MAGAZINE
“There is opportunity in looking for the next chapter. It’s up to you, the producer, director, writer, to look for that opportunity.”
AI TOOLS TO OPTIMIZE YOUR PROJECTS AT EVERY STAGE P. 50
MAKING THE MOST OF PRODUCTION RESOURCES IN NEW MEXICO P. 64
AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2024
“IN THIS TIME OF CHAOS AND UPHEAVAL, THERE’S OPPORTUNITY. EVERYTHING’S ON THE TABLE NOW. I LOVE IT.” —MELVIN MAR
36 MELVIN MAR
Fearlessness, tenacity and vision are all in a day’s work for Jake Kasdan’s longtime producing partner and cofounder of The Detective Agency.
50 MAKING MAGIC WITH AI
Experienced creators talk through the nuts and bolts of powerful new tools with applications for every stage of a project.
58 INSIGHTS & INNOVATION
Panels of top producers and creative executives dove into the details of career cultivation, pitching, AI and more at the 2024 Produced By conference.
“baby reindeer grabs you and won’t let go. You’re in for a wild ride into the bruised places of the heart. One of the best and most audaciously original series of the year, the kind you’ll never forget.”
Peter Travers,
12 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENTS
Guild presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line recap the 2024 Produced By conference.
15 TOOL KIT
Video game producer Mark Harwood draws on his experience as a wild-animal handler to get the job done.
18
A DAY IN THE LIFE
News producer Denise Hendricks describes the daily structure that keeps her going.
24 ON THE MARK
Caryn Capotosto followed a shooting star to earn the Producers Mark on Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero
30 NEW MEMBERS
Meet the PGA’s newest members and discover what makes them tick.
64 ON THE GROUND
New Mexico has become a competitive hub by cultivating a bumper crop of skilled pros, varied locations, and solid production infrastruture.
Bianca Ahmadi
Fred Berger
Hillary Corbin Huang
Melanie Cunningham
Jennifer Fox
BOARD OFFICERS
PRESIDENTS
Stephanie Allain Donald De Line
VICE PRESIDENTS, MOTION PICTURES
Chuck Roven Lauren Shuler Donner
VICE PRESIDENTS, TELEVISION
Mike Farah Melvin Mar
TREASURER
Yolanda T. Cochran
VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCING TEAM
Steve Cainas
VICE PRESIDENT, EASTERN REGION STEERING GROUP
Donna Gigliotti
RECORDING SECRETARIES
Mike Jackson Kristie Macosko Krieger
PRESIDENTS EMERITI
Gail Berman Lucy Fisher
DIRECTORS
Beth Fraikorn
Lynn Kestin Sessler
Samie Kim Falvey
Rachel Klein
James Lopez
Mark Maxey
Lori McCreary
Jacob Mullen
Jonathan B. Murray
Mark Roybal
ASSOCIATE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Michelle Byrd
CEO
Susan Sprung
EDITOR
Lisa Y. Garibay
PRODUCERSGUILD.ORG
Vol. XX No. 4
Produced By is published by the Producers Guild of America.
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MANAGING PARTNERS
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We were thrilled to see so many of you at the soldout Produced By Conference in June. Your robust attendance proves there is a hunger for connection, an exchange of ideas, and collegial support. Producers sharing ideas, experiences and solutions is what makes our community strong and unbreakable. When producers support each other, we are at our best.
For 14 years, the Guild has presented this conference to bring together passionate, talented and hardworking producers. The discussions and activities presented are driven by the needs of our members and the producing profession at large. It was compelling to hear about challenges that remain the same, like the age-old financing hurdle, and new challenges that have sprung up from technological leaps like artificial intelligence. Both of us were honored to moderate two panels where leading producers openly shared the struggles they’re facing today. There was the frank acknowledgment that the calling of “producer” has always been fraught with obstacles. We were inspired by the emphasis on how a producer’s inherent traits are conducive to solving problems and mining tough
times to identify and capitalize on opportunities.
It bears repeating that the industry is in a precarious state, but we also want to reiterate that the Guild does not take lightly its responsibility to help support its members. We are doubling down on our advocacy and educational efforts. The conference is just one means of doing so.
We encourage you to read the Guild’s weekly newsletter, check its social media posts, and attend the events you can, many of which are presented in a virtual format to be accessible to the greatest number of members as possible.
Each Guild event—from the Produced By Conference to committee meetings to member mingles—is intended to spark conversations that continue well beyond that event to help elevate and strengthen those who take on the producing profession. We sincerely hope this is the case and that the connections being made continue to empower and bring our community closer together.
Hire PGA matches qualified PGA members with employers looking to fill the wide range of producing roles on a production— from coordinators to supervisory roles in film, television and emerging media.
Hire PGA Job Bulletins are sent within 24 hours of receipt to members meeting an employer’s qualifications. We can collect resumes for you or direct applicants to you.
Ready to hire?
Visit producersguild. org/hirepga to submit a request. Let us help!
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Former wild-animal handler Mark Harwood deftly juggles the challenges of creating and selling VR video games.
Written By Katie Grant
Mark Harwood loves a challenge, whether that’s working with African lions as a wild-animal handler or working with multiple stakeholders to create a video game and deliver it on time. For 10 years, Harwood volunteered to do general labor at the Wildlife Waystation animal sanctuary in rural LA County. He eventually began working alongside professional animal trainers as a handler. He credits lessons learned from working with lions for helping with his producing career.
“Literal herding of cats translates well to virtual cat herding,” he says. “It’s also helpful when you’re trying to keep perspective if things aren’t going well. When you’ve been roared at by a big cat at close range, it’s hard to get too worked up about whoever might be yelling about something.”
Harwood is an executive publishing producer with Beyond Frames Entertainment, a publisher primarily of VR games, based in Stockholm, Sweden. After earning a degree in film production from Boston University, he moved to LA. In between jobs, Harwood found himself playing games on his PC and reading gaming magazines like PC Gamer.
“I suddenly realized that many of the game companies were based in California,” Harwood says. “I shotgunned out a bunch of résumés to local companies, and when one made me an offer, I took it and never looked back.”
Harwood’s job often involves remote work across many time zones. He generally starts his day by checking in with people to see how they’re doing, both personally and projectwise. He focuses on what’s most urgent, whether new opportunities or a project that’s gone offtrack. At times, new data about the latest hot tech or the most current sales reports affect whether he’ll continue with a project, readjust to make the game relevant, or pivot and shift release dates.
When it comes to creating new games, Harwood says, “Ideas are the easy part. It’s the execution that’s tough.” Third-party games looking for remaining funding and distribution, after bootstrapping their way to a demo for proof of concept, are often assigned to him. As a publishing producer, he ensures the game is properly tested, which includes prepping it to work in different markets. He ensures that the marketing team has what
they need to sell the game, so they can line it up for a successful release on the chosen date.
Harwood also handles opportunities for putting packages together. He may get a pitch for a game where the core loop is solid but could use help with storytelling, visuals or other elements to make it stand out in the market.
“If needed, you can bring a writer in to help out, an artist to help with lighting, or voice talent to attract fans or punch up production value,” Hardwood says. “Sometimes you can make a deal for an IP that fits a game that’s already built and try to get more eyes on it than it might otherwise receive.”
As a player, some of Harwood’s all-time favorite games include Archon and TIE Fighter. Recently he’s been enjoying Pistol Whip and The Seventh Guest in VR. As for games that he has produced, he says, “Tiny Tank is my favorite overall, but The Mummy: Prodigium Strike and HERO are location-based VR titles that also stand out.”
Harwood’s experience has taught him that the bulk of the job revolves around communication and making sure the right people have the right information at the right time. “You can’t yell your way to success with a 500-pound African lion, so you have to figure out a different way to achieve the goal,” Harwood says.
IF HE WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND (WITH WI-FI AND A COMPUTER, OF COURSE)
THESE ARE THE FIVE TOP TOOLS HE’D TAKE WITH HIM TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN:
Graph-ruled Notebooks and Mechanical Pencils
“There’s something about the physicality of writing that helps me retain information better.”
Post-its and Whiteboard
“I find it helpful being able to look at the full slate of projects on a timeline, but most project management tools are designed around handling the needs of a single project. You can work around it, but I just find Post-its and markers easier.”
Transcription Software
Programs like otter.ai and Tactiq are critical. “After the fourth back-to-back meeting, it’s hard to remember the nuances and discussion from the first one. Being able to refer back to what was said is great.”
1.5x Speed
Playing recordings of meetings or presentations back at 1.5 speed is “not a tool per se, but it’s a great time-saver.”
Google Flights
This browser plug-in displays the amount of legroom on each flight. “I travel a fair bit, and I’m tall, so this is a huge benefit.”
Runners-up
USB-rechargeable AA batteries to put in consoles, and a 5m USB link cable.
Other tools that don’t make Harwood’s top five but are still daily software essentials include Excel, PowerPoint, Google Sheets, JIRA (for bug tracking), Irfanview for image viewing, paint.net for light image editing, and a PDF viewer—his current choice is Foxit reader.
Outside of tech and games, Mark has worked with native and exotic wildlife.
His favorite app is Google Translate for times when a gamer leaves useful feedback in a foreign language. To help Harwood achieve the producing priority of clear communication and timely feedback,
he relies on email, IM, Slack, MS Office/ Google Suite, Discord and Google Meet. Sometimes, herding so many cats can seem impossible, but Harwood doesn’t let it faze him. “Like Walt Disney said, ‘It’s kinda fun to do the impossible.’”
Executive producer Denise Hendricks pictured exactly the career she has, and she loves every jam-packed day.
Written by Katie Grant
Denise Hendricks always wanted to work for Oprah. She still has a book she made during her senior year of high school in which she pasted pictures of where she wanted to work. She wanted to go to Florida A&M University, which she did. She wanted to work at CNN, and she did. The book also contained a picture of Oprah—and Hendricks became a producer on The Oprah Winfrey Show for five years. “It was like graduate school for television,” she says.
In case you’re wondering, no, Hendricks never told master manifester Oprah about that vision. “Everything in that book happened,” Hendricks says. “It’s crazy.”
Hendricks is now the executive producer of The Katie Phang Show at MSNBC. Her favorite part about the job is feeling like she’s a part of history, informing people about what’s going on in the world.
“I’m part of an organization that values truth, getting to the truth and telling the truth,” she says. “I think that is the most rewarding part of it, even though sometimes it can feel daunting and heavy.”
How does she feel about the pressure of producing live TV?
“I love, love, love the energy of it,” she says. Here is how she applies her energy on a typical show day:
The Katie Phang Show airs on Saturdays at noon Eastern time on MSNBC. On the show day, I’m up around 5:30 a.m. I set an alarm, but I’m usually up before that. I have to settle myself when I wake up. I usually read scripture, meditate and pray a little bit to center myself and get ready for the day. I’m a big water drinker, and I try to get in 100 ounces a day. So once I come downstairs, I’m drinking my water, sitting at my desk plugging away at getting the show ready.
I go over the final plans for the show, make sure the guests we have booked are ready to go, the segment producers’ scripts are in, and check if any last-minute or major breaking news happened overnight or early that morning.
