Please enter your birthday:
We're sorry, but you are not eligible to access this site.
If you believe you received this message in error, please contact us for assistance.
If you believe you received this message in error, please contact us for assistance.
If you believe you received this message in error, please contact us for assistance.
Posted on
February 13, 2020
DOWNLOAD
DOWNLOAD
eOne’s Speaker Series got great insights from MAKEREADY Executive Producer Pam Abdy.
“We have a community and we have to be activists.”
That was a very big takeaway from MAKEREADY Executive Producer Pam Abdy’s December 10 eOne Speaker Series talk in Santa Monica. Pam spoke about the challenges in her journey to becoming a producer – particularly the challenges that come with being a female producer.
“She emphasized how hard it has been as a woman in a very male-dominated industry,” reports Angela Nikas (Director, Scripted Development – US, Television), who attended the talk. “She gave an example of how she interviewed for a job and was told that ‘a man should be in this position.’ She didn’t get the job, but she didn’t truly realize the gravitas of that comment until later in her career.”
Pam literally found her way to film. As a dancer at Emerson College, she happened upon the school’s film department after an injury. “I always watched movies with my dad and loved storytelling and the theatre. Like dance, film is about choreography and movement. And once I knew there was a role for me in storytelling – and to marry my two loves, dance and cinema – I was hooked,” says Pam. She later interned at Jersey Films, assisted Danny DeVito on Matilda, wound her way through Paramount and Universal – before starting at New Regency and then partnering with Brad Weston on his eOne-backed MAKEREADY.
Through it all, she has produced some of the most extraordinary films of the past 20 years. Garden State. The Revenant. The Big Short. And most recently, Queen & Slim.
She called her work with screenwriter Lena Waithe and first-time feature director Melina Matsoukas on Queen & Slim one of the most rewarding experiences of her career. “It was a wonderful experience working with true singular and visionary artists,” she says.
And she looks forward to working with more such talent. “I love what I do, and I hope to continue to work with courageous and bold artists and help to make change in our industry by giving opportunity to new emerging filmmakers and storytellers.”
