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/

Episodes 31 &33: The Women of Brothers and Sisters

This was my first panel, and I loved it.  I sat down with the following women who ran the show Brothers and Sisters which aired on ABC for 5 years:

Sarah Caplan – Executive Producer

Suzanne Geiger – Unit Production Manager/Co-Producer

Cynthia Pusheck – Cinematographer/Director of Photography

Sally Sue Beisel-Lander – 1st Assistant Director/Co-Producer

Denny Dugally – Production Designer

Ida Lee Henderson-Williams – Production Accountant

Melina Root – Costume Designer

We talked about everything from what it was like to work on a female team, the changing landscape of the business, sexual harassment, salary negotiation, and getting the band back together.  They were very forthcoming and I really felt like they let me in on something special.

And Sarah baked us a cake.  As you do.

It will be presented in two episodes. 

Episode 32: Shelly Bond, Comic Book Editor

Shelly Bond is a comic book editor and the creator of the project called Femme Magnifique.  Her name appears in over 900 comics and graphic novels from Neil Gaiman's beloved Sandman series to masterworks by Grant Morrison, Bill Willingham, Darwyn Cooke and Gilbert Hernandez.

Her latest project is FEMME MAGNIFIQUE, a Kickstarter book that she's editing and co-curating with Kristy and Brian Miller of HiFi Colour Design. This graphic novel anthology salutes 50 powerful women in pop, politics, art and science who take names and change the game. 

Here is the kickstarter link.  I encourage you to kick in and support this cool project. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hificolourdesign/femme-magnifique

Shelly lives in Los Angeles with her favorite comic book artist/husband, Philip Bond, and their favorite teal-haired son, Spencer.  Rumors that she wears five-inch platforms are completely unfounded. 

We talked about the world of comics, the role of the editor, a true love story, and of course, tap dancing. 

Episode 28: Nadja Rutkowski, Distribution Executive

Nadja is Senior VP, Sales, Marketing & Operations at Terry Steiner International. As such, she places films on airplanes and with the military. A worthy endeavor indeed, and yet perhaps the least interesting thing about her. She grew up in a divided Berlin and is still dealing with her immigration issues after being in the US for more than 20 years. She has a valuable perspective on immigration and on our current political climate.

This was recorded a couple of weeks after the election, but I don’t think much has happened since to assuage her concerns. Let me know what you think.

Episode 27: Penelope Spheeris, Director

Penelope Spheeris is a film Director. She is known for two parallel careers - one is of the Wayne’s World and studio picture variety, and the other is of The Decline of Western Civilization series about the Los Angeles Punk Rock scene. Basically, she is rock and roll. You can read up on her here.

We talked about her making omelets for Lorne Michaels as he told her about this live comedy show thing in New York he was thinking about doing. How she taught this kid Albert Brooks about filmmaking while he taught her something about funny.  How Richard Prior told her she was pregnant. You know, the usghe.

And, you can’t help who you fall in love with.

Episode 26: Lydia Dean Pilcher, Producer

Lydia is an Executive Producer and is the Founder and President of the production company Cine Mosaic. Her many credits include Queen of Katwe, Here One Minute, The Sisterhood of Night, You Don’t Know Jack, Amelia, The Darjeeling Limited, Iron Jawed Angels, Hysterical Blindness, just to scratch the surface.

Lydia is also a member of the Producers Guild of America and started their Women’s Impact Network.  She was key in producing the Ms. Factor Tool Kit which serves to debunk the many myths around the notion that female-driven content is not commercially viable. She also teaches a class at NYU that sounds so juicy, I may re-enroll.

She defines “badass” as this: not being afraid to be effectively subversive.  May we all be badasses.

Episode 25: Lia Dosik Carney, COO

Lia is the COO of the newly formed company, Topspin Content. She is also the former SVP of Production at Discovery Studios. She steadily worked her way up in the business, learned how to negotiate on her own behalf, and recently took a giant leap of faith. And she did it while raising twins.  No easy task. 

We talked about her journey, the benefits of coming from a long line of badass women, and how most things circle back to the need to be liked. And this: She who is brave is free.  That one got me.  Tattoo worthy, don’t you think?  

Episode 24: Karen Evans, Talent Manager

Karen is a Talent Manager. She manages mostly comedy writers, which makes sense, because she is very funny herself. Not to overplay it, but I think this episode is hilarious.  It’s like a little holiday treat, full of merriment and good laughs, more than it is a serious exposé of sexist Canadian radio hosts. 

Although it is that, too.  Karen started in radio, in Canada, with pink hair. She made it all the way to the morning show, where she laughed indulgently at whatever the male co-host said, and cheerfully took home 1/3 of the pay.

The way she tells it is much funnier.

She talks about her path to Los Angeles, to motherhood, and to a much more satisfying career, where she is the boss lady and works in her garoffice.  And did you know….whereas America is a melting pot, Canada is a mosaic?

Episode 23: Jill D'Agnenica, Director/Editor/Artist

Jill is a Director, Editor and an Artist.  She worked her way up in the editing department, until she became an Editor. Her credits include Undercovers, The Division, Switched at Birth, and Pretty Little Liars, among others. She then went on to direct the independent feature film, Life Inside Out, and then the penultimate episode of Switched at Birth.

She walked us through the last two minutes of working with film, transitioning to digital editing, and having a couple of very important conversations that got her to the next levels.  She talks about editing and directing through the eyes of an artist. Her enthusiasm is contagious, her conversation juicy. This is a master class.

And she has documented her bad mothering as an art exhibition. You can find her website here:

http://www.jilldagnenica.com/Jill_Art/Welcome.html .

BONUS! In this short episode, Jill talks about her philosophy as an Editor, and also describes a very cool art project she did in every square mile of Los Angeles at the time of the civil unrest after the Rodney King verdicts.  As it turns out, some things in life ​are free.

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 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 12: Lindsay Dougherty, Business Agent, Teamster

Lindsay is a Business Agent and Organizer for Local 399 – Teamsters.  She is a second generation Teamster from Detroit.  That fact alone gives her some serious cred, and she is a rising leader within the Teamsters in her own right.  As a business agent, she negotiates contracts with Studios and producers and makes sure her members are treated fairly and paid well.  She is passionate about the labor movement.  So much so, it is tattooed all over her arms.  Lindsay is a force to be reckoned with.  A badass for sure.  She gives us a glimpse into the inner workings of a film set, the politics of labor, and what it’s like to be one of very few women in top leadership in The Brotherhood.  It often goes something like this, “Whose wife are you?”

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?