At about 7:30 a.m., my son, Luke, wakes up, and that’s a good break for me since I’ve been going for a couple of hours. I stop and cook breakfast and make sure he’s good to go. Then I start getting dressed so I can go in to the office in D.C.
I commute to the NBC bureau in Washington, D.C., from 8:30 a.m. to about 9:15 or 9:30. I listen to our network and sometimes to our competition, the other cable news networks. I flip around to see what everybody else is doing.
Once I get in to the office, from 9:30 to 11:45 a.m., I make sure the script is ready, see what needs to change, and make tweaks according to what a guest might have tweeted out, for example.
I’m usually in the control room about a half hour before the show starts. I like to get in early because I am talking to people in two or three different
locations. Our setup is very different because I’m in Washington, D.C., in a control room, a good portion of my team is at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York, and my host, Katie Phang, is at the Telemundo NBC studios in Miami.
I have my headset on and I like to talk to the director to see if she has any questions about graphics we’re using, anything special we have in the show, or something we’re monitoring that might happen during the show. I like touching base with the production and the crew.
We start the show at noon. If at 12:05 something happens and our senior executives say, “This is happening; we need to get this in the show,” then that’s
when my wheels will start turning. I’m in the control room, and everything is crazy.
We’ll try to get a guest on the show to report on whatever the breaking news is. We need to make sure everything we have is right, and prep our anchor. Sometimes we’ll get it in right at that moment as long as it’s vetted and everything is cleared. Otherwise, if it’s still a little shaky, I’ll wait till the commercial break.
After the show, we have a virtual post meeting. We go over what we liked about the show and ask what we can do better next time. We talk about what we’re going to do next week. That meeting is 10 to 15 minutes.
After the debrief, I do administrative tasks and check in with my booker and the host about things we’re thinking about for the weeks ahead. Then I go home.
When I get home, I might take my son to the pool in our neighborhood. Or I’ll have a relative take him to his soccer game, and I’ll meet them there.
Dinner is around 6:30 p.m. Sometimes we go out and sometimes I cook. Then we watch a little TV. We’re big on movie nights. Saturday is usually movie night.
I try to get Luke to bed around 8:30 or 9 p.m. We have a bedtime routine because he’s very structured. We usually do some schoolwork, even on the weekends. Then he takes a bath and we read a story. Then it’s lights out.
My nighttime routine is to shower and get ready for bed. I try to read at least 10 pages of a book a night, so I’ll read if I’m not deliriously tired. I say a little prayer before I go to sleep and then I go to bed.
“ UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE ON TV RIGHT NOW.”
“ STEVEN ZAILLIAN , an Academy Award ®-winning screenwriter and five-time nominee, is already regarded as one of the most celebrated screenwriters on the planet. Following the release of Ripley –ZAILLIAN’S FILMMAKING CAREER RECOGNITION MERITS AN ASCENSION TO THE LEVEL OF VENERATED MASTER . ”
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At the annual PGA Awards in February, the Guild announced a landmark initiative aimed at ensuring health insurance benefits for every qualified producer working full-time in the film and television industry.
“Producers, unlike unionized creative professionals in the industry, lack guaranteed health insurance benefits. No one should go without these essential benefits,” said Producers Guild of America Presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line. “Producing is challenging enough without the added anxiety of wondering how you are going to obtain health coverage for you and your family.”
The initiative asks that all production companies, including studios and streamers, provide health benefits for qualified producers with credits recognized by the PGA who are working full-time on their eligible projects. The first companies to sign on included Blumhouse, Legendary, MACRO and Berlanti Productions.
These companies committed to: 1) including a line item in their production budgets for MPI health insurance for eligible producers, and—for full-time producers who are ineligible for MPI, other union insurance, or a company plan—a direct contribution, enabling them to buy health insurance on the open market, or 2) providing health insurance through a company plan.
Through these contributions, recipients are already receiving benefits.
Mylan Dockery, production supervisor on Blumhouse’s The Woman in the Yard, was one of the first to access the safety
net payment through Blumhouse’s commitment to the PGA Health Care Initiative
“I am incredibly grateful for the comprehensive health coverage it provides, ensuring that I can focus on my logistical and creative work without the burden of health-related worries,” Dockery said.
“Producers are the only group of creative professionals without a union on set, so we have to look out for each other,” said Jason Blum, Blumhouse CEO and founder. “Taking care of our own is good business, good for families and good for our industry, and I’m proud to be part of the group leading this initiative.”
This June, the Producers Guild announced that 20 additional companies have signed on to the landmark initiative.
These companies include Amblin Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, Bad Robot Productions, Closer Media, Confluential Films, De Line Pictures, Di Novi Pictures, Fremantle, Gran Via Productions, Groundswell Pictures, Homegrown Pictures, Illumination, The Jackal Group, Laurence Mark Productions, LuckyChap, Pascal Pictures, Red Wagon Entertainment, Revelations Entertainment, Rolling Pictures, and Secret Hideout.
The initiative was championed by PGA member Harvey Wilson, gained momentum as a PGA priority under the guidance of past PGA Presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher, and has been further supported by the actions of many Guild members, including the Guild’s Healthcare Task Force and the Independent Producers Task Force.
The Guild suggests that production companies offering a production budget line item contribution commit to budgeting at least $3.33 per hour per eligible, full-time producer to be used toward the purchase of a health insurance plan.
The PGA presidents acknowledged having received an overwhelming and supportive response to the Producers Guild Healthcare Initiative, with a growing number of companies pledging to support health insurance benefits for producers.
“The Producers Guild Healthcare Initiative is an opportunity for our industry to rally behind producers and pave the way for future generations,” said Allain and De Line.
They added, “This is just the beginning, as we continue to gather support from across the industry.”
Caryn Capotosto describes the jubilant and painstaking commitment of following a star on the rise.
Interview by Lisa Y. Garibay
Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero
Caryn Capotosto, p.g.a.
In 2019, Lil Nas X exploded into critical and commercial success with his Grammy Award-winning track “Old Town Road.” It was a song that defied boundaries of all kinds, just as its creator continues to do.
The rap-country-pop hybrid reached #19 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs before being disqualified for not fitting in with the musical genre. The disqualification inflamed a debate about
the definition of country music that continues today (reflected in the 2024 Beyonce album Cowboy Carter). Both Lil Nas X’s original version and a remix featuring country star Billy Ray Cyrus reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and remained at the top for a record-breaking 19 consecutive weeks. It’s one of the best-selling singles of all time.
It took another three years for Lil Nas X—whose given name is Montero Lamar Hill—to embark on his first-ever headlining tour. Given his track record of unbridled and unabashed artistic output, the industry at large eagerly
anticipated what the creative dynamo would unveil. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to capture such a landmark moment, producers at RadicalMedia and Museum & Crane hit the road with the artist during the 2022–23 tour. The result is a documentary that offers intimate access to Hill/Lil Nas X as he navigates even greater fame, criticism, self-growth, and impact as a beacon of Black queerness and societal change.
Leading the production was three-time Emmy winner Caryn Capotosto, founder of Museum & Crane. Her credits include the critically acclaimed documentaries
Little Richard: I Am Everything, Feels Good Man, Best of Enemies, 20 Feet from Stardom and Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, which received a 2019 PGA Award.
Capotosto received the Producers Mark alongside RadicalMedia’s Dave Sirulnik, who has his own trailblazing background in music documentaries. Here, Capotosto describes how she and Sirulnik pooled their wealth of experience to help create a film honoring the imagination and humanity of its star.
WHEN AND HOW DID YOU COME ON BOARD THE PROJECT?
In early 2022 I was doing some documentary development consulting with Sony Music Entertainment. Soon after, I received a dream call from them saying that Lil Nas X was starting rehearsals the following week for his first-ever tour and that they were interested in documenting it. Within days I was speaking with his management and creative team and had pulled together a small doc crew to film a week of rehearsals.
Two weeks later we were flying to Detroit to capture his first-ever headlining show. From there we went on tour with unbelievable access to capture it all. Everything happened very quickly, and I knew I needed a small but mighty team.
My first call was to Zac Manuel, whose cinematography style I loved. We knew we wanted the film to feel intimate and reveal a side of Montero that many people had not seen. Zac assumed the role of a DP/director on the film. Meanwhile, the larger infrastructure of the project was being formed as we joined forces with Radical Media, with Dave Sirulnick joining me as producer. The final piece of the puzzle was bringing Carlos Lopez Estrada onto the team to codirect with Zac. Carlos was involved from the earliest stages of planning Lil Nas X’s tour show, which had narrative and biographical elements of Montero’s story baked into the performance, so we knew that telling his story would involve weaving elements from the live concert and
the documentary elements we were capturing behind the scenes.
The project was a unique collaboration propelled by a lot of trust, and I think that our filmmaking process shines through on the screen in a wonderful way.
SOME OF YOUR PREVIOUS FILMS SHARE SIMILARITIES WITH THIS ONE IN TERMS OF SUBJECT AND THEME— NAMELY, MUSIC AND MUSICAL CREATORS. WHAT MAKES THIS FILM DIFFERENT FROM PRIOR MUSICAL PROJECTS YOU PRODUCED LIKE 20 FEET FROM STARDOM, LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING, AND FILMAGE: THE STORY OF DESCENDENTS/ALL?
The beauty of this project for me was the challenge of making a doc about an artist at the beginning of his journey versus a story about an artist with a long history to draw from. Most of the music docs I have worked on are largely archival and tell stories connecting the dots of history to our current moment, whereas on this project we were documenting an unfolding, an artist at a pivotal moment stepping into the unknown.
Being along for that ride and watching it unfold was thrilling in a different way, and it was fun to allow the story to be written as it was happening in front of our cameras.
WAS LIL NAS X’S LABEL INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION AND/OR DISTRIBUTION PROCESS? IF SO, HOW DID YOU WORK WITH THEM?
Lil Nas X’s label (Columbia Records) and Sony Music were partners on the film. They recognized as they were planning the tour that this was a pivotal moment in Lil Nas X’s life and career and that it needed to be documented in a signifi-
cant way beyond the scope of a typical concert film.
The label and management worked closely with Montero on creating a stage show that included narrative and autobiographical elements, which became a jumping-off point for our approach to crafting a documentary that included the tour as a spine but transcended it to allow audiences and fans to get to know Montero in a new way.
Working with his team was a fantastic experience. They were incredibly accommodating to our constant requests for things like archival photos and videos and they allowed us unrestricted access behind the scenes of the tour, both onstage and backstage. They made sure that we had the time we needed with Montero to build trust and capture some quiet moments with him.
His team was hands-on at every stage of the filmmaking process, from development to production to sales and distribution conversations. We all worked together to handle the various aspects of financing, conceptualizing, crafting and bringing the film into being. Everyone brought enthusiasm, good energy and a shared sense that we were creating something special that would be a snapshot of a moment that Montero would look back on as his star continues to rise and he continues to grow as an artist and a person.
