Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    From Boardroom to Blackbox: A Project Management Primer For Actors, Producers and New PMs
    From Boardroom to Blackbox: A Project Management Primer For Actors, Producers and New PMs
    From Boardroom to Blackbox: A Project Management Primer For Actors, Producers and New PMs
    Ebook67 pages43 minutes

    From Boardroom to Blackbox: A Project Management Primer For Actors, Producers and New PMs

    By Kate K. Bassett

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    All it took was one final project to throw a Senior Project Manager over the edge. One morning, after brushing her teeth and prepping her lunch, she took a hard look in the mirror and said *&^%$ it and rage quit, throwing away her white collar life to be reborn as a dirty, dirty creative person!

    Goodbye Bagel Fridays, whiteboard schematics and stand up meetings! Hello indie stages, horrible auditions, low pay and bleeding for your art even if you can't eat!

    But said Senior Project Manager couldn't turn off her organizational brain when she entered the theatrical world. Despite the thrill of being being bathed in the spotlight of the stage, the tragic climax of horrible production management, hiring fickle talent and screaming personalities reminded her of her past cubicle life...just without the calendar alerts.

    From Boardroom to Blackbox: A Project Management Primer For Actors, Producers and New PMs is an easy to read book geared to educate artistic, non white collar people to learn good organization practices and personal branding while being comical about it.

    If you're a new actor that wants to learn some technological tips, and branding advice, to further your career, this book is for you.

    If you are a producer who can't wrap your head around the concept of organizing a budget, scheduling a show or firing difficult talent in a respectable manner, this book is for you.

    Finally, if you're a new project manager and you have no idea what you're doing (neither did I when I first started), then this book is for you! You'll get golden nuggets like the following:

    “Scrum is like the CrossFit of project management: douchebags brag about it but it rarely does anything long term. The term 'Scrum' was taken from a formation in Rugby where a whole bunch of sexy, determined athletes form a huddle to gain possession of the ball.
    So some dudes thought it would be cool if software could be developed like said game; small groups, quick turnaround and software that works. Huzzah!”

    From Boardroom to Blackbox: A Project Management Primer For Actors, Producers and New PMs is a book meant to be a humorous, endearing, inspiring and an easy way to get the reader's feet wet about being organized from a business perspective, all while telling it like it is. Organization is hard, but when done right, and with a laugh, it can bring longevity to any career be it artistic or corporate.

    Kate 'Kano' Bassett is a former Senior Project Manager who used to work for companies like Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Fox, Turner Television and various Silicon Valley Startups. Now, she's gone native, writing wonderfully horrible books, coding kitschy mobile games and throwing dudes around in jiu jitsu class. She is currently trying not to be bitter!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKate K. Bassett
    Release dateOct 3, 2017
    ISBN9781370097890
    From Boardroom to Blackbox: A Project Management Primer For Actors, Producers and New PMs
    Author

    Kate K. Bassett

    Kate K. Bassett was a former Senior project manager who worked for Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Fox, Turner Television and God Knows Who Else in her twenty year career.Her last project drove her so bonkers that she quit her white collar job and became a dirty, dirty creative. Health and sanity was WAYYY more than a paycheck. She's not bitter. She really isn't.She codes mobile phone games and writes horrible erotica ebooks depending on the mood she's in. Kate is an avid gamer who loves Street Fighter 5 and anything Shin Megami Tensei Before Persona 4. Kate's a snob.She dreams of having coffee with Brian Micheal Bendis and ask what was he smoking when he wrote Sam & Twitch: Udaku. She wants to talk to Frank Miller, too but he's too important.Currently, she lives in Seattle, WA with her two cats and some dude who puts up with her. For stress relief, she practices jiu jitsu. OSSSS!And yes...it's pronounced like Kano from Mortal Kombat.

    Related to From Boardroom to Blackbox

    Related ebooks

    Project Management For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Take Two

      Apr 27, 2020

      How can you further your knowledge about the craft and business of writing without spending a fortune? The million-dollar question every scribe ponders. Writing should be free, some insist, but others claim we need to attend film school, get our MFAs

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Man With The Golden Gut

      Aug 6, 2018

      The Man With The Golden Gut
      4 min read

    • Article

      Liar Liar

      Aug 6, 2023

      If you’ve ever met an actor, you know they each have a long list of abilities outside of performance. Seriously: read any actor profile and you’ll find most can ride a horse, play a bunch of sports, speak in dozens of accents, sing and dance. The you

      4 min read

    • Article

      Take Two

      Aug 31, 2020

      In any given year, a shift occurs in how the film industry operates. Some changes are predictable, but others come out of nowhere. While no one could have anticipated what 2020 would drop on the world, we must take the reins and prepare for the new l

      4 min read

    • Article

      Take Two

      Jan 30, 2019

      “How do I sell my story to Hollywood?” My inbox consistently pings with that question. And I wish there was a quick response I could shoot off, something like: “Hey, just do this one super-duper-special magic trick and you’re in!” Alas, the magic of

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Four Elements

      Apr 10, 2023

      The Four Elements
      8 min read

    • Article

      ‘I Was Given Training To De-gay My Voice’: What It’s Really Like To Work In TV If You’re LGBTQ+

      Dec 1, 2021

      Despite an increase in on-screen representation and hits such as It’s a Sin and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, being LGBTQ+ and working in television can still be difficult. It has been described as a “cloak-and-dagger” industry where most people work freela

      6 min read

    • Article

      Artistic Vision

      Jan 27, 2020

      Artistic Vision
      13 min read

    • Article

      My ‘Office Space’ Revolt

      Jan 16, 2024

      My ‘Office Space’ Revolt
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Art Of Breaking Character

      Feb 3, 2020

      The Art Of Breaking Character
      6 min read

    • Article

      Take Two

      Jul 31, 2019

      When you’re a screenwriter living outside of Los Angeles, you’re going to need extra hustle in your step. But living in L.A. doesn’t always make breaking in easier—you need to separate yourself from every barista who has a screenplay to pimp. Succes

      4 min read

    • Article

      What’s It Like Being A Female Executive Creative Director In New Zealand?

