I don’t get to pick what movie is made or who stars or what it is called or when it is released, but it is all mine. I care about awareness and likelihood and key demographics and test screening results. I agonize over one sheets and teasers and trailers and TV spots and banner ads and every other element of the campaign to get those seats filled on the theater opening weekend and beyond. Because the Monday after a release is a mightly long and painful day if no one comes to see my movie. 

 I am the VP, Marketing at a film studio.

 Photos by JannieT and photoNiki.

Anyone who has read the novel Push knows how challenging it must have been to get that story to the screen with its spirit intact. Sarah Siegel-Magness’s profile, with its lessons about passion, heart, and the entreprenurial mindset, will surely inspire readers to create or find material that moves them and have the courage to go the distance with it. Special thanks to Sarah for taking the time during what must be a whirlwind period as a producer of an Academy Award nominee to answer our questions.

College and degree:  I have a business degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Internships during college:  I worked as a College Rep for EMI Records, promoting music in college. While I was in school, I opened up a Celestial Seasonings kiosk on my college campus and sold a successful amount of tea and merchandise with my brother and a friend. This was my first stint in the entrepreneurial world and it helped get me ready to run my own company.

First job:  I started working at the age of 14 and my first job was working at Career-Track, a business Seminar and self-help company. I got to work in all of the key departments and learned how the business operated by spending time in each area.

Pre-entertainment career, if any:  After college, I moved to New York City where I got an internship at EMI World Records. I loved working in music, but my true passion was fashion and when I was 27, I founded the women’s clothing line, So Low. The idea for So Low came to me when I couldn’t find underwear that would comfortably fit under my low-rise jeans. I decided to make a pair and brought it to the California Merchandise Mart.  I had no idea that getting picked up by a sales firm with one style is unheard of, but my ignorance paid off because it gave me a sense of confidence and I found a buyer. I immediately developed three additional styles including boxers, tank tops and g-strings and eventually, with the help of my best friend from high-school, we expanded the brand into a contemporary women’s clothing line that sells everything from dresses to t-shirts to sweatshirts. 

First entertainment job: My first job in entertainment was producing TENNESSEE with my husband, Gary Magness and Lee Daniels. 

Why did you want to be a producer? What made you think you’d be good at it? I fell in love with the filmmaking process during the first week on the set of TENNESSEE. Lee Daniels made an effort to show us the magic of filmmaking and my husband and I were hooked. We knew that being on set, creating films with messages, and working with the talented crew that make stories come alive was what we wanted to do. I didn’t know for certain that we would be good at it, but we decided we wanted to give it our all.

First project you produced: The first project I produced was TENNESSE. We were first introduced to director Lee Daniels through a producer, Tom Heller, who cold-contacted me after reading about my entrepreneurial spirit and clothing line. We set a meeting to talk to Lee about his projects, but the meeting was eventually cancelled. A little while later, I received another call from Tom. He told us about Lee’s film, TENNESSEE, and we flew to where they were filming. We were immediately captivated by what Lee was doing. After seeing his talent, dedication and passion, we knew we wanted to be in business with him. The next day we agreed to finance a majority of TENNESSEE and became Executive Producers on the film.

Eureka moment: My eureka moment didn’t happen in one moment but instead happened during the overall production of TENNESSEE. I was really enjoying the filmmaking process and realized how wonderful it would be to be able to make films with positive messages. My husband and I knew that we wanted to work with Lee Daniels again, and that is when we decided to form our production company, Smokewood Entertainment, and commit to making additional films.

Lee had secured the rights to the novel, Push, by Sapphire and was interested in making it into a film. After reading the book, I fell in love with the story and knew we had to make it. Everyone told us we were crazy to make a film about a 300 lb black girl who was abused, but the story tugged at my heart and I couldn’t let it go. We struggled to cast the role of Precious because we didn’t want the actress’ real story to be what Precious went through.

Billy Hopkins, our casting director, made the amazing discovery of Gabourey Sidibe after she skipped class one day and came to an open casting call.  She had never acted before and Lee, Gary, and I knew within days that she was the right one for the role. Filming was intense, but everyone on the set knew that we were making something special. After finishing the film, we submitted it to the Sundance Film Festival and were not only accepted, but ended up winning three awards, including the Audience Award for best film. 

After Sundance, we started receiving interest from Hollywood studios. Both The Weinstein Company and Lionsgate were interested in acquiring the film, and ultimately Lionsgate ended up securing the rights. We then screened at the Toronto Film Festival and won the People’s Choice Award. No other film has ever won both the People’s Choice Award at Toronto and the Audience Award at Sundance before.

After the festival route, Lionsgate released the film in a limited number of theaters and eventually expanded nationwide. The film performed really well, earned record breaking revenue and defied all expectations. We started hearing buzz about possible award nominations and eventually received multiple nominations, including Best Picture nominations for the Golden Globe and the Academy Award!