LIL NAS X SEEMS LIKE SUCH A HANDS-ON AND CAREFUL CURATOR OF HIS IMAGE, VISION, AND THE WAY THAT IT IS REPRESENTED—FROM
TIKTOK TO MUSIC VIDEOS TO FASHION TO LIVE SHOWS. HOW MUCH INPUT DID HE HAVE IN TERMS OF WHAT YOU WERE ALLOWED TO SHOOT AND WHAT MADE THE FINAL CUT?
Montero approached the documentary process in a delightful way—with curiosity, thoughtfulness and playfulness. He opened up to us from the first day of rehearsals and allowed us to capture moments as they were preparing for tour that were undoubtedly very stressful. He took the whole process in stride and set a tone of calm, honesty and vulnerability that I believe permeated the moments we captured with him.
His sense of humor also shined through from the first moments, and it became clear early on that he was on board with revealing more of himself to the world. During the tour we had unfettered access, and he never shied away from the cameras capturing the dramatic moments—even filming him while he was puking backstage. He was game for almost anything. When we asked him to drive to Santa Cruz to walk around a butterfly sanctuary and manifest what would become one of the closing scenes of the film, he rolled with it.
He gave directors Zac and Carlos creative freedom, and at certain points in the process weighed in with his own ideas that could elevate the storytelling, visuals and music. A great example of that is the stylistic scenes with “young Montero.”
Our final shoot of the project was to film the young actor Maximus Turner embodying the spirit of a young Montero and weaving into the film some of the fantastical video elements
from the stage show that represent transformation and becoming. Lil Nas X was hands-on for this shoot, coming to set and ideating with Zac and Carlos for this final imaginative piece of the film.
In terms of what made the final cut, we shared rough cuts with Montero and his management, and everyone provided sensible notes and valuable input that elevated the film until everyone agreed it was ready for the world.
DESPITE YOUR EXPERTISE IN PRODUCING DOCUMENTARIES, DID YOU COME UP AGAINST ANY CHALLENGES THAT WERE DIFFERENT FROM COMPLICATIONS YOU’VE TACKLED IN THE PAST? HOW DID YOUR PAST EXPERIENCES WITH DOCS AND MUSICIANS HELP YOU NAVIGATE AND ELEVATE THE PROJECT?
We were very lucky on this film to have such solid support from Lil Nas X’s management and creative team. They helped us with access at every turn, from getting quiet time with Montero to connecting us with his family, dancers, choreographers and musical collaborators.
The biggest challenge on docs with music superstars is a logistical one with film crews—making sure that we are working with a team that understands we might be on “Montero time” and that when the artist is ready for us, that’s when we need to shoot. Having flexibility and a positive attitude were critical, along with a deep love and respect for music.
WAS THERE A SPECIFIC OBSTACLE THAT YOU’RE PROUD OF HELPING THE PROJECT OVERCOME IN A UNIQUE OR UNIQUELY PERSISTENT WAY?
In many ways, the project was two films in one. On the one hand, we wanted to make a film that felt intimate and behind the curtain, getting to know Montero in a personal way. On the other, we simultaneously wanted to capture the spectacle and the monumental moment that Lil Nas X was having on his first world tour. The challenge was weaving the two elements to feel seamless.
Our approach to that was to divide and conquer the production aspects, with my team capturing the “scrappier” (yet beautiful!) doc-style material and Dave’s team capturing the monumental show elements and weaving the layers together in edit. The main obstacle was making sure that both teams were in constant communication on ways to ensure that the elements we were capturing would fit together stylistically later. Zac and Carlos navigated this beautifully to find creative ways to bridge both worlds.
The mechanism of both approaches came together in one wild shoot at the Los Angeles concert, when we filmed both the 10-camera multi-cam of the live concert and the spiciest backstage antics with celebrity guests like Saucy Santana, and a hometown crowd. Seeing it all come together in the edit was a thrill.
YOU AND DAVE SIRULNIK BOTH RECEIVED THE PRODUCERS MARK FOR THIS FILM. HOW DID YOU DIVVY UP RESPONSIBILITIES? WHAT SPECIFIC STRENGTHS DID YOU EACH LEND?
While we each had distinct roles with the aspects of the film we were individually producing, we always felt a part of the same team with one cohesive film in mind. I was most involved in the earlier stages—getting production off the ground and managing the team that went on tour. Dave picked it up to capture the main performance footage and oversaw the edit and post. But from the earliest stage to the final stages, we all came together to make sure we were all heading in the same direction creatively.
Dave played a huge role—working closely with Zac and Carlos—in guiding the weaving of all the elements, shaping the elements we delivered to them, and filtering the feedback that was coming in from various teams. My biggest strength was the ability to mobilize a stellar team quickly and nimbly to ensure we would not miss any magic moments, and the ability to operate a small team at a high level, making sure we were welcomed into the fray while remaining somewhat inconspicuous while doing what we needed to do.
It was a wonderful experience working with Dave and RadicalMedia. They are consummate pros and incredibly lovely people. The best experiences in production happen when everyone on the team respects one another, trusts each other to deliver their best, and are flexible and willing to try new approaches and allow the possibilities to unfold.
WHAT IS ONE THING THAT THIS PRODUCTION TAUGHT YOU THAT WILL INFORM YOUR WORK AS A PRODUCER IN THE FUTURE?
I really enjoyed the process of working with a young artist earlier in his journey. I found that there is much joy in the discovery of the story as it is happening as opposed to recontextualizing historical stories.
I love both types of docs, but after this project, I look forward to more stories that can be followed now—more verité doc making. One project I am working on now bridges both types of stories, so I am excited to dive into it. It’s a documentary about the jazz and disco icon Asha Puthli.
WHAT ABOUT LONG LIVE MONTERO ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
One special moment that happened with this film actually began on the film I produced just prior to this—Little Richard: I Am Everything. In our discussions about Little Richard’s legacy and young artists of today who seem to be inspired in many ways by his musical patrimony, we spoke a lot about Lil Nas X before I began work on Long Live Montero
At one point we requested an interview with Lil Nas X, and at another point, we sent him the Little Richard film in hopes that he would watch it. But I always thought he never watched it.
Fast forward to our final interview with Montero. Unprompted and out of the blue, he started talking about Little Richard and his legacy, connecting his own dots to the complicated journeys of other Black, queer artists and reflecting on his own place in this history and the unique role he plays in inspiring change for his generation. I swooned!
Later in the edit, the only archival clip that made its way into Long Live Montero was Little Richard saying, “The love, the gentleness, the tenderness, the kindness. You ain’t supposed to hide nothin.’ You got it, God gave it, show it to the world.” I’m extremely proud of both films and that they nod to each other in such a special way is quite wonderful. ¢
Certification via the Producers Mark (represented by p.g.a.) indicates that a producer performed a major portion of the producing functions in a decision-making capacity on a specific project. Criteria, its definition, the process for earning the mark and other particulars can be viewed at producersguildawards.com.
Produced By trains the spotlight on some of the Guild’s newest members, and offers a glimpse at what makes them tick.
Gautam Singhani
Working in development through postproduction, Gautam Singhani produces documentaries, features and series. Recent post coordinator credits include Fauci (2021), Becoming Cousteau (2021), and Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero (2023).
Did you have a producing mentor? If so, who was it and what did you learn from them?
Noah Berlow, a fellow Ithaca College alum, took me under his wing during an internship in LA, sparking my interest in production management. Through his mentorship, I gained not only a wealth of knowledge and skills but also the desire to be that same person for students and interns interested in pursuing a career in film.
After finishing the HBO Warner Media Post Supervisor Training Program at ReelWorks, I am mentoring underserved New York City youth in the same program. I learned from Noah that you should never be a gatekeeper; rather, you should pass the torch to those who want to break into this industry.
Delbert Whetter
Deaf producer Delbert Whetter is vice chair of the board of RespectAbility, a nonprofit working to promote authentic, diverse and inclusive portrayals of persons with disabilities in Hollywood. He also serves on the Disability Advisory Board of SFFILM.
In addition to working on animated features, Whetter is producing the forthcoming films Flash Before the Bang and Live at the Deaf Club. Recently, Whetter was executive producer on Being Michelle (2022) and producer on Loud Love (2024).
What do you love about being a producer?
The ability to take mere words or images from a single-page treatment and collaborate with a team of amazing artists and professionals to transform them into a full-fledged cinematic story that changes for the better the way people see the world and each other.
I am fortunate to have experienced this in fiction and nonfiction features, most recently with the documentaries Being Michelle and Loud Love. Both began as ideas from amazingly talented filmmakers and evolved into powerful social impact films that revealed the humanity and universal relatability of their protagonists—people who belonged to groups that society has shunted aside as second-class or afterthoughts.
The POVs of Deaf individuals—whether captured by those documentaries, told through American Sign Language, or displayed in beautifully crafted art—were centered and elevated by a team of Deaf and hearing filmmakers working together to ensure that these uniquely Deaf experiences were told authentically, unreservedly and on their terms.
Lauren Craig is a screenwriter, film consultant (LC Creative), producer (2Lime Productions), and former development executive (Patriot Pictures). Her feature projects have premiered at major film festivals, been released theatrically, and been licensed by Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Amazon, Apple, and Showtime.
Recently, Craig served as coproducer on Cut Throat City (2020) and as associate producer on Chocolate City 3: The Live Tour (2022), Synchronic (2019) and Running with the Devil (2019).
What was the most important piece of advice you received about producing?
The most talented producer isn’t necessarily the one who can wear the most hats, but instead, the one who knows how to give those hats to the best people. This was an actionable approach, as opposed to just an expression, that I learned and took while balancing multiple greenlit features simultaneously on a producing team.
Teambuilding and delegation follow intuition and awareness of personal strengths and limitations. I love combining complementary skill sets and making everyone feel important. It creates a special synergy that always leads to the best result.
Prior to joining Hartbeat Studios as VP of production and post, JC Del Barco II was a well-established line producer in the unscripted television space. Recent credits include documentary feature Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only, Bling Empire for Netflix, and Olympic Highlights for NBC.
What do you love about being a producer?
I love bringing a diverse group of skilled creatives together to bring a project to life. Entertainment is a great industry that is available for people of any background to thrive.
At Hartbeat, diversity is built into our DNA. Whether it’s a comedy documentary filmed in Atlanta (Group Therapy) or a talk show in Burbank (Hart to Heart), it is a priority as VP of production and post to ensure we have diversity in front of and behind the camera, including women, people of color, age, and LGBTQ+ representation. It makes for a much more dynamic set experience where people can make friends and find mentors, and mentees from different backgrounds.
Lyndsay Rowan has produced content for BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4, Discovery, Netflix and Channel 5. She is currently developing her first feature film, a biopic of a phenomenal Wrexham-born football player. In 2015, Rowan won an International Emmy and a BAFTA for I Am Leo, a documentary she pitched, developed and went on to make for the BBC.
Did you have a producing mentor? If so, who was it and what did you learn from them?
In 2014 I was mentored by conflict journalist, author and documentarian James Brabazon after being selected for the C4 Directors Scheme. If you’ve read James’ first book, My Friend the Mercenary, you’ll know he goes for everything full throttle. Opportunities tell us as much about what we don’t want as what we do. I knew that after that training I wanted to focus on docs, and went on to win awards for the doc I developed at that time. I learned that you need to always reassess what you want and to be all-in, despite how difficult you’re told it will be. Taking on projects you believe in really matters.
