudy. She is one of the best, and when she finishes a long running series and becomes available, there is an immediate bidding war to engage her on the next show.

We talked about her early beginnings as a “real” accountant in the tire industry, to being mentored and trained by the incredible Joe Aguilar, to becoming a teacher herself and continuing the apprenticeship imperative in film production.

If you think production accounting is boring and merely bean counting, ask a producer who has tried to work without a good accountant, or who has had to suffer a bad one. They will tell you how very vital it is.

And in Ida Lee’s own words, “When a woman takes a stand, stand behind her.”

And here is the BONUS Episode: Ida Lee's Tales from the Trenches.  Beware of Producers wielding the "C" word, and when else do you get to be in the room when people's dreams come true...

Episode 15: Cristen Carr Strubbe, Production Executive, UPM

Cristen is the Vice President of Physical Production at NBC Universal. Prior to being a production executive, she was the DGA Unit Production Manager on films such as American Beauty, Catch Me If You Can, Ali, Charlie Wilson’s War – ever hear of any of those? Fun fact: she also had this career while having three babies and breastfeeding.  Even on location.

We talked about sending the breastmilk to LA with the film shipment, the frequently asked question, “don’t you want to be home with your children?” and coming full circle from her first interview with Kool Marder 20 years ago, to occupying that very same office as the executive.  These are the delicious confirmations in life that you are on the right path.

And of course, this: “Cristen, get Tom Cruise off your lap and go fix the generator!”   But, that’s in the bonus episode for next week on Cristen’s Tales from Trenches episode.

And in Cristen’s own words, “Aim higher, ladies, aim higher.”

And here is the much anticipated BONUS Episode.  Cristen's Tales from the Trenches.

Episode 13: Jeffery Tobias Halter, Gender Strategist

Jeffery is a Gender Strategist.  What’s that, you say? He consults with corporations on how to engage men to advance women.  He makes the business case for having robust and effective women’s leadership initiatives.  So much so, he wrote a book:  WHY WOMEN, The Leadership Imperative to Advancing Women and Engaging Men.  Spoiler alert, it’s about the bottom line.

Sometimes, the men at the top need to hear it from one of their own – he is a white, male baby boomer.  If you want a male perspective from someone who has given it a lot of thought and is immersed in the topic, this is the guy. 

There were a couple of things he said that stopped me in my tracks.  One of them was men compartmentalize so much, they see the women at work to be entirely different creatures from the women at home.  I’ve been thinking about this ever since.  Is this the modern Madonna/Whore complex?  Work Wife vs House Wife? Look for a blog post on this soon…

You can find Jeffery and his company here: ywomen.biz

Episode 11: Maria Giese, Director/Writer/Activist

Maria Giese is a Film Director, and directed the films When Saturday Comes and Hunger. She is also an activist on behalf of women directors in the United States. She was the person who agitated the ACLU to pressure the EEOC to investigate Hollywood for discriminatory hiring practices of female directors.  This investigation is currently underway, as Jennifer Warren spoke about in Episode 3. We talked about why the EEOC investigation is only focused on directors, the history of the DGA and its diversity program, and the importance of separating the label of WOMEN from that of DIVERSITY.  Turns out, women are not a minority.  And, when is the last time you talked about Title VII?

To find out more about Maria and her work, click here.

Episode 9: Cynthia Kanner, Post Production Executive

Cynthia is currently the Vice President of Post Production at HBO. She started in a big accounting firm in New York, working on audits, mergers and acquisitions as a CPA. Realizing that was not her cup of tea, she took a risk, moved to Los Angeles and started working in production. She worked her way up, learning everything she could, until she found her home at HBO, where she has worked for 22 years.  We talked about everything from toe cleavage regulations, staying up all night making the Valentine cookies for her daughters’ classmates, and how her corporate women’s leadership group evolved from naming themselves “The Tiaras” to the more appropriate “The Badasses.”  There is also a lot of juicy talk about negotiating your deal.

Episode 8: Andie Rice, Production Finance Executive

Andie Rice is currently the Vice President of Production Finance at Viacom Media Networks. She started in production and worked her way up the path of production finance at the network.  We talked about her big plan to hitch a ride to LA on a cruise ship, how she will never regret not working in a beer factory in Milwaukee, and how if we really believe in this whole gender equality thing then we have to be ok being the primary breadwinner.

Episode 7: Amy Lemisch, Executive Director, California Film Commission

Amy Lemisch, Executive Director, California Film Commission

Amy spent 18 years at the right hand of Penny Marshall, a pioneer female director.  It was her first job in the business, and became a career. She learned a thing or two there, and became a producer - League of Her Own, Riding in Cars with Boys, Awakenings…. Once she started having children, she exchanged her jeans and sneakers for grey suits and sensible heels and went to work for the state of California at the Film Commission.  We talked about how when a woman is at the very top, it does change the culture and changes the experience for other women in the room. And, how do you time a family and manage a career in production…when it seems pretty much impossible.

Episode 6: Ginny Nugent, Production Executive

Ginny Nugent: Production Executive/Producer

Ginny is currently an SVP of Physical Production at HBO, where she has been overseeing films and series for nearly 20 years. Prior to HBO, she produced several films for Roger Corman, and also produced two favorites of mine, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe and Anywhere but Here.  We talked about her journey through this business, that one time her husband was SO RIGHT, and how a recent incident on a set with her daughter helped to spur a policy change at HBO.

BONUS!! But wait! There's more!

If you, like me, just can't enough of Ginny Nugent, you are in luck.  Here is some bonus material....stories from the trenches...

Episode 5: Linda Burstyn, Writer/Producer

Linda had several careers in her life before her current one as a Writer for television dramas.  She has been a political writer, a TV news producer, a journalist and a feminist activist.

(She wrote a powerful article about female genital mutilation in America, which you can read here: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1995/10/female-circumcision-comes-to-america/306051/.)

Some of her TV writing/producing credits include The Education of Max Bickford, State of Affairs, In Plain Sight, NCIS and Chasing Life.  We talked about her journey to television writing (via a train ride with Seinfeld), her mothering, and her philosophy for achieving your dreams and having a happy life. 

We also talked about quid pro quo vs hostile work environment laws, and how the latter can sometimes be detrimental to women – by actually creating the hostile work environment it was meant prevent.

Episode 4: Yolanda Cochran, Production Executive, Producer

Yolanda Cochran, Production Executive, Producer

Yolanda started out as a CPA with KPMG and a production auditor at Disney. Not too many years later, she was Executive Vice President of Physical Production at Alcon Entertainment, where she oversaw a ton of movies – Point Break, Dolphin Tale 1 & 2, The Blind Side and my favorite, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. We dug deep into the important issues….like exclusively breastfeeding while being a badass at work.  Believe us when we say, it is not easy!  We also talked about the notion that for women to be more successful they need to behave like men.  Is that true?  Or can we shift the paradigm?