BABE #352: TALIA BELLA - Producer + Founder, T&Shay, Thunderbird
Talia is an Argentinian native turned Los Angeles and Oklahoma City resident who spends most of her days on production sets. Wearing hats including film producer, commercial/music video producer and business owner, she’s half of T&Shay, a multi-disciplinary production house with a focus on music videos, commercials and TV. She’s also half of Thunderbird Films, a production services company focusing on feature films. This hustlin’ babe splits her physical time between both companies but is always working digitally on the two endeavors. She’s dedicated, creative and clearly a time-managing pro.
The Basics:
Hometown: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Current city: Split between Los Angeles and Oklahoma City
Alma mater: University of Buenos Aires
Degree: B.A., Media and Communication Studies
Very first job: Translator for Immigration and Naturalization Services interviews
Hustle: Film Producer; Commercial/Music Video Producer; Business Owner
The Interests:
Babe you admire and why?
Alma Harel who founded Free the Bid, an initiative advocating on behalf of women directors for equal opportunities to bid on commercial jobs in the global advertising industry. She is also just a badass director and incredibly talented.
How do you spend your ‘free’ time?
I love cooking and gardening when I have free time at home. Traveling is a big source of inspiration, and something I try to do between big projects.
What’s something you want to learn or master?
I would really love to learn a third language fluently.
If you could have coffee with anyone in the world, who would it be?
Pedro Almoldovar, who is probably my number one favorite director.
The Hustle:
Tell us about your hustle, providing an overview of your job and roles.
I’m half of T&Shay, a short-form production company based out of Los Angeles. We focus primarily on music videos and commercials. We’re also signed at Gersh Agency and are working on developing a slate of unscripted TV content. My partner and I work from inception of creative treatments all the way through post production to ensure each project comes in on time, on budget and on creative. Thunderbird Films is a feature film production and production services company based in Oklahoma City, OK. My other partner and I work from inception to securing financing and all the way through distribution. We also work for hire on other films that are coming into the state that require resources such as gear, locations, etc. I split my time physically between both companies, but straddle both full-time digitally.
Have you always had a passion for storytelling and creating? Where do you think this stems from?
I was an only child, and after my parents divorced and were so busy with their own lives, I found myself really lonely growing up. I kept myself entertained a lot as a child playing out make believe plays and movies in my bedroom, but I never thought growing up that I wanted to be in entertainment. In fact, I sort of just fell into industry by accident. I’m a film buff and an entrepreneur by nature—in many ways, running a production is a lot like running a small business. You have a set amount of money, a set deliverable and a set amount of time to do it. I naturally excelled at it. The ability to work for myself and choose the type of content/stories I tell came with time and has evolved into a passion over the years.
In particular, what inspired you to take the production route?
I spent most of my 20’s really unsure of what I wanted to do. I had a t-shirt screen printing company, a jewelry company and a graphic design company. In my late 20’s, I started a company called Closets for Causes. It was a unique cause marketing agency dedicated to cleaning out celebrity closets, auctioning off their items online and donating the proceeds to the nonprofit of their choice. I had no background in business; I didn’t go to business school, neither of my parents are entrepreneurs. I was just sort of “winging it”. I bootstrapped for three years, hired five full-time employees and raised over $350K for various nonprofits. But after three years, I just couldn’t get over the hump of profitability. Inevitably, I needed to raise funding and carve out a space in the market, and I just didn’t know how to do that. As my business was slowly but surely nose diving, one of our events was a charity-based celebrity gifting suite at Sundance Film Festival 2015. It was there that I met James Franco’s producers. I had never been on a set before, but I lied and told them I had—and they offered me a job as a production coordinator on a small indie film. I figured it couldn’t be harder than running my own company. I was right. From there, I became an Associate Producer, then a Co-Producer within the production company. Then I went on to produce commercials in-house for Apple. And so on.
Tell us about T&Shay and Thunderbird. What inspired you to branch out and start two companies?