As a Peabody Award-winning, Emmy-nominated producer, director and writer, Melissa Haizlip’s work has been featured on Netflix, HBO Max, Peacock, CNN, PBS and E!. She received the NAACP Image Award and 2020 Critics Choice Award for Mr. Soul!, which premiered at Tribeca and was Oscar shortlisted. Haizlip served as producer and director on Satisfied (2024); as co-executive producer on Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop (2023); and as executive producer on Black Pop: Celebrating the Power of Black Culture (2023).
What’s the most important advice you have for fellow producers?
Know your strengths and staff your weaknesses. I’ve learned that nobody can make a film by themself; it’s the result of team efforts. You must respect that, especially if you’re helping to create and bring someone else’s vision to fruition. Know the value of really seeing people for who they are and what their gifts and talents are while knowing your own strengths and weaknesses.
As a producer, I have found that if you’re able to create a team that can incorporate other people’s good ideas, you can facilitate good ideas. Finding your tribe and empowering and elevating collaborators are what’s most important.
Taraneh Golozar
Taraneh Golozar is an Iranian filmmaker who began her career in visual effects and has garnered accolades for award-winning projects in advertising, film and television. Recent credits as a VFX producer include the features Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) and Heart of Stone, and the limited series Secret Invasion
What do you love about being a producer?
Producing is like tackling a complex puzzle. Every project unfolds with a unique set of interconnected pieces that demand careful arrangement. Who can resist the allure of a challenging puzzle?
Like a game of Tetris, everything is meticulously organized until an unexpected piece disrupts the plan, demanding quick thinking as the pace intensifies. By strategically placing new pieces, moments emerge where everything aligns perfectly, allowing the magic to unfold, much like producing.
On a project earlier this year, we lost one of our main locations just a week before filming. Starting over wasn’t an option at that stage, so we turned this challenge into an opportunity. By creatively reimagining our existing venues and splitting multiple locations into different sets, we not only preserved our schedule and budget but also elevated the project’s creative vision. ¢
Show by show, role by role, Melvin Mar tenaciously breaks barriers, creates opportunities and tells stories that portray the full spectrum of the human experience.
Written by Lisa Y. Garibay | photographed by Phillip Graybill
Before amassing credits on films like Jumanji: Welcome to The Jungle, Jumanji: The Next Level and Bad Teacher, or producing series like New Girl, Fresh Off the Boat, The Grinder, and Speechless, Melvin Mar was growing up in the Los Angeles suburb Montebello, watching a lot of movies and TV while his parents put in long hours with the family business. They’d immigrated from Hong Kong before settling in LA, where Mar’s father’s family had deep roots—especially in Chinatown, where Mar’s grandmother lived until the end of her life.
“My dad would deliver bean sprouts and supplies to all the restaurants in Chinatown. I was a 6-year-old kid sitting next to him in his pickup truck,” Mar recalls.
When it came time for Mar to decide on a career path, the first-gen Chinese American was stumped. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do. The part of Los Angeles where I grew up was where my family made their living, but it’s a world away from movie studios. I was supposed to be a good Chinese kid and become a doctor or a lawyer.”
Mar first studied architecture but fizzled out. A combo of kismet and work ethic took him from a job at a Tommy Hilfiger store to an internship with legendary producer Arnold Kopelson. This was thanks to his store manager, who encouraged Mar to aim for bigger and better things—and whose brother worked for Kopelson.
Although the internship was unpaid, Mar seized the opportunity. “I was so broke I was living with my parents again, asking them for gas money. My father called me a special kind of stupid for a very long time, volunteering for somebody wealthy enough to pay you but who chooses not to, and you keep going back. He wasn’t wrong.”
The internship program paid back in other ways, including the opportunity to pitch ideas. Mar began to build muscles that would serve him as he moved, consciously or not, toward
He’s not afraid to have a real level-headed conversation with a creative person about what it’s going to take to get something done. There’s a whole world of producers for whom that’s the most uncomfortable part of producing.”
—JAKE KASDAN
becoming a producer. He learned other lessons, too. “After hanging out with my friends in K-Town, I came to one of those pitch sessions and said, “Do you know what’d be really cool? Asian American Swingers in K-Town,” Mar recalls. “This is like
’98 or ’99. The intern coordinator says, ‘That’s a great idea, but there are no Asian actors.’ It wasn’t like, ‘We should fix that.’ It was just, ‘This is the way it is. Oh, well.’ That never left me.”
When Mar scored a paid position as a PA at DreamWorks, his family was thrilled, mostly because he finally had health insurance. He progressed to assistant to Glenn Williamson, where he was privy to the development and production of American Beauty, before becoming an assistant at Scott Rudin Productions.
Decades later, when actors, agents, directors, writers and fellow producers are asked what Mar’s greatest strength is, the answer is unanimous: He gets it done no matter what. It’s an ability he’s employed to great success, particularly during a 20+ year partnership with Jake Kasdan.
The two first met in 2002 when Kasdan was directing the film Orange County, which was produced by Scott Rudin, whom Mar was working for at the time.
“Mel was very involved, clearly one of those ultracapable, eager, how can I help, what can I do, go above and beyond in every way kind of assistants at that time. I could see right away that this was somebody who had a lot to contribute to any endeavor,” Kasdan recalls.
In 2005, Kasdan was gearing up to make an indie feature called The TV Set Mar had moved on to a job with Vin Diesel, but Kasdan had never forgotten him. “I called him up and said, ‘I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’m going to make this little movie, and I could use your help.’”
The relationship strengthened while Mar continued working as Kasdan’s assistant and testing the waters as a development exec. In 2011, Kasdan directed the pilot for a 20th Century Fox Television series called New Girl Its success led to a deal with 20th that shifted Mar to an executive role for his and Kasdan’s new company, The Detective Agency, where Mar became a high-level producer with qualities Kasdan was in awe of.
“It’s his industriousness, his gift for putting people together and identifying who the right people are, his fearlessness about being turned down, his eagerness to move the ball,” Kasdan says.
“He’s not afraid to have a real levelheaded conversation with a creative person about what it’s going to take to get something done,” Kasdan adds. “There’s a whole world of producers for whom that’s the most uncomfortable part of producing. When it gets hard, you hope someone else will deal with it. He does not have that. He hopes that he’ll be the person who can get in there and deal with it.”
Kasdan’s longtime agent Richard Weitz was impressed by the same qualities and jumped at the chance for more when New Girl was picked up as a series.
“I saw an opportunity to build a business. Melvin had no experience in TV, but I just loved him. I called (Fox Television Group Co-Chair) Dana Walden, and between us and a couple of other
execs, we helped to build a company.”
That company churned out a slew of series, including Speechless , Bless This Mess , The Grinder , Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. , Fresh Off the Boat and American Born Chinese .
“It’s not easy to get one show on the air, but we’ve gotten a lot, which I think really proves Melvin’s worth as a producer,” Weitz says. “He’s found people with original voices, people who have skills, whether they’re directors or writers or actors. With casting, he looks beyond just who’s hot on a list. Jake has that as well.”
“People talk about how it’s hard to come up as a producer. A lot of it has to do with making room for real partnerships,” says President of Sony Pictures Television Studios Katherine Pope. “I really love the partnership that Melvin and Jake have. If you’re someone who’s established and you’re looking to build out your work, then take on partners. Take a chance on
people. They might end up being somebody as amazing as Melvin.”
Pope first met Mar when she was the head of television at 20th Century Fox, working with him and Kasdan on New Girl. “Often someone says, ‘I’ll talk to anybody,’ but ends up not caring what that person says back. Melvin’s superpower is listening. That was the thing that impressed me the most about him,” Pope recalls.
“The combination of Jake and Melvin was so necessary when we were making 22 to 24 episodes a year of New Girl. They always said, ‘Of course we can get this done. No problem.’ Which was so important for me, (showrunner) Liz Meriwether, and (executive producers) Brett Baer and Dave Finkel.”
Persistence of this caliber can get you far. But to go as far as Mar has, you need a great idea.
That idea came in 2013 with Fresh Off the Boat. It was a game changer not just for Mar, but for the industry as a whole.
Set in Orlando in the ’90s, the show was based on the biography of chefrestaurateur Eddie Huang, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan.
The show was the first project Mar spearheaded in his partnership with Kasdan. “Up till then, I always worked on Jake’s stuff. Film or TV, it started with him either producing or directing,” Mar says. “I remember having a whole speech in my head for Jake about how I really wanted to do Fresh Off the Boat and how doing our first real family sitcom would be good. But I didn’t need it. Jake recognized it immediately.”
“Fresh Off the Boat was not the most straightforward proposition at that time,” Kasdan recalls. “It was the first network series with an Asian American cast in 20 years and the second one ever.”
The show embodied Mar’s core tenets: Immigrant stories are American stories. Universality can be found in specificity. Defy expectations.
“Melvin was so passionate because this is how he lived. He loved ’90s culture, he loved the music, and he saw a lot of the young boy in him as a lead,” says Weitz. “To have that show not only get picked up to pilot, but to series, then become a staple in the ABC comedy lineup—that was when Melvin broke out and became a legit producer.”
Showrunner Nahnatchka Khan didn’t find out until much later that Fresh Off the Boat was Mar’s first-ever series as a TV producer. “I was shocked. I never would’ve known. He was so present and so experienced in all facets—being a partner in the development of the show, finding the A+ crew to pull off the best level of production, representing our show in the best light to our studio and network partners, and fighting all the right battles to make sure we had the best opportunity for success.”
A feat that stands out for Khan is when Mar decided to shoot the season three premiere in Taiwan. “It was a huge deal to move a U.S. production out there for one episode, but it was very
important to our show,” Khan recalls. “Melvin broke barriers. I don’t believe that any half-hour network show from 20th TV had ever done anything remotely close to that. In the face of a lot of doubt, he just kept reassuring us all that it was gonna happen. And he made it so.”
Beneath the broad, loyal audience, critical acclaim, and multiple seasons was a greater impact according to actor and producer Daniel Dae Kim, who appeared on Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. and is a close friend of Mar. “I believe that entertainment can deliver powerful messages, on both an explicit and implicit level,” he says. “The same media that created negative stereotypes to begin with can also provide more accurate, authentic portrayals of who people are.
“It’s why the work that people like Melvin do is so important,” Kim adds. “His projects have helped reshape the narrative for Asian Americans and the way we are thought of in our culture.”
For Kasdan, Fresh Off the Boat taught an important lesson. “There were vast audiences out there that had never seen themselves represented on network television,” he says. “What else can we do with that opportunity and responsibility?”
President of 20th Century Fox Television Karey Burke began working with Mar after she moved from Freeform to head ABC Entertainment. “Show by show and role by role, he has been unwavering in his mission to cast a wider net, make our shows more inclusive, and create heroes and characters that look like more people in the community,” she says.
It’s one thing to want to pursue this type of mission. It’s quite another to possess the financial savvy and economic awareness to pull it off. “Melvin’s an excellent businessperson first and foremost,” Burke says. “He understands the nexus between his mission and making great commercial, aspirational television shows. That skill set is not easy to come by.”
