Closing out the month of May, theGirlMob partnered with Brunchwork— a community focused on career advancement through virtual events with leaders, entrepreneurs and business experts. The digital conversation featured Jeron Smith from Unanimous Media and Alana Mayo from Outlier Society, two leading figures in the film industry shifting Hollywood towards inclusion and commitment to representation.

Jeron Smith, 2015 Forbes 30 under 30 , worked for the Obama administration as Deputy Director of Digital Initiative, held Brand management roles at Nike and is now CEO of Unanimous Media. As the first speaker, he discussed his experience and the lessons learned. Alana Mayo jumped in with her experience in production ranging from being Head of Originals in Vimeo, Vice President of Production at Paramount Pictures to Head of production at Outlier Society.

Here are 10 key learnings from Jeron Smith & Alana Mayo:

Meet people where they are. In the White House they focused on using social content that told an intimate story, which allowed them to build empathy and understanding.
“Evaluating things through a specific lens” and becoming more judicious with maturity. The goal evolves and at Unanimous Media they believe in being disciplined in what YOU’RE making is important.
Given certain partnerships, like Unanimous Media’s with Sony, you can put our people in the spaces they would regularly not have. They have the power with these partnerships to give the opportunities, say the story worth saying and expand the industry.
Sticking to the vision. Sometimes by making a Plan B, it can distract us from Plan A. The vital point made was that if you're willing to put the work in, it will translate and pivot you to the place you envisioned.
Always be future forward. Understand your audience and who you’re making the work for. If it resonates with your audience then you do not need to rely on predicting the future of production in terms of what movies/tvshow/documentaries to make.
In terms of post-covid production, there will most likely be a spike in cost of filming. Most people will want to shoot outside of the U.S. after viewing the way the government has handled the pandemic thus far. Low-budget film projects will be hit the worst.
Empowerment is key and empowering can be through using resources to tell the right stories. Working with certain partnerships to access resources and create networks to reflect the right narrative.
“Capital endeavors tend to not be run by people that look like us”. Movements like the ones happening now make it triggering to tell the stories and feel the trauma as visibility minorities in the industry. Working with Michael B. Jordan, Mayo appreciates the mentality to make issue related content that reflects the world we live in.
Sometimes when dealing with major brand partnerships you may be confronted with being much more selective with content, as to not jeopardize with legal issues.
Use social content, networks with creatives and work hard to push your vision. People out there will watch the stories you tell and you can guide the conversation with making the movies and tv shows we want to see.

After both speaker’s Q & A wrapped up, guests were invited to break into virtual breakout rooms to brainstorm depending on each group's prompt to discuss individual ideas. Despite the small involvement in the film production industry I had, I came out of this Brunchwork with so many ideas and the energy to manifest my career goals! We want to thank Brunchwork and their guest speakers Jeron Smith and Alana Mayo for their transparency, wisdom and sincerity. Follow Brunchwork for the next virtual event!

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EDITORS NOTE: JULY

LIGHT UP!