EVP, Director of Integrated Production
Deutsch NY
What’s the most relevant business and/or creative lesson you learned in 2023 and how will you apply it to 2024?
The most relevant lessons I’ve learned, or should I say that have been reinforced, are change is constant and expect the unexpected – always. 2023 saw an exponential growth in technology and adaption into workflows and it’s only going to move faster and faster. 2024 looks to be an exciting ride I cannot wait to see all the new and interesting ways we and clients embrace the constant changes and create amazing work.
While gazing into the crystal ball is a tricky proposition, we nonetheless ask you for any forecast you have relative to content creation and/or the creative and/or business climate for 2024?
Content creation will continue to grow and change – especially as AI becomes more the norm in workflows. Clients will continue to demand more – quicker & cheaper, quicker & cheaper, quicker & cheaper. But with new tools at our disposal, let’s make sure we pay attention to the legalities, while we also ensure that craft and quality of output do not have to be the sacrificial lamb on the altar of expediency. 2024 is gonna be an exciting ride.
Gender pay disparity, sexual misconduct and the need for diversity & inclusion are issues that have started to be dealt with meaningfully. While the industry has made strides to address these issues, there’s still a long way to go. What policies do you have in place or plan to implement or step up in order to make progress on any or all of these fronts?
We have always been conscious of diversity & inclusion as well as gender pay disparity. As part of a leadership team that is headed by a woman and is comprised largely of women, we are keenly aware of and sensitive to these issues and are always pushing to ensure our policies are fair and equitable to all. To successfully reflect today’s world, we need to ensure there is meaningful representation on all sides of the table. We strive to ensure select partners with similar beliefs.
What was the biggest challenge posed to you by a recent project? Or share insights to a recent project you deem notable. Briefly describe the project, why it was particularly noteworthy or what valuable lesson(s) you learned from it. If the work is complete and you’d like to share a link to it, please include.
LOLOLOL. By nature, every production poses challenges and half the fun and satisfaction is running toward those challenges and finding clever ways to solve them. As a producer, I learn something new on every project as no “opportunity” ever presents itself the same way twice. It’s what makes the job so exciting and fresh.
James Earl Jones, Lauded Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies At 93
James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, "The Lion King" and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York's Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.
The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of "The Gin Game" having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.
"The need to storytell has always been with us," he told The Associated Press then. "I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."
Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in "Field of Dreams," the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit "The Great White Hope," the writer Alex Haley in "Roots: The Next Generation" and a South African minister in "Cry, the Beloved Country."
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader ("No, I am your father," commonly misremembered as "Luke, I am your father"), as... Read More