Over the years, Burke watched Mar
shed light on the AAPI community— dispelling any perception of it as a monolith and celebrating its own cultural diversity. “When we were casting Doogie Kamealoha, M.D., Melvin led the charge in organically casting those roles. He did the same for American Born Chinese,” Burke says.
Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese chronicles the trials and tribulations of a regular American teenager whose life is forever changed when he befriends the son of a mythological god. Though the series took more than 10 years to get made, Mar never wavered.
“One of the biggest reasons American Born Chinese happened is because Melvin was passionate enough about the show to bring everyone together and keep pushing the train until premiere day,” said Destin Cretton, the show’s director and executive producer. “He truly believes in the people he works with, and because of that, he never stops pushing until we’re all at the finish line together.”
In May 2023, President Biden hosted a screening of American Born Chinese at the White House. “Melvin, his wife, his daughter, the cast and executives were all there,” Weitz recalls. “That was a defining moment for him. I could not have been prouder to be a part of that.”
During the show’s development, Burke was inspired by Mar’s dedication to creating opportunities for actors both known and under the radar. “Shining a light on the work of Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan was as important to Melvin as creating the opportunity for our young star (Jimmy Liu) to be able to come over from Taiwan,” she says.
“As a director and EP, I always felt supported by Melvin,” Cretton adds. “When he talks about his new favorite writer or director or actor, I always pay attention because his excitement for talent is genuine and contagious. And he knows how to protect that talent to allow them to do their best work.”
Khan couldn’t agree more. “Working
with Melvin made me realize that anything is possible,” she says. “That no is never the end. That if you believe in the project, you don’t need everyone else to believe in it with you, that if you
have a key group of people by your side you can make anything happen. And by key group of people, I mean Melvin.”
“Melvin has really figured out a way to be protective of his producers and shows and people, but yet also understand the buyers and the studio,” Pope says. “It can be a difficult line to walk, but Melvin does a really good job of it.”
Jennifer Salke, who first worked
On the set of Jumanji: Next Level: Producer Hiram Garcia, star and producer Dwayne Johnson, producer Matt Tolmach, Melvin Mar, and writerdirector-producer Jake Kasdan.
with Mar on New Girl when she was executive vice president of creative affairs at 20th Century Fox TV, agrees. “He has a great ability to move the ball forward and solve problems while managing the studio and the creative participants, which is incredibly valuable,” says the current head of Amazon Studios, which made the forthcoming feature Red One with Mar and Kasdan.
“His strong relationships and background in both television and film help him easily cross over in both mediums and get a lot of great work done,” Salke added.
“A lot of producers have a lane and they stay there,” Burke says. “But Melvin, along with Jake, keeps pushing into new uncharted territory, unafraid to take on new challenges.”
Rob Lowe costarred in the 2015 Fox series The Grinder, on which Mar was executive producer. “It remains one of my favorite things that I’ve ever done. It was an unbelievable experience,”
Lowe says.
When The Grinder was making its debut in 2015, announcer Joe Buck read a promo for the show during Fox’s broadcast of game one of the World Series. Immediately following the promo, the broadcast lost power, TV screens went black for four solid minutes, and the game screeched to a halt.
After the glitch was resolved and the broadcast resumed, Buck jokingly blamed it on “the curse of Rob Lowe and (Grinder costar) Fred Savage.”
Lowe was not about to let that fly. He immediately called Mar and pitched the idea of shooting a rebuttal video. “Nine out of 10 producers would take that phone call, laugh and hang up. Melvin said, ‘Absolutely,’ and we did it,” Lowe recalls.
The video aired during the next World Series game. It was priceless viral advertising for The Grinder that began with Lowe’s idea but wouldn’t have come to pass without Mar’s tenacity and behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get the video on the air.
“It’s emblematic of what’s great about Melvin,” Lowe says. “He’s fearless, he sweats the details, and he delivers.”
“I think a lot of people outside of our industry have no idea what it means to be a producer,” Cretton says. “It’s a crazy job where you put out a hundred fires and solve a thousand problems, and the only thing people notice is that crafty is out of kombucha again. The most important quality in a producer is their ability to get things made.”
When friends and family ask him what a producer does, this is what Mar tells them:
“Everyone knows what a restaurant is. Think about the movie or a TV show as a meal. The actors are like the dishes and the writer or director is like the chef. When you enjoy the meal, you say, ‘My compliments to the chef.’ When the bathroom is broken, you tell me, the manager of the restaurant. Everything is my problem. I need to support my chef. I need to make sure the dishes are done well. That’s the job and I love it.”
WHAT’S AN EXAMPLE OF YOUR NOT GIVING UP?
Most recently, it was American Born Chinese, which I always loved. I read it on my honeymoon in 2006. I tried so hard to get that book. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it; I just wanted to option it. I would hear through the publisher that Gene Yang just wasn’t into it.
I met Gene 10 years later on a panel hosted by mutual friend Andrea Cherng, whose family runs Panda Express. We got to talking, and a few months later he called and said, “I think I’m ready to do this. Will you do it with me?” I’m like, “You don’t understand, man,” and I told him the story of how long I’d wanted it. Then Kelvin Yu started working on it with his brother, me, and Gene. Dana Waldman, who has been like our fairy godmother, said, “John Landgraf likes this. You should set it up at FX.”
Two months before the pandemic hit, FX passed on it. It just wasn’t fitting what they wanted to do. It was dark days. The world was shutting down. As the pandemic kept going, Disney started reorganizing. Three studios went down to two. We were at Fox 21. We got merged into 20th, which is fine because we had a deal at 20th. Then, Disney Brand Television came up and Ayo Davis and Gary Marsh took that over. Ayo read American Born Chinese and said, “Let’s do it.” At the height of lockdown, Destin Cretton decided to join. Then, he goes, “I’m going to call Michelle Yeoh.”
And in February 2022, we were watching Michelle come down on a wire as a Chinese goddess on the first day of shooting. Another crazy moment I can’t believe.
HOW DOES YOUR BACKGROUND INFORM THE WAY THAT YOU CHOOSE PROJECTS AND SHEPHERD THEM TO COMPLETION?
It’s influenced me in that I pay a lot of attention to points of view. Fresh Off the Boat is about an American family. We’re not telling a story about a Chinese family. It’s a story about a Chinese American family. It took me a long time to realize that. The American part is important. We’re all Americans. We just happen to have a slightly different point of view about certain things. We’re telling a human story, an American story. The character could be someone of Asian heritage or not. It’s not like, “Oh, if it’s not AAPI, I’m not doing it.”
SINCE THEN, HAVE YOU FELT LIKE YOU’RE THE GO-TO PRODUCER FOR AAPI STORIES AND PROJECTS?
Yes, and I see that as a good thing. But a lot of other people are doing it now. In 1998, there was nobody. For 15 years, I thought I knew all the AAPI people in Hollywood. Now I don’t. It’s really great.
SPEAKING OF DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, HOW HAS PRODUCING FILMS INFORMED THE WAY THAT YOU PRODUCE TV, AND VICE VERSA?
I feel like the line between them has blurred so much, especially with how we consume and distribute things. The only difference is, to me, if you’re making a television show, you’re constantly thinking, “How long can I keep this going?” With making a movie, it’s like, “How can I end this in the best possible way?”
ARE YOU SEEING MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR FILM VERSUS TV OR SERIES?
I think there’s more opportunity for a
midsize movie now. I used to say, “If somebody gave you the script to Rain Man, you would think, ‘How can I make this into a great eight-episode series?’” But it won an Oscar as a film.
It feels like we’re headed back to that—where it doesn’t pencil out to do the $75 million, 10-episode version. A great midsize movie is awesome. I grew up on those. You don’t have to ask people to binge eight hours’ worth. A good 90 minutes is wonderful.
IS THE ANSWER THAT A CREATOR SHOULDN’T RELY ON TRADITIONAL STRUCTURES OR DISTRIBUTORS TO GET THEIR PROJECTS OUT, WHETHER THEY’RE AAPI STORIES OR NOT? It depends on what the objective is. I was involved in this little movie, Lucky Grandma. I never thought of it like, “This is going to be a successful monetary situation.” The most important thing was to get it made and get it out there. You think outside the box. If a traditional streamer is not going to do it, what are the other options? Do you put it out on YouTube? Do you put it out on some sort of app? You just want to get eyeballs and cut through the clutter.
The economics of everything are going to change. Are we going back to the time when you make a network TV show and have syndication pay your family for generations? Probably not.
But the basic idea of telling stories is going to stay. How you monetize it is going to change. If you’re passionate about doing it for that reason versus the benefits of monetization, then you’ll be all right. In this time of chaos and upheaval, there’s opportunity. Everything’s on the table now. I love it.
HOW DO YOU WORK TO NOT ONLY INCREASE INDUSTRY ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS, BUT ALSO
I think that’s what most of the 2023 strikes were about. This next negotiation, hopefully not a strike, is about that as well. But if you go back even further to earlier labor movements, opportunities are created when people get together and want to tell a story. You get together the best group of people that can do what you need. That’s where it starts. Is it going to happen immediately? Probably not. But you’ve got to stick with it. You’ve got to want to tell the story; then figure out
how to do it.
It feels like we’ve taken one step back with this contraction and upheaval we’re going through. But there’s been a lot of progress when it comes to diverse points of view on screen and behind the camera. I don’t believe that people don’t want to put diverse stories or faces on screen. We’re going through a hard business moment. I think fewer shows with diverse points of view are being made because they’re making less of everything. So it’s got to shrink. It’s just reality.
There is opportunity in looking for the next chapter. It’s up to you, the producer, director, writer, to look for that opportunity.
IS IT SMART TO LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITY WELL OUTSIDE THE BORDERS OF THE U.S. WHEN PUTTING A PACKAGE OR DEAL TOGETHER?
Of course. When you’re dealing with movies, you’re thinking, “Well, what’s the worldwide box office?” With shows, you’re thinking, “How do I make a
dent in this territory?” whether that’s European territories or Latin America. It’s all part of it now.
I spend a lot of time thinking about what we can do in Asia. On a smaller level, we shot an episode of Fresh Off the Boat in Taiwan. I was adamant about trying to do that creatively, but also trying to understand film entertainment in Asia. I have projects in development now that focus on that part of the world, because it’s a huge economy there that’s not just Americacentric. You’ve got to figure out how to make shows that work everywhere.
PEOPLE MIGHT BELIEVE THAT A SHOW CENTERED UPON A PARTICULAR EXPERIENCE IS ONLY GOING TO WORK IN PLACES THAT THE CHARACTERS’ EXPERIENCE CONNECTS BACK TO. BUT WHY
WOULDN’T AN AUDIENCE IN EASTERN EUROPE REALLY DIG FRESH OFF THE BOAT OR AMERICAN BORN CHINESE?
That’s right. It’s sad that American Born Chinese didn’t come back, but we did better internationally than we did domestically. Now when I’m thinking about ideas, this experience will help me think about how to start internationally, figure out how to build off of that, and then include the domestic audience.