Before I started both T&Shay and Thunderbird Films, I was an in-house executive producer at a production company in Los Angeles. My end goal with accepting the job offer was always to get paid to learn how to effectively run my own production company (I’m a big believer in getting paid to learn, rather than paying to learn). So in my mind, that position was always short-term. However, the end of my tenure there and the inception of the two companies happened a lot quicker than I had anticipated. Things just happened to line up; timing was just right. They say luck is when preparation meets opportunity. The opportunity was there.
What’s your approach to managing deadlines and delegating tasks in such a demanding, ever-evolving industry, and between two companies?
One of my biggest downfalls in the beginning of my career has become probably the thing I’m the biggest proponent of now. And that is delegation. When I was younger I really struggled with handing things off—I didn’t trust people to do things right. I found, trained, and held onto people that I trust. Proper support and a team of people to help you execute is crucial to success. This allows me to remain top line. In addition to this, I have incredible business partners in both companies who hold things down and step up when I’m consumed with something on the other side. And lastly, good time management. You’ll never have more hours in the day, it’s about how you use the time you do have.
What inspired your move from Argentina to Los Angeles? What challenges did you face along the way, and what advice would you give to someone in a similar position?
I moved the third week of December in 2001, also known in Argentina’s history as The Great Crisis. Argentina was defaulting on their IMF loan and their currency—which was previously 1 to 1 with the US Dollar—fell 20 to 1. They froze the bank accounts, declared martial law and overthrew the government with a military coup. I had to buy US Dollars on the black market in order to travel, and I had no clear plan for what I was going to do when I got there. I came here with one suitcase and $500 in my pocket and slept on my mom’s friend’s couch. I worked as a Spanish-to-English translator at immigration interviews and saved money until I was able to afford my own room to rent. My advice to anyone in a similar position is that fortune favors the bold. My riskiest and scariest moments in life have (so far!) yielded me the best results.
What would you say is your biggest career milestone to date and why?
In 2016, my show was nominated for an Emmy for Best Outstanding Short Form Variety Series. We didn’t win, but the recognition alone was rewarding.
How would you say being a woman has affected your professional experience? What can we do to create more equal, uplifting (and well-paying!) spaces for women in your industry?
As a female producer, I think the first thing people assume is that you slept your way there. You have to work even harder to show that you deserve to be there. I’ve been lucky to never have been me-too’d or had anything negative happen to me with a male executive. I think my aggressiveness and all-around personality scares most people off, and I’m ok with that. I have, however, had opportunities and doors open for me because a male superior thought I was attractive or liked me. Nothing inappropriate ever physically happened, but I could tell that was why. Even if you get into a room because someone thought you were attractive, you still have to prove your worth to stay in that room. Being a woman and being attractive is an asset just like anything else. If that opens doors for you, great—but prove your worth to back it up. That’s the only way to maintain it, but don't ever let any man be inappropriate with you—I don’t care how big the job is, your self worth is worth more. I think it’s a great time to be a woman, especially in film. After the Me Too movement and Free The Bid forced Hollywood to take a look internally and what was happening and how to fix it, there has never been so much demand for female filmmakers, directors, writers, etc.
What’s the gender ratio like in your industry? Do you see it evolving? Why or why not?
Statistically, the average ratio of crew is 74% men to 26% women. I do see this changing, however, certain departments (like grip and electric) remain male-dominated because of their physicality.
What are some common misconceptions about your job? What are some of the everyday struggles that we might not see?
People think producing is so glamorous. It’s a lot of unsexy hard work, long hours and doing really whatever it takes to get the job done.
Who are some women in your field that you look to for inspiration?
Jordana Freydberg, Executive Producer at London Alley. She does phenomenal work, creates amazing content all while juggling her personal life with her husband and new baby.
Career and/or life advice for other babes (both inside and outside of you industry?)
Be so good, they can’t ignore you.
Connect with Talia:
IG: Personal / T&Shay / Thunderbird Films
This interview has been condensed and edited.
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