Interview with Hilarey Kirsner – President of Women in Television and Film DC

Hilarey Kirsner is the current board president at the professional organization Women in Film and Video (WIFV).  She is also an award-winning producer whom I’ve had the pleasure to work with on two cable television series.  Hilarey is very smart, very organized and very cool under pressure.  When I joined WIFV several years ago, she was the head of WIFV’s events committee.  I joined that committee because of her.  Because of her hard work planning events and with WIFV overall (the board and committee members are all volunteers), she was voted as board president.

WIFV is a Washington, DC based media organization that supports and celebrates women’s achievement in the television and film industries.  Women, and men, join for the support system, growth opportunities and production contacts. I’ve enjoyed many of their informational panels, being a panelist and asking questions on the email list-serve where I can draw on the collective intelligence of the entire membership.

I recently spoke with Hilarey about her role as WIFV President.

What type of work do you do?

I am a freelance producer and I do a lot of different types of work –  in fact it’s usually different everywhere I go.  Sometimes I’m on set directing the camera and actors, sometimes I’m in an office setting up shoots and writing scripts; and sometimes I’m sitting in an edit suite and working with an editor to create a story.  I started off producing videos for live events. Then I moved to producing more corporate and government programs for the web and marketing purposes.  After that, I got into producing for cable broadcast (read: reality programming) and now I’m doing work for non-profits, which I love.

Why did you join WIFV initially? And, why run for board President?

I joined WIFV back in 2002 when I had just moved back to DC after spending a year working in LA.  I had just started freelancing and thought I had better start networking in DC if I wanted to find a job and everyone said- “join WIFV!”  So I did.  The first thing I participated in was the Image Makers program, which is a community outreach program where WIFV volunteers teach local high school students how to produce a Public Service Announcement (PSA) from start to finish. They produce the PSAs for local non-profits, who give them creative direction.  I not only fell in love with the kids’ creativity, but I made some really great friends and business contacts while working alongside other WIFV volunteers.  I ended up doing Image Makers for the next four years and ran the program for two of those years.  From there I started attending more WIFV programs and became more involved.  So, a few people encouraged me to run for the WIFV board in 2004. 

I spent one year on the board and then ended up moving to Florida for two and a half years.  When I moved back to DC in 2007, I was elected to the board again.  Denise Moak was president and the two of us knew each other from college – so I already knew we worked well together.  I served as her Executive Vice President for one year and then ran Programming for the second year.  By that point, I was heavily involved in the comings and goings of WIFV and was talking to our Executive Director daily.  I guess it just made sense that I move into the role of President when Denise’s term was finished.  Denise gave me a lot of great training and is still there to help me if I need it. There’s also a great support system of past presidents to call and of course our Executive Director, Melissa Houghton, is wonderful and is always there to help.

What do you hope to accomplish as WIFV President?

We’re a 501c3 non-profit organization so we have to raise money for everything we do.  Fundraising is always challenging, especially in an economy where everyone is tightening their belts. That’s why I wanted to put development in on the top of our agenda.  WIFV is such a great resource to women and men in DC, but unfortunately we always need more funding to support the large number of programs we put on annually.  I wanted to make sure our sponsors were benefitting from WIFV as much as we are from them, so we’ve been working hard to update our sponsor benefits and increase communication with our sponsors to see how we can work best together.

I also think it’s very important to listen to the members to see what they want out of WIFV.  I rely a lot on their feedback for program ideas and suggestions on how to make things better.  I am also hoping to establish practices in our office that will stay with the organization from board to board (we turn over half the board every year) so that there isn’t a ramp up period for new board members each time.  I’m hoping they will be able to jump in with all the information right from the start.

What are some projects that WIFV has going on right now that you wish more people knew about?

Image Makers is going on right now, which obviously is close to my heart.  I do wish that more people in the community knew about it because it benefits so many groups of people in our community.  We try to choose students who do not have any media classes at their schools so they that are getting the most out of it.  We’re always looking for good volunteers with media and teaching experience as well as non-profits who are in need of video marketing for their organization.  And of course we need sponsors for this program – we give the students a gift at the end for participating and we would love to be able to buy some cameras and editing equipment for WIFV to own for this program so that we’re not relying on our volunteers to bring their own equipment every year.

We are also hosting a screening series every Tuesday in March in honor of Women’s History Month at the Martin Luther King Jr. library.  All the films are about women’s issues and are made by woman – many of them local.  The screenings are free and open to the public.

March 26, 2011 is SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) Day in Georgetown, DC where we’re going to screen our Women in Film and Television International Shorts compilation.  The day is packed with readings, discussions, exhibitions and performances.  For more info on this and other upcoming programs go to: www.wifv.org.   We just revamped our website and are very proud of it!

What does the future look like for WIFV?

We are celebrating our 32nd anniversary this September (2011). It’s really amazing that we started with 15 members and now have about 900 plus two full time employees and an office.  WIFV DC started as a group of women freelancers who wanted to get together and share ideas and honestly, the mission hasn’t changed –  that’s what we still want today.  I think the future is really bright for our organization and we hope to continue educating, supporting and bringing women media makers together for 30 more years.

For more interviews from production experts, visit the Expert Production Interviews category.

Should I Buy A Hard Drive?

I asked my friends and colleagues at the Washington, DC area Women in Film and Video (WIFV) if it was time for me, as an independent and freelance producer, to buy my own hard drive.  The resounding answer was “yes.”