Best thing about being a producer: The best thing about being a producer is being able to tell stories that I believe in and that hopefully make a difference. My husband and I founded the production company, Smokewood Entertainment, and it is important to us to make films with positive messages for diverse audiences.

Worst thing about being a producer: I would say the most difficult thing about being a producer is when fiscal responsibility is trumped by great creative vision. The producer has a financial and creative responsibility to the film and sometimes the two responsibilities do not go hand in hand.

Most surprising thing about being a producer: How long it takes some of the best movies in Hollywood to get made.  I recently participated on a panel with a producer whose film took 20 years to make.

Describe a typical work day in your current position: There is no typical work day when you are a producer.  Depending on where you are in the development process, a day can include being on the set of your film and working with the director to get the film made, meeting with potential directors, actors, etc. about your next project, doing interviews to promote a project, or reading scripts to find your next project.

Worst day in entertainment industry: I don’t believe one can have a worst day, because I believe we grow from difficult experiences. I find the most difficult projects in life are usually the most rewarding. 

Best day in entertainment industry: The best day is when a producer can celebrate the fruits of their effort. It’s a wonderful moment for any producer when a project is finally put on the screen for an audience to enjoy.

Brush with greatness: Some people are born to do certain things. I would say I was exposed to brilliance the first day Gabourey Sidibe started working on set. You could feel her greatness and the beginning of something beautiful. I was completely amazed that someone who had never been trained as an actress could perform so perfectly. This is when I realized that some people are born with raw talent.

Secret of your success/advice to the newbie: My advice to anyone new in this business is to go with your gut. Work on projects that move you. Always be humble and always be ready to learn.

Next move (or next five moves): Our next projects include a feature film based on the children’s book series, Judy Moody, and a documentary on an indigenous tribe in Brazil called AMOUNGST BROTHERS.

Know anyone who could use an entertainment industry insider? If so, please encourage them to subscribe to YourIndustryInsider.com and sign up to receive YII’s Mogul Mindset eBlasts today! Also, please visit Your Industry Insider Store to check out recommended books and DVDs. Content will be added regularly as suggestions come in from industry insiders!

By networking around town, I keep track of the hot scripts and know who’s interested in what so my bosses know what to buy, when, and for what price. I give notes on scripts in development hoping to make them better before they go into production. In addition to tracking, I roll calls, take meetings, and do drinks. And my call sheet is always a mile long, if I am doing my job right, because everyone in town knows I know everyone in town.

I am a Creative Executive.

Photos by JannieT and Vikki heartbreak.

As a rule, we here at YII trust whatever our readers tell us, but we find it hard to believe that Danny King of “The King Bulletin” is a high school student. The amount of effort he puts into his site, not to mention the maturity of his critical voice, bespeak an older person.

However, let’s be clear, we love that his viewpoint is untainted by film school or working in the biz. His writing is fresh, articulate, and sometimes surprising. He gives you an opportunity to experience the films he writes about in a new way, even if you have seen them several times and/or saw them long ago. He reminds you that film is forever and the great ones echo far into the future.

We reached out to Danny to ask him about what sparked in him the passion for film. He said, “For me it was THE DARK NIGHT. I saw it on opening night in IMAX and it was simply one of the best experiences of my life. Sitting in that packed theater with everyone mesmerized by the film, it was the coolest thing ever. I saw the film about 5 or 6 times in theaters and I just knew that was something special. I felt almost immediately that this is what I wanted to do, to make people feel exhilarated and mesmerized by a movie.”

He also told us that even before he subscribed to YII’s Mogul Mindset eBlasts, he was doing some of the  things we recommend for those of any age seeking or pursuing a career in the entertainment industry, such as reaching out to the people whose work he admires. (You can bet Christopher Nolan, director of THE DARK KNIGHT, is one of those he’s contacted. You’ll have to read The King Report to figure out who else is on that list.)

Our only complaint about Danny is that he hasn’t yet shot any of the short film scripts he’s been working on so we haven’t gotten a chance to hear his true voice when he is the one behind the camera. In the meantime, we’ll have to satisfy ourselves by reading The King Bulletin. And if you love movies, we recommend that you do, too!

There are a lot of reasons to love Indy Mogul- “The Reel Good Show,” for instance, is very funny. But the most valuable aspect of the site is the “Backyard FX” show.

We here at YII are constantly (annoying, isn’t it?) advocating “making it real” – whether it be finishing the script or shooting the short film- and Backyard FX shows you that you don’t need a big budget to film your script. The instructive projects demonstrate micro-budget filmmaking and the site has attracted and nurtured an active community of like-minded filmmakers sharing films and filmmaking ideas.

