Angle on Producers with Carolina Groppa

Natalie Metzger - Indie Producer & VP of Production and Development at Vanishing Angle

Natalie Metzger has a spark for producing that is palpable. The joy oozes out of her pores, and despite the inherent challenges, she loves being a producer. Natalie was a dancer before she set her foot in the world of filmmaking. She freelanced for a while before finding at home as at Vanishing Angel as the VP of of Development and Production. In her journey, she’s produced and directed a ton of notable projects, most recently Jim Cummings’ newest film THE WEREWOLF (MGM/Orion) and GREENER GRASS ...

Alana Mitnick - Commercial Producer

Alana Mitnick is a freelance commercial producer. She was born and raised in Los Angeles. Though she acted in commercials as a kid, she knew from a young age that she preferred to be behind the camera. After four years at Northwestern, Alana returned to the sunny skies of LA to climb the production ladder. And climb she did! Over the last 14 years she’s worked all over the world and overseen budgets ranging from $15,000 to $5 million. She’s produced spots for Nike, Target, Prudential, Corona, Le...

Natalie Qasabian - Producer of 2018 Sundance Audience Award Winning Film SEARCHING

Natalie Qasabian is an impressive person. She is the producer of SEARCHING, starring John Cho, a movie she made for $1m that made $75m worldwide in the box office. A very hard thing to do these days given how people don't watch movies in theaters anymore. She is an Armenian-American hustler. She is a go getter. She is the only producer I know who was also getting her MBA from Pepperdine University while also in production. So, yes, she’s a badass in it’s truest form. Currently she's producing "R...

Barbara Muschietti - Part 2 - Producer of IT, IT: CHAPTER 2, and MAMA

"...and Guillermo [del Toro]. I remember that the weekend that MAMA opened and it was #1 in the U.S., Guillermo told us...well guys, now you get to make one more movie. Because it's one movie at a time, you know!" ⁣-Barbara Muschietti⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Excited to continue my chat with producer extraordinaire @barbaramus of @itmovieofficial & #MAMA .⁣ ⁣⁣ By the way, #ItChapter2 is breaking all sorts of records in the box office this weekend! It's got the second best global opening for a horror film of all...

Barbara Muschietti - Part 1 - Producer of IT, IT: CHAPTER 2, and MAMA

Barbara Muschietti. What can I say about this fierce Argentinian woman? She’s the producer of horror films I’d never thought I’d watch, much less enjoy. She is a true inspiration and a freakin’ delight. Barbara produced the record-breaking box office hit “IT,” an adaptation of the Stephen King Novel. The film scored the biggest opening weekend ever in more than 30 markets, crossing the $700 million milestone and making it the highest grossing horror film of all time. The highly anticipated secon...

Giulia Caruso - Producer of Sundance hits SPA NIGHT and COLUMBUS

"Follow your dreams, but don’t forget to live your life.” -Giulia Caruso Giulia Caruso is an LA-based Italian producer and founding member of Nonetheless Productions. With partner Ki Jin Kim, she was nominated for the 2018 Piaget Producers Award. Giulia won an Independent Spirit Award for Andrew Ahn’s debut feature SPA NIGHT and a LA-Emmy for producing KCET’s docuseries Lost LA. Her latest feature COLUMBUS (directed by Kogonada, starring John Cho, Haley Lu Richardson and Parker Posey) was nomina...

Mark Burley - Producer/Director of GLOW & ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

Mark A. Burley is a four time Emmy nominated producer and director. A veteran of television, he was born in Berlin and was raised in London. He discovered his love for narrative storytelling in university at Bristol, and moved to LA in his 20s to pursue the film business. There was a slight detour, however, and he dabbled in advertising before finding his way into commercials. He worked for many years as an assistant director and quickly got into the DGA. For a good chunk of his career, he also ...

Maggie McLean - Music Video & Commercial Producer

Maggie McLean is a music video and short form content producer. Born and raised in LA, the industry called her from a young age since her mom is a production accountant. Together, they started Cheeky Films , a production company. She came up the trenches in one of the most traditional ways—as a PA, who then became a production coordinator, and then a production manager, and eventually, a producer. She produced commercials for a while before finding herself loving music videos. She’s worked with ...

M. Elizabeth Hughes - Producer of SHORT TERM 12, GIRLFRIEND'S DAY, and the Amazon's docu-series, LORENA.

M. Elizabeth Hughes is a freelance film producer who grew up in south Georgia. After graduating from magna cum laude from Wesleyan College, she moved to Orange County and earned her M.F.A. in Film and Television Producing from Chapman University. Since then, she has made her career producing a wide variety of films and series with various filmmakers and financiers. She co-produced one of my favorite all time movies, SHORT TERM 12 . She’s produced many studio features such as GIRLFRIEND’S DAY wri...

Deniese Davis - Producer of HBO's INSECURE & COO of ColorCreative

This week on the show we hear from the hella amazing Deniese Davis , producer AND the COO/co-founder of ColorCreative , a production company she started with Issa Rae that focuses on under represented voices. Deniese was born and raised in the blue collar work force of Las Vegas. She knew from a very young age, 16, to be exact, that she wanted to be a producer. Since no real entertainment industry existed in Vegas, she enrolled in AFI’s Producing Program and packed her bags for Los Angeles. Afte...

Alana Mayo, Part 2 - On diversity, spearheading change, and her cautionary tales for those breaking into Hollywood

Excited to pick up where we left off with the fierce Alana Mayo. If you missed part 1, check it out as this convo is very much a continuation of that juicy talk. This week, we explore how film production is similar to running a household, the challenges of building a diverse team, and her cautionary tales for anyone wanting to break into Hollywood. Subscribe/Rate/Follow Would love to hear your thoughts! @carolinagroppa @lifewithcaca @alanaoyam Beijos, Caca...

Alana Mayo, Part 1 - On being authentic, not deriving your self worth from your job, and how she differs from fiancé Lena Waithe.

Eva Longoria - Why women make better directors, what Obama taught her about producing, and her purpose in life.

On the premiere episode of the show, host Carolina Groppa sits down with the incomparable Eva Longoria. She wears many hats—actor, producer, director, entrepreneur, philanthropist, mother…you may be wondering, when does she sleep? Eva is constantly honing her craft, seeking new projects, and opening doors for women in the industry. She's passionate about paving the way for future female and minority producers, directors and industry leaders in Hollywood and beyond. You may be surprised to know t...

What is Life with Caca?

Life With Caca is a weekly podcast of intimate and, sometimes, brutally honest conversations with producers from all corners of the entertainment industry. Along the way, your host and Emmy nominated producer Carolina Groppa will demystify what exactly a producer is by giving listeners a glimpse into what it's like to walk in our shoes. The clean, curated version of people’s lives we hear about rarely tells the whole story so I’m here to talk about the messy parts, the hard stuff... the "caca!"...