I’m very proud of that show and everyone I worked with on it. That was one of my favorite experiences making a show ever. We’re all in touch and doing other things together. But you expect when you sign up to work in this business that projects are going to end eventually. Sometimes it ends too soon, and that bums you out. And sometimes, it lasts longer than you expected. But that’s all part of it. ¢
The cast and crew of Doogie Kamealoha, M.D., during a traditional Hawaiian blessing to start production.
We do it on anything that shoots in Hawaii.
It’s to show respect and gratitude to the island and its people,” Mar says.
From left to right: Emma Meisel, Matt Sato, Wes Tian, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, producer Justin McEwen, Melvin Mar, showrunner Kourtney Kang, Jason Scott Lee, Mapuana Makia, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, and director Sean Kavanagh.
Experienced creators weigh in on the AI tools they use—and why you shouldn’t fear their capabilities.
Written by Eve Weston
WHAT DO WE CALL SOMETHING THAT POSSESSES WISDOM AND PHILOSOPHY? SOMETHING THAT ALLOWS THE PERFORMANCE OF MYSTERIOUS TRICKS, LIKE MAKING THINGS DISAPPEAR AND REAPPEAR? SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE FRAUDULENT, UNCONVENTIONAL AND DANGEROUS? HISTORICALLY, WE’VE CALLED IT MAGIC. IN 2024, IT’S AI.
For something that is by definition not human, artificial intelligence does a great job at stirring up strong emotions, both in general and in Hollywood. Proponents of using AI in filmmaking wax poetic about how AI can increase efficiency, enhance creativity, reduce costs, personalize content and improve decision-making. AI’s detractors rail at the potential job displacement, loss of human touch, dependence on technology, and ethical and legal concerns. Both camps have valid points.
AI does not mark the first time Hollywood has grappled with the arrival of new technologies. Matt Nix, creator and showrunner of Burn Notice, who’s been experimenting with AI, takes comfort in looking back to the ’90s when the first digital instruments were coming out. Some studio musicians lost their jobs, but the amount of money studios put into scores has gone up, and so has the need for talent who know how to work with digital instruments.
“When the machine gun was invented, they didn’t say, ‘This machine gun can shoot as many bullets as 50 soldiers, so let’s just send one guy out with one machine gun and send everybody else home,’” Nix says. “Everybody got a machine gun.”
But to embrace that metaphor—even if everyone’s telling you that the machine gun can help you do your job—it’s scary to pick up and mess around with a machine gun if you’ve never used one. It’s far too easy to shoot oneself in the foot. The AI “machine gun” doesn’t come with an instruction manual. Or does it?
During the recent Produced By Conference, the Guild presented two sessions in which experts discussed how producers can make AI work for them. On a panel titled Elevating Your Project Using AI, Souki Mansoor, creator community specialist at OpenAI, shared, “I have, in so many moments, said (to ChatGPT), ‘Hello, my name is Souki. This is what I’m working on. I would like some help
with X thing. What can you help me with here?’”
AI isn’t your average tech innovation. It’s an appliance that can tell you how to use it.
Mansoor encourages new users to recognize that these AI models—programs that have been trained on a set of data to recognize certain patterns or make certain decisions without further human intervention—are conversational. “They’re not designed to be just a one-shot, ‘Here’s an idea; now do it,’” she says.
But as has always been the case in Hollywood, who you talk to matters. So how do you know which AI to converse with?
Produced By asked media creators about what tools they’re using, how they’re using them and what they’re using them for. Tools are grouped by which part of the production process they lend themselves well to, though some tools may readily be useful across the workflow, while others may cross over in cases of user creativity.
This is not an exhaustive list of the AI products out there, and PGA is not specifically endorsing any one tool listed here. Before using any of these products, please confirm how they work in the context of your production and consult with your legal and other advisors regarding how their use can affect your legal rights in the content.
ChatGPT: Best suited for generating humanlike text based on user prompts. Useful for creating dialogue, answering questions and providing writing assistance in a variety of contexts. Free and paid plans are available.
Dream Machine: An AI tool designed for producing imaginative and surreal artwork, often used for artistic experimentation and unique visual creations.
Firefly: Not to be confused with AI notetaker Fireflies,
Top: An image generated by Midjourney in response to the prompt, “Using AI is like hiring a cleaning lady to come to your house. It’s still your house; she just makes it better.”
Bottom: A ChatGPT-generated scheduling demo.
this AI tool is used for generating and enhancing vibrant and dynamic graphics, illustrations, and animations.
Leonardo: Best suited for assisting artists in creating detailed digital art and complex illustrations.
Midjourney: An industry favorite for generating high-quality, stylized images based on text prompts, often used for artistic and creative visuals.
Stable Diffusion: A powerful AI model for generating high-quality, coherent images from text that can run on most consumer hardware equipped with a modest GPU.
Viggle: Specializes in speeding up the process of creating animatics and previsualization, helping animators and filmmakers quickly develop storyboards and visual sequences.
Write With Laika: A writing assistant platform that helps generate creative content, offering tools for brainstorming, story development, and improving writing productivity.
Since her win at the world’s first creative AI eSports Tournament held at the 2024 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show, Jagger Waters has been running workshops and otherwise advising people who are curious about embracing AI tools for filmmaking workflows. She remarks, “These tools are perfect for creating proof-of-concept materials, storyboards, previsualizations and even short teaser trailers.”
In Waters’ opinion, this type of preliminary work is the best use of AI tools for writers, directors and producers at this time. AI can enhance an average
pitch deck and help sell pitches without stepping into a minefield of legalities around AI use that need to be figured out before generative AI can be used in a final creative product.
Chundria Brownlow, founder/CEO/ director at Chundria Brownlow Film Studios, has been using AI for two years. “It’s like hiring a housekeeper to come to your house. It’s still your house; they just make it better,” Brownlow explains. She uses AI for a variety of tasks, from research to writing emails.
Demonstrating her technique for drafting casting notices and rehearsal schedules, Brownlow fed ChatGPT obvious project-specific information, like the description of the role that was casting. Then ChatGPT took the initiative to include casting submission specifics in the draft, such as asking for headshots, résumés and relevant reels. It requested that the actor prepare a short monologue and mentioned that diversity is highly encouraged.
When drafting a rehearsal schedule,
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ChatGPT saved Brownlow from having to look up the specific dates of all the Tuesdays and Thursdays in July. It formatted the schedule in a call sheetlike grid, indicating which actors were expected at which rehearsals.
Cuebric: Able to turn a text prompt into a virtual movie set, this AI platform is also known for streamlining the postproduction process, using AI to automate repetitive tasks and improve efficiency.
ElevenLabs: Specializes in text-tospeech (TTS) technology, offering highly natural and expressive voice synthesis for various applications, including audiobooks and virtual assistants.
Kaiber: An AI tool designed for creating dynamic visual content from text inputs, particularly animations and video clips suitable for marketing and creative projects.
Luma AI: Luma Dream Machine is an AI model that makes high-quality, realistic videos from text and images very quickly.
Magnific AI: A highly advanced AI upscaler and enhancer that can reimagine as many details in your image
or photo as you wish, guided by your prompt and parameters.
Runway: A versatile AI platform for video editing, image manipulation, and multimedia content creation, featuring a wide range of tools for artists and designers.
Suno: A generative artificial intelligence music creation program designed to generate realistic songs that combine vocals and instrumentation or are purely instrumental.
Udio: A generative artificial intelligence model that produces music based on simple text prompts. It can generate vocals and instrumentation.
Iris Schmidt is a film director in Copenhagen, Denmark, who specializes in virtual production. She has used AI software to produce short films by leveraging Midjourney to create photos through prompts and later bring them to life. Schmidt also uses AI to optimize her 3D animations for virtual production. Last year she collaborated on a Swedish music video with Marionette XR, which provides AI software that filmmakers can use to extract, edit, clean and retarget motion to their 3D character.
“It meant the animation was a lot easier to do, and the singer’s movements were put into the performance instead of hand-animating it,” Schmidt explains.
Mark Goffman, writer and showrunner for Limitless and Umbrella Academy, points out that it’s possible to create a custom model, particularly in ChatGPT, by feeding in a set of instructions and rules for, say, a television show—like the show’s worldview, how the act breaks go, how a character behaves or how the two main characters interact with each other.
“You can say something like, ‘OK, our main character is a behavioral psychologist; now tell me a psychological experiment that’s fairly obscure and has a surprising result.’ And it’ll spit out a bunch of them,” he says.
For a story, Goffman might dig down more into one of the results that ChatGPT has delivered. Around two more iterations in, he’ll be able to see how he can relate that specific hypothesis to the show’s main character. It’s very much the same process that he might go through with somebody on staff.
“The difference is that you can do the research a lot faster,” he explains. “But
the other thing is, it might be 3 in the morning and my wife’s gonna punch me in the face if I wake her to talk about any of this. If I try calling anyone else, they’re asleep and I’ll get punched the next morning. AI is always awake, and it’s endlessly positive and patient with me.”
Adobe After Effects Rotoscoping: Utilizes AI to streamline the rotoscoping process in Adobe After Effects, making it easier to create precise masks and track objects in video.
Adobe Music Remix: Uses Adobe Sensei to intelligently retime music clips to match video content. Helps remix and adjust music tracks to fit different lengths and styles.
Adobe Enhance Speech: Uses AI to magically remove noise and improve the quality of your dialogue clips so they sound like they were recorded in a professional studio.
DaVinci Voice Isolation: An AIpowered plug-in for DaVinci Resolve that isolates and enhances voice tracks in audio, useful for improving dialogue clarity.
Photoshop Generative Fill: Powered by Adobe Firefly, this tool enhances Photoshop’s image editing capabilities with content-aware fill, object removal and image synthesis.
Quickture: An AI editing tool for unscripted content that integrates with Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer and is designed for content such as reality TV, documentary, news, sports, industrials, etc.
Sora: A text-to-video model that can generate videos of realistic and imaginative scenes up to a minute long from text instructions while maintaining visual quality and adherence to the user’s prompt.
Topaz: Professional-grade photo and video editing powered by AI. Best known for its suite of enhancement tools, including image upscaling, noise reduction and sharpening.
In addition to the above resources, Meagan Keane, director of product marketing for Pro Video Strategy at Adobe—who spent about a decade working as an editor and producer in documentary features—points out that a new feature called Generative Extend will be coming to Premiere Pro later this year.
“If you’ve edited video, you know this experience. You’re cutting something, you come to the end, and you think, ‘I really want to let this have a long fade to black as the music is coming to an end,” she says. “All of a sudden, you get an alert: Insufficient Media. You think,
‘If I only had a couple more frames a couple more seconds, I could really pull out this pacing perfectly.’
“Or, you have an interview subject and they make this really poignant comment— and then they continue talking. You’re like, ‘If I could just have them sit on that comment for a moment of breath.’ With Generative Extend, you will be able to pull out for a few frames, a few seconds, to really hit your pacing perfectly.”
In the past, doing something like this would have taken hours to figure out. You would either find single frames that could be duplicated in order to add a little bit more time, or you’d go through the footage archive to look for another clip that could be used. Now it might just take seconds.