      Jun 18, 2017

      How long have you worked in the industry? I started as a junior copywriter at Aim Direct as a fresh faced 22-year-old. That was 20 years ago. Has your gender ever been a hindrance to your career in the advertising industry? In New Zealand, I don’t th

      2 min read

    • Article

      Eva Longoria

      Oct 5, 2021

      Eva Longoria
      7 min read

    • Article

      How to Navigate the Editing Process

      Oct 12, 2022

      Dear Writer, Congratulations! We found your essay, “Better Late Than Ever,” perfect for Blurb Magazine’s December Special Issue focused on Essential Procrastination and the Creative Process. Please look for a forthcoming e-mail to detail edits and su

      6 min read

    • Article

      Treat Others The Way You Want To Be Treated

      Apr 22, 2020

      I learnt one of my biggest and most formative business lessons in the early 2000s, which was to “treat others how you want to be treated yourself.” Back then, I was working for a boutique, but highly profitable, commercial real estate company in Lond

      2 min read

    • Article

      Three Mistakes Writers Make in Act I

      Dec 21, 2020

      After the euphoric moment of typing “FADE OUT” on a first draft, your story simmers in a drawer while you take a much-needed break to sort piles of dirty laundry. Now, it’s time to dive back in and explore what story elements work and where your stor

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Spin Doctor Doctrine

      Nov 2, 2020

      The Spin Doctor Doctrine
      4 min read

    • Article

      How Do I (Quickly) Write a Screenplay?

      Apr 12, 2021

      A majority of budding screenwriters toil away for years on a screenplay and wonder if there is an end in sight. They’re lost in plot and character and have written themselves into a corner. Their first 20 pages are a slog, the second act is vapid, an

      5 min read

    • Article

      Tim Blake Nelson Brings Hollywood to the Page

      Feb 20, 2023

      Tim Blake Nelson‘s sprawling debut novel, City Of Blows, examines the power dynamics of Hollywood through the lives Tinsel Town movers and shakers. City of Blows follows legendary producer Jacob Rosenthal, who enlists a filmmaker named David Levit to

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Spin Doctor Doctrine

      Nov 2, 2020

      The Spin Doctor Doctrine
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for From Boardroom to Blackbox

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      From Boardroom to Blackbox - Kate K. Bassett

      From Boardroom

      To Blackbox

      A Project Management Primer For Actors, Producers and New PMs

      - Smashwords Edition-

      by

      Kate K. Bassett

      From Boardroom To Black Box, A Project Management Primer for Actors, Producers and New PMs - Smashwords Edition

      Copyright ｩ 2015 by Kate K. Bassett.

      All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations em- bodied in critical articles or reviews.

      This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      For information contact : http://www.kanobassett.com

      Cover design by Issadora McSeisserson

      Cover Photo by Jorge Royan

      ISBN: 9781370097890

      First Edition: October 2015

      Second Edition: September 2017

      978-1-37009-789-0

      For More Books:

      KanoBassett.com

      For New Books, News & Free short Stories:

      Join My Mailing List!

      Dedication:

      For Alejandro & Bill

      Introduction

      Many theater books bore me. They REALLY do. They spin up how to get an agent, or how to train or what clinical you have to go to or what directors want to see in an audition. With the exception of a few, most theater and film books for the dewy eyed performer are basically counter intuitive because their message is subtle but persistent:

      ‘You are not good enough, dedicated enough or charismatic enough to make it unless you do it MY WAY.’

      Honestly, they make you feel bad. They make you think you can’t perform and make a living off of it. These books send young per- formers off to get flimsy advice from their peers, who are just as insecure and clueless as they are, or worse, go to bad casting directors, agents and teachers who just want to bleed them of any extra money, time and/or make them do things that are morally reprehensible.

      This book is different.

      It’s different because you, the performer, will be getting all the wisdom I’ve gathered as an underling in the entertainment industry (working as a waitress for a well-known comedy club chain, a PA on television sets and later an editor bay scheduler in a post-production house in Hollywood).

      This book is also for the producer, who can garner my 10 years’ experience of being a project manager in multiple Fortune 500 companies; the very same that handles boardroom meetings, massive budgets, vendor negotiations and statements of work.

      As you read this, I want to encourage you. Being an actor is hard.

      It is.

      Being a director or producer is hard. The thought of putting yourself, or your work, in front of eyes to show passion and conviction you would not typically have in real-time society is excruciating.

      But when things don’t go your way, don’t ever give up. If you love the thought of not being just a performer, but a ‘story teller’, to have the lights bathe you as you allow your emotional muse to frolic and play, then it’s okay to go against the grain and take corporate know how to further your artistic career. If you’re a producer who has hit brick walls because the old way of thinking isn’t working for you, let this book guide you.

      Do things differently. Have a different mindset.

      Most importantly, remember that the Boardroom and The Stage are more alike than not.

      What works in one

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1