Visit Indy Mogul for a dose of filmmaking instruction and inspiration.

VFX producer, Julia Frey, was profiled here a while back. If you missed it, click here.

Her blog isn’t always about being on location. It’s about her life. But working on back-to-back film shoots has certainly made her blog, like her life, about being location. She recently returned from a shoot in Morocco and the UK and is currently in the US Pacific Northwest scouting a new project.

There is a very specific rhythm and tone to a movie set. It varies according to how happy the set is, which has little to do with the budget of the project (though creature comforts, such as high-end craft service, can’t hurt). Add to that being away from home and family, working odd hours, exploring new cities, becoming close with people who were total strangers just weeks ago…

Julia’s blog, Julia’s Mexico City, captures it perfectly, such as in this post, where she discusses working nights on various projects over the years. If you like reading that one, poke around. You can learn a lot about what life would be like for you if you followed a similar career path to Julia.

Screenwriter John August (GO, CHARLIE’S ANGELS, CHARLIE’S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE, CORPSE BRIDE, THE NINES, CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY) has been blogging about screenwriting (and whatever else is on his mind) since as far back as at least 2003 and is widely read by both novice screenwriters and seasoned professionals. He will accept questions about screenwriting in general and about his process and his projects, but first check the “answer finder” on his site. If it’s about a released project, it’s probably already been asked.

He will not read your query, treatment, or script, nor answer emails to your personal account, but he’s very generous in giving his wide readership a goldmine of information through his blog. So if you are a screenwriter, think you might want to be a screenwriter, or are just a movie fan looking for a little insight into the behind-the-scenes process of writing a movie, check out JohnAugust.com.

(Note: We are taking a break this month from the “Who Am I?” series in order to feature as many entertainment blogs and sites as possible, focusing mostly on blogs and sites created by one person or a small group of people, rather than those launched by a corporation. Though we’ve got a few of those in the mix, we favor the little guy here at YII.)

Photos by JannieT and Vikki heartbreak.

Josh Randall works a lot. Even when he’s not shooting a film or TV show, he is at meetings and auditions for upcoming projects. And, as he says below, the work you do to get the work is often more arduous than actually shooting a role. But he’s obviously doing something right on both counts, as he is a very sought-after member of the Hollywood community. YII was lucky to get a chance  to find out about his journey and pass along a few of his hard-earned lessons to our readers.

Current part: I am about to shoot a movie called SAY HELLO TO STAN TALMADGE directed by David Moreton. They’ve shot most of it and the director decided he wanted to add another dimension to it, a window into the future. The rest of the movie takes place in the 70s, I am in the present day.

College & degree: I started as a Civil Engineering major at UC Davis, but I realized engineering wasn’t for me and ultimately got a degree in English lit with a creative writing emphasis from San Francisco State.

Internships (if any): Nope. I worked as a grip on movies while I was a student (practically for free), but that was more of an apprenticeship. 

Acting while in school (professional or amateur): The first major thing I did that made me think I should be an actor was in college. I was paired with a playwright in a writing  class who had me read scenes from his work with him. He ended up putting on a play at school and cast me as one of the three leads.

Day job while you were working towards being a working actor: I was a grip, mostly on rap videos. I started out during school and then after graduation, carrying sandbags and eventually working on technical aspects of the job. I had a DP friend and I ended up as a key grip on some of his jobs. He kept me afloat while I was doing theater and striving to be a working actor. I always had a play in my tool belt that I would study during down time.

First post-graduate acting job: It was a play in Berkeley, one of my favorite acting experiences to date (and it actually paid a little). Around the same time, I was working as a grip on a movie in Santa Cruz called SOMEBODY IS WAITING with Gabriel Byrne starring and Martin Donovan directing. They needed someone to play the main bank robber. They thought I looked mean so I got the job.

How did you get repped? I’d moved to LA and gotten some things on my own so I had a head shot and a bit of a resume and I knew an assistant at Don Buchwald. I got hip-pocketed (Editor’s note: That’s where an agent sends you out without actually signing you as a client.) I got a few auditions, went on some things and didn’t get them then, and while I was out of town on a family emergency, they dropped me. First real rep was a manager named Carolyn Govers. She repped me for seven years and was  really, really helpful. That changed things for me after she signed me.

What was your first significant paid acting role? I did a pilot called “Stuckeyville” for CBS, which CBS decided not to pick up. But since Worldwide Pants, David Letterman’s company, was the producer of “Stuckeyville,” Les Moonves, the head of CBS, agreed to let them shop it around to other networks (which was unprecedented at the time- typically, when a network doesn’t pick up a pilot it develops, that project is dead). It was refashioned as “Ed” for NBC the next year. It was a huge deal for my career. I’d done little guests roles- one on “Angel,” for instance- but nothing like this.

