172. Melanie A. Ragone on Being a Woman in Crew: Tips & Tricks of the Trade, Working on Set, and the Life of a Grip

Melanie A. Ragone started her career in Atlanta, Georgia, as a Production Assistant before moving into the Grip department. Throughout her career, she has worked in a variety of feature films and television productions, including The Walking Dead, Love Simon, Captain America, Sleepy Hollow, The Hate U Give, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles in 2018, to pursue producing and directing. She has since launched a Kickstarter for her new book, "Below the Line", giving women on film crews a survival guide filled with all of the information Melanie wishes she had when she was first starting out. Melanie breaks down being a female crew member, what her day-to-day life is like, and how to work up the crew ladder in the below the line set hierarchy.

Melanie's kickstarter ends April 8th and it is almost 50% funded. Let's give our crew some love and help publish this survival guide that we could all learn something from!

00:12 — Episode Intro and "Below the Line" Kickstarter
03:30 — Living in a Man's World & Putting Herself Out There
05:52 — What a Grip is & What They Do
08:47 — The Best Boy Grip and Below the Line Set Hierarchy
11:13 — Working Up the Crew Ladder
15:31 — Day Player for Crew
17:07 — Being a Female on Crew
20:12 — Breaking Down a Typical Day
24:18 — Union (IATSE) Sets vs. Nonunion Sets
28:42 — What Actors Need to Know About Crew
31:05 — Melanie's Volvo Oscars Commercial
37:30 — Tips for Working Crew
43:25 — Scheduling Time for Ourselves
48:15 — What Keeps Melanie Going

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Melanie's IMDb

Contribute to "Below the Line" by Melanie A. Ragone Kickstarter


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