Some people, like Stephanie Foerster Owner of StepFilms, says the question takes some consideration.  “If you are responsible for the footage upon conclusion of the shoot, then yes, a hard drive is a great investment. That said, if you are simply handing over the footage for post, I think it’s fair to request the client to provide their own drive before the shoot.”

There are a lot of hard drives out there and not all of them will work for every situation.  For instance, are you looking for a hard drive to simply store and transport footage?  If so, a small drive will work.  The most popular compact drive suggestion I got was for the 350gb LaCie.  I’m using this drive now (in fact it is packed up ready for my shoot today) and it seems both rugged and easy to use.  It doesn’t need a power cord because it runs off of the firewire cable. It costs about $100.  For Mac users, My Passport Studio has been recommended because it is small and very affordable.  Another recommendation is the $90 Smartdisk FireLite which holds about 80GB and fits in the palm of your hand.

But as Roland Hudson of Flipbook Productions points out, you will need something bigger and faster if you plan to edit from the drive.  Anything less than 1TB can make moving media on and off of the drive painstakingly slow.  The G-Raid mini, another highly recommended drive based on responses, runs about $300.

Bonnie Green, a Digital Assets Manager, warns not to store too much on one drive.  “I usually advocate digitizing your assets into a searchable database, then archiving physical assets in off-site storage. Never keep the two in the same location. Use the “what if” scenario in laying out your plan.  Also, using one hard drive for multiple clients may not be wise, as it only takes one corrupted file to ruin to the soup. Then, you’ve just screwed up your other clients’ stuff and made yourself look like a novice.”

The crowd was split on how “consumer” to go with these drives. Some felt that standard drives found at Best Buy to provide storage for a home computer wouldn’t suffice.  Others were excited about cheap and cheerful drives that could be bought for under 100-bucks.  Personally, I feel that is it worth a little extra to safeguard a client’s footage.

And last but not least, back up your footage!  Some producers use their drives as backups. Others store the footage on their computer.  It doesn’t really matter where you keep it just as long as you can get to that backed-up footage if needed.

TV Moms – Balancing Home Life and Producing

As my own mother puts it, “Motherhood is more than a notion.”  The demands, intensity and rewards are talked about, blogged about and dramatized in fiction.  With the non-stop schedules and sometime infantile personalities, television production work can be just as challenging.  Put the two together, and you may have a recipe of serious stress.

 How can TV Moms balance the demands of the family they love with the career they love (or at least find themselves in)?  I recently took part as a panelist in a discussion about motherhood and production hosted by the Washington, DC area Woman in Television and Film association to discuss that very question.  We shared some tips to help juggle it all.

• Give up the notion of Super Mom.  There is no such thing.  We are all Super Moms if we are loving and attentive to the needs of our family.  But this does not mean we are perfect.  I once sent my daughter to daycare in two left shoes.  It’s a long story.  The point is, she survived and doesn’t even remember it.  At the time of writing this article, I am feeling pretty good about my children’s development and my career development.  Just don’t look in my car – it’s disgustingly dirty.  And it’s not because of me that our floors are fit to eat off of. Thank God for Daddy!
• Join a TV Mom’s support group or start your own.  An editor friend and I decided to have TV Moms play date.  We invite other mothers in the industry to bring their kids, hand-me-downs and resumes. It’s fun and rejuvenating.  Plus I may have just gotten a gig because of one.  I also started a Goal Group with some Super Mom friends of mine.  We get together once a week, sometime via telephone, to set goals and hold each other accountable.  That’s how I finally got this blog site off the ground!
• Get a mentor.  No matter how far along you are in your career, there is always someone who has had more experience. Perhaps it is in production or perhaps it is in being a working mom.  Perhaps it is in an area of production that you’ve never explored.  It doesn’t matter if they are younger or older, man or woman.  It is just nice to have a “go to” person who can help you navigate your career.  My mentor is a single mom and an industry heavy-hitter.  She has given me helpful advice over the years and priceless job recommendations that have resulted in gigs.
• Research family friendly companies.  If you are working in a situation that is not compatible with your family life, research other options.  It may take awhile but it is possible to change your job environment.
• Craft a support system.  I am lucky to leave in my hometown with a number of family and friends that I can call on if I have to work late or travel.  If you can afford in-home help, consider getting a nanny while the children are young.  As the saying goes, “what all working women need is a wife.”
• Search out flexible opportunities.  Perhaps job sharing or working from home is an option for you.  If not, perhaps you can work through your lunch break Monday thought Thursday and work a half day on Fridays.  For two years, I searched for a work from home situation. I didn’t give up and have been working from home for the last 6 months.  This round of working from home may not last forever but I’ll keep searching for something permanent.

Don’t forget that you are not alone.  All TV Mom have moments when they feel that they are not doing a good job at home or at work.  The trick is to keep these moments to a minimum and not let them get you down.  Every once in awhile, that guilt monster tries to jump up on me.  But when I look at my children, I see that they are doing well, growing strong and enjoying life.  It’s okay if we miss our swim play date this time.  No one will fail to graduate high school if we put off potty training a couple of weeks until Mommy finishes shooting that news special.  And it’s okay if the kids have oatmeal and broccoli for dinner once in awhile.  In fact, they like it.  Just keep doing the best that you can and believe it or not, your best is good enough.