What was the biggest break in your TV career?
I spent the first few years of my TV career in Toronto as a coordinator and segment producer for HGTV/Life/Food Network. When I moved home to Vancouver in 2000 there was very little unscripted TV being made here. I got a job producing a small technology show after convincing them, and myself, that I was perfectly qualified to produce a series from start to finish! Accomplishing that was great boost to my confidence, however the real break came when the same employers let me create and executive produce a high budget series for YTV. This was real television and I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I managed to succeed and even got a renewal. That took my resume to the next level and I was hired by a Toronto production company opening in Vancouver.
What has been your greatest mistake in your career?
The same perceived confidence that convinced my employers I could produce TV, also had them give me a large commercial. I happened to have become friendly with a pretty big-time American director who was dating someone I knew, and so I hired him. I naively embarked on the project without putting a proper written deal into place. I had verbally agreed to pay him a percentage of the budget, but then the budget went up and I didn’t increase the director rate – thinking we had the number locked it in. It wasn’t in writing and that came back to bite me. I learned to always paper the deal, even (and perhaps especially) with people you think are your friends.