Since then? I’ve done several pilots that didn’t get picked up, including one called “True” with Ann Heche created by Kari Lizer (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”), and a bunch of guest star roles. I was also on a series called “Courting Alex,” which was on for 13 episodes. One of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had was working on “Pushing Daisies.” After two episodes, I was scheduled to go back for more, and was thrilled about what Bryan Fuller had described was in store for my character, but sadly ABC did not pick up the show for the back nine (episodes).

Do you continue to train (acting classes, coaches, workshops)? I always challenge myself to learn. I think it’s important, particularly to retain a sense of enthusiasm (the audition process, when you are lucky enough to get sent out a lot, can start to feel like a means to an end). I continue studying with new people because it keeps it challenging and interesting. I worked with Tom Todoroff in the early years. I was in class with Invana Chubbuck for a while. Now I train privately, and have also worked with Steppenwolf West. There’s something great about being in a play or even working on a scene in a class, that helps preserve whatever it was that made you want to be an actor in the first place.

Has ageism been a factor in your experience as an actor? Not so much for me, because I was cast a little older when I was in my 20s and now I’m playing my age. But I think it’s particularly an issue for women. To be an actor by profession is very challenging, but for women, it’s that much more so.

Have you used your acting career- or are you planning to use it- as a way of branching into producing or directing? I haven’t yet- though I was on the boards to direct an episode of “Ed.” Unfortunately, the season got cut short, but I’d started to prepare and pay attention in a very specific way at that time, so I got a lot out of the experience. I would like to make my own movies that I would write and direct.

Eureka moment (when you realized you did or did not want to do something or that you should do something differently, etc.): I’d been playing basketball at San Francisco State and I was in my last year of eligibility and a play came up and I had to decide whether to be on the basketball team or do the play. I realized there was something more significant and defining about the play. I was nervous about making that decision, but as time went by, I realized more and more that it was the right one.

Describe a typical work day (either when you are working on a project or working to get a new project): In some ways, a “going to set” day can be easier than a “going out to acquire work” day. If you have more than one big audition in a day, it can be really trying. For one, it can be challenging to stay up and be sharp during a day of auditions, whereas when you are working on set, you have the luxury of other actors to work off of. Also, at the very least, you get a camera rehearsal, and you don’t have to actually create the world as much, you have the world laid out for you. When auditioning, you are driving all over town, getting yourself fed, and having a couple of changes of clothes for multiple appointments. You’re a suited up lawyer for one role and a blue collar worker for another, for instance. It can make for a challenging day.

Best thing about being a working actor: To make a living doing something creative is a pretty great thing, and something to be grateful for no matter how trying aspects of it can be at times. I also love getting to travel and meet new people all the time.

Worst thing about being a working actor: No matter where you are in your career, stability is going to remain an illusion. It’s always a bit of a fight no matter where you are in the pecking order.

Brush with greatness: Very early on, when I was a grip on SOMEBODY IS WAITING, I was on the set watching Gabriel Byrne doing a scene and it didn’t look like much was happening. That night, like every night, the cast and crew watched dailies being projected in 35 mm. I remember watching Gabrielle Byrne’s close up and there was so much going on, even though he wasn’t doing much. It was a learning experience.

Secret of your success/advice to the newbie: I think it’s really important to have something else in life to ground you. It could be meditation or religion for someone, community service, a meaningful family life, or another creative endeavor, something. As actors, we’re always being told when we can act and when we can’t and having something else in life will minimize the career peaks and valleys. Also, if you go into an audition and EVERYTHING is riding on the audition, you can’t be your best. The people in those rooms have very sensitive desperation radar. It can have an effect on your work and on your piece of mind. It’s really dangerous to have your sense of self-worth entirely attached to being hired as an actor. Also along those lines, with the changing technology and resources that are available for almost no money, if you have an idea that is stimulating to you, there is no reason not to produce it yourself.

Next move: I’m taking steps to have a more proactive hand in my career, to be more actively involved. And that could be to create my own material to act in, but not limited to that.

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I am the liaison between my company and the crew. I coordinate hiring above-the-line personnel such as the production designer and line producer and, when the project is shooting, the reports are issued from my office. I get the call when the star has a headache and is lying in his trailer and then I get a headache. But when filming wraps and the project is in the can, the headaches are gone and I breathe a sigh of relief.

I am the VP, Physical Production at a film production company.

Photos by: JannieT and Michael_McDonough.

I am the center of attention. All eyes are focused on me… the way the light hits my face, the angle of the camera trained on me. I am studied, talked about in hushed tones. Adjustments are made around me. I am IT… until it is time to shoot and the actors are brought in and I can rest after a job well done.

I am the Stand In.

Photos by JannieT and Jonnimont.