As the industry grapples with how it is going to use AI in creating film and TV, it’s worth remembering that while AI may not be magic, it’s not that dissimilar. Magic requires specific ingredients for a potion, the right words for a spell. AI likewise requires our input and is about harnessing unprecedented and powerful tools to help us create.
So AI remains a tool, dependent on human input and imagination. Richard Jenkins, president and CEO of I2A2 Technologies, sums it up: “AI generates, but it’s humans who create.” ¢
Top experts generously shared their experiences of navigating a challenging and changing industry at the 14th Annual Produced By Conference.
This June, the PGA’s Produced By Conference returned to offer insightful and thoughtprovoking dialogue as top producers and entertainment executives gathered for the daylong event on the Fox Studio Lot.
The 14th version of the conference brought the industry’s leading creative voices to the stage to share their thoughts about navigating and thriving in the ever-changing industry landscape. A series of panels discussed how to elevate projects, pivot to achieve success, and navigate the post-strike, post-pandemic, ever-evolving world.
Industry insiders spoke about some of the unique challenges facing producers in a rapidly changing entertainment landscape, and the strategies needed to adapt and succeed. Top TV buyers shared how projects went from pitch to screen, while leading producers described how to thoughtfully and safely incorporate AI into their productions.
Executives and producers leading successful series on HBO|Max and Fox participated in conversations on the processes and pathways that led to the making of each show.
Jeff Schaffer (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and John Wilson (How To with John Wilson) joined Amy Gravitt, executive vice president and head of HBO and Max Original Comedy Programming, to discuss their experiences pitching television shows, sharing the importance of conveying the comedic tone and direction of the series within the pitch.
Sarah Aubrey, head of Max Original Programming, invited J.T. Rogers and Alan Poul to the stage to discuss the development of the breakout Max original series Tokyo Vice and shooting the series in Japan—one of the most difficult places in the world to film. Aubrey was then joined by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky of Hacks, who discussed the show’s changing character dynamics on the heels of the critically acclaimed season three finale.
Howard Gordon, showrunner and executive producer
participating
of the hit FOX crime anthology series Accused, joined Fox Television Network President Michael Thorn and Sony Pictures Television Studios Head of Creative Lauren Stein to talk about the exciting process of creating the hit show—and shared some tips for landing a pitch. Alongside moderator Stacey Wilson Hunt (contributing editor, The Hollywood Reporter), panelists discussed the development process and why Gordon’s personalizing of his pitch convinced Thorn that he was the right person to tell this story.
PGA President Stephanie Allain moderated a spirited discussion on the critical challenges faced by producers today. Mike Farah (@fter Midnight), Lynette Howell Taylor (A Star is Born), Tommy Oliver (founder and CEO, Confluential Films), and Brad Simpson (partner, Color Force) shared how they remain focused and successful within an amorphous profession, emphasizing the importance of finding compelling stories and surrounding themselves with aligned partnerships.
Lori McCreary (CEO, Revelations Entertainment), Renard T.
Jenkins (president, I2A2 Technologies, Labs and Studio), and Ghaith Mahmood (partner, Latham & Watkins) joined Carolyn Giardina, senior entertainment technology and crafts editor at Variety, for a conversation on the practical, legal and ethical considerations producers face when using and including AI in their projects. The panelists provided insights into how AI is currently being used and some of the most important considerations that creatives must consider. Topics ranged from practical uses such as dubbing to implications for the next generation of producers.
This panel, moderated by PGA President Donald De Line, focused on how producers continue to innovate across the rapidly evolving film and television landscape. Roxanne Avent Taylor (CEO/producer, Hidden Empire Film Group), Greg Berlanti (founder,
Berlanti Productions), and Charles Roven (producer, Oppenheimer, The Dark Knight trilogy) discussed current opportunities, such as connecting with audiences more directly, the increasing demand for content rooted in real stories, and the emergence of new technologies. “People want content, and they can’t make it without producers,” Roven said. “The world needs us.”
Jake Aust (Chief Innovation Officer, AGBO), Souki Mansoor (creator community specialist, OpenAI), and Joe Penna (VP of Applied ML, Stability AI) conversed with moderator Joanna Popper (executive producer, Breonna’s Garden , Fight
Back ) about how producers are using AI to add value and make an impact across their productions, from indies to big-budget, and from development to production. The panelists discussed the practical uses of AI models to enhance the creative process, helping producers visualize and execute their vision.
A unique bonus for this year’s conference attendees was the opportunity to immerse themselves in the winner of the 2024 PGA Innovation Award, Body of Mine This lauded VR experience allows one to step into the body of another gender and discover the stories of transgender individuals. By donning Meta Quest headsets, conference attendees got to experience stories of gender dysphoria and euphoria.
Recordings of select sessions can be viewed on the Producers Guild of America’s YouTube page.
New Mexico’s motto, “ Crescit eundo/it grows as it goes,” reflects the state’s PROGRESS as a hub for film and TV production.
Interview by Lisa Y. Garibay and Adrian Gomez
The first film ever shot in the American West was 1898’s Indian Day School, filmed on New Mexico’s Isleta Pueblo by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. Since then, the state has consistently been featured on screens large and small, in productions ranging
from mayonnaise commercials to 2023’s Oppenheimer
The state’s status as a well-appointed, go-to hub began to rise after hosting major productions like Marvel’s The Avengers and the highly acclaimed series Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul
More recently, New Mexico has played host to Showtime’s The Curse, Peacock’s Poker Face, Netflix’s Ransom Canyon and Stranger Things, Amazon’s Outer Range, Fox’s The Cleaning Lady, Apple’s The Lost Bus and A24’s Eddington
The state offers more than 300 days
of sunshine annually and terrain from pine forests to vast, open deserts. While New Mexico’s latitude classifies it as a southern state, high elevations like Wheeler Peak’s 13,161 feet mean that many parts of the state experience all four seasons. Depending on the location, production in summer can be cool while production during winter may be sunny and bright.
Looking beyond the weather, it’s clear that the Land of Enchantment—as New Mexico is nicknamed—possesses the investments, infrastructure, financial incentives and expert crew to be a driving force within the film and TV industry.
New Mexico became the first U.S. state with a film commission in 1968. Since then, the state film office has built up a suite of resources for out-of-state productions, including a locations database and a directory of New Mexico businesses that have experience working with the film industry, from hospitality to accounting to props. The state’s film liaison network links productions to knowledgeable representatives who are available to assist with locations and permitting in specific locales.
AMC’s lauded series Dark Winds has just wrapped its third season in New Mexico. When the show began production in and around the Navajo Nation in 2021, director and executive producer Chris Eyre said, “There is no better community or location that could properly serve the authentic storytelling, look, and feel necessary for Dark Winds. This was our first and only choice, and we’re overwhelmed with the abundance of phenomenal talent and crew we are able to work alongside here.”
New Mexico native Melanie Kirk has more than 25 years of experience in the industry, with producing credits that include. The Harder They Fall, The Terminal List and Nickelodeon’s The Really Loud House
“I’ve been able to double New Mexico for almost anywhere in the world—Boston, Austin, Australia, Arab countries—all because we have these unique locations,” Kirk says. “We have forests, deserts and back alleys. I can make any location happen in New Mexico.”
“Going from episodic to feature film goes hand-in-hand,” she adds. “New Mexico offers me the flexibility to accomplish both types of projects.”
Producer and educator Mateo Frazier emphasizes another major selling point for New Mexico: The cost of doing business is lower. Pricing for studio space is thousands of dollars cheaper than filming in Los Angeles or Atlanta.
“Filming in New Mexico helps us meet our goals monetarily,” Frazier says. “We’re able to get more bang for our buck.”
The state’s streamlined permitting process also benefits the
budget. “We’re able to move through cities quickly without too much hassle. If we can film many locations throughout a shoot day, that saves us money,” Frazier adds.
In 2019, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham successfully spearheaded legislation to expand the incentive program and propel the state’s film industry forward, including establishing official state film partnerships with Netflix, NBCUniversal and 828 Productions, all of whom have committed to doing business in New Mexico for at least a decade.
New Mexico offers a 25 to 40% refundable tax credit on eligible expenses, including resident cast and crew salaries and eligible purchases from New Mexico businesses. The state’s 25% base credit applies to films (including shorts), TV projects (including pilots), commercials, animation, video games, webisodes, music videos, informercials, mobile apps and even stand-alone postproduction.
An additional 5% tax credit is available if certain criteria are met when filming a television series or a pilot. Another 5% tax credit is available for using qualified production facilities, of which there are more than 20 throughout the state.
A 10% tax credit—also known as a rural uplift—is available for qualified expenditures in New Mexico areas at least 60 miles beyond the Santa Fe and Albuquerque city halls.
The Nonresident Below the Line Crew (NRCE) program in New Mexico offers a tax credit equal to 15% of wages paid to certain below-the-line crew members who are not residents of New Mexico and who contribute directly to the production of films or commercial audiovisual projects in the state.
The New Mexico capital city of Santa Fe has been a jewel of breathtaking scenery, art, cuisine and culture for centuries. The first UNESCO-designated Creative City in the United States offers a robust film office and experienced professionals well versed in making various productions feel at home.
“The studios are looking for incentives, resources and crew. It’s important that we can provide them with services,” says Jennifer LaBar-Tapia, director of the Santa Fe Film Office, which serves the capital and northern region of the state. These services include a vetted list of qualified film vendors that is constantly updated. Three studios and six movie ranches in and around Santa Fe fall on the state’s qualified production facilities list for the 5% tax credit.
For example, Aspect Studios is a state-of-the-art film production campus that was born from the merger of Midtown and Garson Studios. The new studio is the largest in northern New Mexico, featuring six soundstages totaling approximately 75,000 square feet and nearly 90,000 square feet of office and production support space.
LaBar-Tapia herself is a tremendous resource for productions coming into the region. In a story for the Santa
Fe New Mexican, The Curse producer Josh Bachove said, “Jennifer goes way above and beyond compared to other film office commissioners.
“She knows everyone in town and is always willing to make an introduction. She is also an incredible reference for crew and locations and restaurants and accommodations,” Bachove added.
Located about an hour’s drive southwest of Santa Fe, Albuquerque sits almost at the heart of New Mexico. It became a hotspot for filming as Breaking Bad became a cultural juggernaut in the early 2010s. A handful of daily direct flights connect the city to the LA region in less than two hours. Direct flights are also available from other production hubs, including Atlanta, Chicago and New York.
Since 2019, Netflix has directly invested nearly $575 million in New Mexico productions. “Our continued investment in this region underscores our commitment to the local community and New Mexico’s vibrant cultural and economic landscape,” said Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos in a recent announcement about the expansion of Netflix Studios Albuquerque.
Netflix’s expansion brings their soundstage total to 12 and adds three mills, a production office, two stage support buildings and two dedicated backlot areas across 108 acres. Cinelease plans to double its footprint of stages and ancillary buildings around the city. The recently announced Mesa Film Studios will include six soundstages, production office space, backlot, mill space and a permanent blue screen upon its completion over the next several years.
Albuquerque’s Hanover Studios offers a 25,000-squarefoot stage, with a major facility in the works. The Studios at the Journal Center offers a 23,146-square-foot stage, a 21,000-square-foot mill space, dock access, and a 10,000-square-foot space for production offices.
