What makes a great A.D.? Learn from literally one of the best LESLIE MERLIN!!

Leslie is DGA Award-nominated with over 20 years of experience in film production running sets. She's worked across a diverse portfolio of commercials, television, feature films, music videos and global brands and live productions. Adept at managing complex productions, schedules, budgets, and cross-functional teams while delivering high-quality content on time and on budget. And we get into how she excels at all of it on the pod.

We talk about how she honed her skills, what she looks for when building a team, how to be a calm leader on set, and the feast or famine dynamic of the industry while also maintaining a family.

We get into her path to becoming union, the differences between AD-ing for commercials, TV, and film, and how she unexpectedly landed on Modern Family for a decade.

*Spoiler Alert* It's because she's not only incredible at her job, but also an incredible person to work with.

This episode is absolutely packed with critical information that everyone on set should have an understanding of, regardless of whether you are aspiring to be an AD or not.

Follow Leslie on Social Media @merlin82

Check out her website for career updates: https://leslie-merlin.my.canva.site/leslie-merlin

Visit her IMDB page to see all the incredible productions she's been apart of.

ANNNDD... of course go to our ⁠⁠CREDIT⁠⁠ feature film link and follow (free), share (also free), and make a contribution. Get involved and support indie filmmakers and Women told stories this Women’s National History Month. ALL contributions are TAX DEDUCTIBLE thanks to our non-profit fiscal sponsor, AWD, the Alliance of Women Directors.

https://seedandspark.com/fund/credit-feature-film#story

Follow our progress on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, and subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠ for exclusive After Hours episodes, production updates, templates, and more!!

Now... Go GET SET!!

xoxo

Your ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Old Girls⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,

Jessica Payne ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@jesschristeen11⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Monique Schwaneman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @moniqueschwaneman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Director of The Martha Carelli Story starring Stauna Katic from Castle to be released on May 2nd on Lifetime, and an international holiday rom-com to come out this year as well, TRACI HAYS has been a pioneer for so many Women in our networking space, that we just HAD to get her on the pod!

Traci is a DGA award–nominated director known for crafting female-centric, genre-blending stories with a strong visual edge, and in this episode we talk about her career journey from working in production design and her path to directing.

Traci is a perfect guest for this podcast, because she really walks the walk, as the current Board President of Moonshot Initiative, and member of the Alliance of Women Directors (who happen to be our non-profit fiscal sponsor for our feature film CREDIT).

She is someone we truly admire and can't wait to see her films out this year, as well as see her at our next Women led networking event.

Thanks for all you do Traci!! <3

You can follow Traci on Instagram at @traci.s.hays and check out her website at https://tracihays.com/

ANNNDD... of course go to our ⁠CREDIT⁠ feature film link and follow (free), share (also free), and make a contribution. Get involved and support indie filmmakers and Women told stories this Women’s National History Month. ALL contributions are TAX DEDUCTIBLE thanks to our non-profit fiscal sponsor, AWD, the Alliance of Women Directors.

Follow our progress on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, and subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠ for exclusive After Hours episodes, production updates, templates, and more!!

Now... Go GET SET!!

xoxo

Your ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Old Girls⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,

Jessica Payne ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@jesschristeen11⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Monique Schwaneman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @moniqueschwaneman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Producer & Assistant Director RYAN MORRISSEY is on the pod today, talking about that special magic that happens when you form lasting connections on set. And you know we really mean it, because him and Jessica vibed so much on set, that we made him our fellow Producer of our feature film CREDIT.

This episode goes over how to be your authentic self while doing good work in a professional and fast paced environment, being the crew member people feel comfortable talking to, keeping up with the connections you’ve made as you build your career, and the importance of not being an a$$hole. And boy, the tea is served piping hot in this episode.

You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.morrisseyy

And of course go to our CREDIT feature film link and follow (free), share (also free), and make a contribution. Get involved and support indie filmmakers and Women told stories this Women’s National History Month. ALL contributions are TAX DEDUCTIBLE thanks to our non-profit fiscal sponsor, AWD, the Alliance of Women Directors.

Follow our progress on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, and subscribe to our ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠ for exclusive After Hours episodes, production updates, templates, and more!!

Now... Go GET SET!!

xoxo

Your ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Old Girls⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,

Jessica Payne ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@jesschristeen11⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Monique Schwaneman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @moniqueschwaneman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