First Person:
By Dr. Al Carlos Hernández
Kathryn is the executive director of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, a national not-for-profit arts service organization dedicated to the support and development of Latino/a film, television, documentary, and new media makers. The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) is a national membership organization that addresses the professional needs of Latino/Latina independent producers.
NALIP stands as the premiere Latino media organization, and, for twelve years, has been addressing the most under-represented and the largest ethnic minority in the country. NALIP’s mission is to promote the advancement, development and funding of Latino/Latina film and media arts in all genres.
Kathryn F. Galán has been NALIP’s Executive Director for nine years. Kathryn has overseen nine national conferences and created NALIP’s signature programs: the Latino Producers Academy, Latino Writers Lab, Latino Media Market, Latino Media Resource Guide, and “Doing your Doc: Diverse Visions, Regional Voices.”
Dr. Al Carlos Hernandez, a former (read “failed”) screenwriter, had an interesting conversation with one of the pillars of the independent film community, Kathryn Galan:
AC: Growing up in Ann Arbor, what caused you to leave the Mid West and pursue a life in the film Industry in LA? What was your original dream and how far are you from achieving it – or have you achieved it already?
KG: I went to college in Massachusetts (Amherst; junior year at University College London). My love was storytelling, narratives – I was an English major. I had a deep connection to Spain and my family there; I visited often and loved the ‘story’ of my father’s escape from the Spanish Civil War. When I discovered film, I pursued it, first, academically – I moved to Los Angeles to do my Master’s studies in film theory, history, and aesthetics. I had a love of independent and international cinema. This led me to the career that I have had, and one that often supports or discovers the under-voiced.
AC: What was your first success in LA? When did you know that you could make it in the entertainment industry?
KG: I had some great mentors and supporters in graduate school at UCLA, but really entered the entertainment industry with a summer job at Atlantic entertainment Group in 1981. I began as an assistant to the president at a very exciting and dynamic time for the art and independent film distribution business.
AC: Who h`ave been your mentors? How have they helped you? What are the biggest obstacles for women producers to overcome in LA? Is there a gender gap?
KG: Women had a more difficult time in the 1980’s than they do now, which is an excellent development. The senior women producers and executives like Sherry Lansing, Dawn Steele, and Anthea Sylbert were all leaders and inspiration for the women who now serve as producers, studio heads and top agents.
AC: How did you end up on the business side of things. How does one become a producer? What has been your biggest financial success and what should have been a success but failed?
KG: I have worked for 30 years in support of great stories, films, media makers and ideas. If that’s the ‘business side’ of things, then it just followed on my working as an acquisitions executive, then a head of production for Atlantic, a VP at Hollywood Pictures, Meg Ryan’s producing partner and producing, on my own. I have a solid understanding of the business – the finance, marketing, distribution, contracting, the needs and concerns of funders – as well as the creative side – what makes a great story, who are strong creative talents, how directors need to be supported.
AC: Why did you leave the commercial side of the business to work with a non-profit?
KG: It happened both gradually and over night, and I don’t see myself still as having left the ‘commercial side’ of the business. I was working independently as a producer and new media consultant when a good friend of me asked that I consider helping NALIP for 3 months to produce a national conference, their third.
After the conference, which was a wonderful success in December 2001, I was asked to continue with the organization as it created a strategic plan with funds, benefits and programs for filmmakers. I found the entire process challenging and fascinating, and ultimately very creative and rewarding.
AC: Tell us about NALIP. What was the original mission statement when you got there? How have things changed during your nine year tenure?
KG: NALIP began as a special project of NCRL. It was always a professional development and advocacy organization to represent and support the needs of the independent Latino/a content creator, whether they were just starting out or very advanced, whether they worked in grass-roots media or in the mainstream entertainment industry, whether they made narrative, documentaries, or new media projects. That is the same.
We have grown in strength, stature and sophistication. We have created and institutionalized nationally-recognized signature programs. And we have expanded to include support to the spectrum of artists creating media content: writers, producer, directors, performers and creative crew; we include new media and multi-platform content creators; and although we are a predominantly Latino organization, we have certain multi-cultural initiatives, particularly for Native American and indigenous artists.
Our members and our programs are some of our biggest successes, as is our ability to grow and endure for 12 years as a non-profit arts service organization with a budget over $1 million in a very challenging environment. We are disappointed that, despite our training and advocacy efforts and despite the significant expansion of our percentage in the U.S. population, Latinos still remain wildly under-represented in all sectors of professional media, in front of and behind the camera as well as in executive and decision-making roles with little if any per capita increases in the past two decades.
AC: In a perfect world, what would be the best case scenario for the NALIP for 2011?
KG: Best case: we find the sponsors and donors to double our budget, so that we can ensure our programs, begin to re-grant to artists to fund their projects, stabilize our finances and slightly expand our staff so that NALIP is even better than we have already been.
AC: What do you see is in store for the Latino filmmakers of the future?
KG: Latinos have great stories, lots of talent, and nowhere to go but up! I see more Latinos in every sector of the art and craft of content creation, including as executives, managers, creative crew and leaders in the art and commerce of film, television and documentaries.