In the southern New Mexico city of Las Cruces, 828 Productions operates three of the state’s qualified production facilities: Calcot/Hayner Soundstage, which includes over 30,000 square feet of space; Miranda Soundstage, a 7,000-square-foot facility; and SFM, a 9,984-square-foot facility.
Las Cruces is quietly yet steadily rising as a production hotspot. Recent productions include 2024 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize winner In the Summers, TV series Ghost Hunters, Plan B Entertainment’s Olmo, the Netflix-Tyler Perry film Joe’s College Road Trip, and Summer Machine, a highly anticipated project produced by George R.R. Martin.
“It’s approximately 25% less for location fees, craft service, building materials, costume, and prop rentals compared to Northern New Mexico,” says Andrew Jara, a film liaison who helps run the Las Cruces Film Office.
Las Cruces also offers one of the nation’s most robust and competitive cost savings packages by adding a 10% rebate on top of those offered by the state.
“This not only helps to spread the economic benefits of film production beyond the urban centers but also provides a compelling financial reason for productions to explore and showcase New Mexico’s diverse landscapes and communities
outside the main metro areas,” Frazier says.
While it’s safe to assume that the majority of a production’s crew and equipment will need to come from the Albuquerque area, a growing number of experienced pros and resources are based in Las Cruces. The Gold Room Prop House is run by experienced art directors, production designers, and set decorators. 603 Productions rents industry-standard grip and lighting equipment, from individual items to full trucks. Experienced liaisons like Andrew Jara help productions lock down top-notch crew, cast and services.
Las Cruces is just an hour’s drive on Interstate 10 from El Paso International Airport in west Texas, where cast, crew, equipment, and supplies can be flown in. Productions can tap into the resources and talent available in Texas’ sixthlargest city, and for those wishing to explore Mexico, several U.S.-Mexico border ports of entry are within a one- to twohour drive.
Also within an hour’s drive is famed White Sands National Park, a breathtaking sea of white gypsum sand that has a long history of appearing in films, TV series, commercials and music videos.
As well as serving as film commissioner for Luna County in southern New Mexico, producer Troy Scoughton heads up PRC Productions, which has shot 15 feature films and a handful of series in the state. Under Scoughton’s direction, the film commission is working to build the county’s first soundstage.
“All of the tax incentives add up,” Scoughton says. “For a small production, we could get back enough for a budget for
postproduction or marketing.”
Tribal communities throughout the state—including the Zuni Pueblo, Ohkay Owingeh, Taos Pueblo and the Mescalero Apache Tribe—have all been home to film and television productions since 2019. Dark Winds has generated notable spending in Tesuque Pueblo and continues to grow the local infrastructure.
In 2020, the pueblo turned its shuttered Camel Rock Casino into Camel Rock Studios, which became the first studio owned by a Native American tribe. The state film office works with the tribes and productions to ensure that filming is done respectfully and with cultural sensitivity.
Albuquerque’s film office is proud of the resource hub it has put together for film and TV productions in partnership with the city’s sustainability office. The directory contains resources to help productions shoot green while supporting the city’s Climate Action Plan, which outlines recommended strategies to counter both local and global effects of climate change.
“Film productions have the potential to positively affect climate change by making both small and large changes to reduce their carbon footprint,” says Cyndy McCrossen, Albuquerque Film Office liaison. “We’re a resource for productions in Albuquerque and want to make the connections between productions and local businesses that provide sustainable services.”
The city has made it easier for productions to work sustainably by connecting them to places where leftover food can be donated, eco-friendly dry cleaners, solarpowered generator rentals, electric vehicle rentals, and organizations where sets and costumes can be donated once production has wrapped, thus keeping a significant amount of material out of landfills.
Local companies like Kindora Big Deal Productions provide set restoration and trash and recycling services for film, TV and commercial productions throughout New Mexico. Soilutions offers composting to divert organic waste from landfills. On the power front, Desert Synergy carries VOLTstack portable, zero-emission battery electric energy storage systems.
Tax credits are available from the Alternative Fuel Data Center, including a biodiesel tax deduction and biofuels production tax deduction. The program is headquartered in Albuquerque, but productions in Santa Fe are beginning to take advantage of it.
Netflix’s Albuquerque campus now has a 5-megawatt solar array coupled with a 3-megawatt battery storage system. “We can take advantage of the sunshine and store it for when it’s dark at night to eliminate all emissions from our electricity loads,” says Netflix Sustainability Officer Emma Stewart.
For heating and cooling, Netflix just looked downward.
“We bored 506 holes 300 feet deep to tap into the earth’s natural heating and cooling,” Stewart explains. This process eliminates all gas usage and will allow the studio to keep extreme temperatures at bay during hot summers and cold winters. The studio also invested in 50 electric vehicle charging stations.
“At Albuquerque, the durability of the investments is strong, and we can support any productions that shoot there,” Stewart says. “The projects are able to take a big bite out of pollution. Solar advancement means that we can cover 100% of electrical loads. The geothermal will cover 30% of the heating and cooling.”
Based on availability, third parties may rent the Netflix facilities and become eligible for the qualified production facilities 5% tax credit.
The state’s film office estimates that approximately 75% of all positions hired by productions are New Mexico residents. Job opportunities have increased dramatically over the past decade. Netflix alone hired over 4,000 cast and crew members in New Mexico from 2021 to 2023. Stats
like this help explain why Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces have been named three of the best places to live and work by MovieMaker Magazine
With the volume of production that New Mexico has seen in recent years, skilled crafts personnel are critical.
IATSE Local 480 has approximately 2,000 members.
“We have department heads available in each of the 20 departments that we represent,” says Bryan Evans, business representative for IATSE Local 480.
Additionally, 1,400 people in the process of becoming members sit on a union-approved overflow list to be hired if there are not enough IATSE members to fill spots on a production.
Evans is proud to argue that New Mexico crews are the best in the country. “I am constantly hearing praise about the quality and work ethic of our crew. They know how to work hard, get the job done accurately, and do it in a fun way. There’s a laid-back culture of New Mexico that is extremely conducive to film,” he says.
Evans is also proud of the union’s commitment to professional development, which not only benefits New Mexicans seeking to build a career in production, but also
productions that need a solid crew base to count on.
“Our training center provides over 150 classes a year. People can get the entry-level skills to get their first job, but more importantly, go from one skill level to a higher one,” Evans says.
New Mexico’s Film Crew Advancement Program (FCAP) offers significant cost savings to participating production companies that provide on-the-job training to New Mexico residents working primarily in below-the-line positions.
A production company is reimbursed 50% of a participant’s wages for up to 1,040 hours physically worked by the qualifying crew member in a specialized craft position. FCAP participants must be mentored to be part of the program. For example, a grip who is ready to move up to the best boy position would qualify so long as the production’s key grip serves as their mentor.
“New Mexico has always been a haven of creativity. People here intuitively know how to do creative projects and do them really well. There’s an incredible wealth of creative people that is just waiting to be tapped into,” Evans says.
“We’re definitely growing where everyone else is shrinking,” he adds. “We’re the fourth-largest movie market. We want to become the second—if not the first.”
New Mexico resident Jake Pokluda has served as the UPM on Dark Winds for two seasons. His 20+ years of experience includes Love Lies Bleeding, Echo 3 and News of the World. Pokluda is thrilled to have watched his home state evolve as a production powerhouse. Here are his top tips for producers eyeing his state for their project.
#1 Talk to a local UPM
“I don’t say this with any bias, but you should talk to a local UPM before anything. Have them get you in touch with a good locations manager, an AD and a transpo person. Sometimes I’ll hear from a production that drove around without talking to anybody and decided to shoot in southern New Mexico. But now they’ve got to figure out how to get everything down to that part of the state and house everyone and so forth. If they had talked to a UPM first, they could have learned more about alternative locations and logistics before making a decision.”
#2 Don’t discount local crew
“A key grip in New Mexico is as good as any key grip in New York or LA. The same with most crew. We shoot a lot of major stuff here, from Marvel to Oppenheimer, and that has really trained and seasoned the crews. There are great local DPs, production designers, and ADs. You have top-notch camera teams that will nail your shot every time. You have great department heads here. The support crew is phenomenal.”
#3 Have a local arrange your lodging
“We have great travel coordinators and travel services here in the state, which you get a rebate on. They can help me house all my crew for better rates than if I did it myself online.”
#4 Get big savings by going green
“We went with GreenLite’s solar-powered trailers on our latest project. They were phenomenal. I never ran a base camp genny to power my cast trailers. I would plug them in at the stage occasionally to charge up the batteries, but for the most part, the sun did the work. I saved a ton in fuel alone just on my cast trailers. GreenLite matched the price for me, so it didn’t cost me a penny more (than traditional trailers). Cutting down on fuel use at base camp was a phenomenal savings.”
#5 Take full advantage of locations
“There’s a lot of urban variation. For example, you can double parts of LA in Albuquerque. If you’re looking for different landscapes close to a city center, there’s no better place than New Mexico. There are tremendous open spaces, and you don’t have to go far to get there. You could be headquartered in Albuquerque and within 20 minutes be in a place that looks like you’re on another planet.” ¢
Set Etiquette Training provides eligible independent productions access to free harassment-prevention training plus two hours of free legal consultation related to the training. The trainings are designed to establish a culture on set that prevents harassment and other types of abusive conduct from occurring.
Trainings are:
• Led by an experienced attorney.
• Tailored to each production’s needs.
• Conducted during preproduction for the full production team, cast and crew.
• Approximately one hour in length.
• Interactive and designed to help to help foster a culture of respect on your set.
Please note: Set Etiquette Training does not satisfy any legal obligations the production company may have to conduct antiharassment training.
Training services include:
• A Code of Conduct agreement to be shared with crew and cast prior to the training.
• Set Responder Guidelines to formally designate two Set Responders and clarify their role and responsibilities for the duration of the shoot.
• An Incident Log for Set Responders in the event an incident needs to be reported.
• A Guide for Independent Production Companies to help you maintain a safe set.
• Harassment prevention training by an expert attorney that is specific to your production. The training will include time for questions and interactive discussion.
• Upon the completion of your production’s training, the production can access up to two hours of free legal consultation related to the training. The production may use this time to discuss any issues or concerns related to harassment that arise during the course of production. If the production’s legal needs exceed two hours, the attorney will advise the production of rates for continued engagement.
Set Etiquette Training is available to any independent production, irrespective of membership status with the Producers Guild.
In order to be eligible, the project must:
• Be an independent production. (For the purposes of this training, an independent production is any production that is not directly produced or financed by one of the large studios or streamers. Typically, an independent production does not have a dedicated Human Resources department. Please review the training program FAQs to learn more.)
• Have at least 20 cast and crew members.
• Be a U.S.-based production.
• Schedule the training to be conducted during preproduction.
• Distribute a code of conduct and agree to abide by other program guidelines.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Please submit your application four to six weeks in advance of the intended training date.
MPTF provides a safety net of social and charitable services including temporary financial assistance, counseling to navigate difficult times and referrals to community resources.
