Meet Taunya Gren

 

We recently connected with Taunya Gren and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Taunya, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

Film maker, news director, computer game artist, I’ve worked the bulk of my life in male-dominated industries. Being a blonde-busty woman in those environments has certainly lead to a large helping of sexism in my work places. Talked over, men taking credit for my ideas, even being told “boys will be boys” when assaulted by a co-worker. As a producer and director I’ve had certain men get very upset when I did my job as a professional and not as an apologist catering to them. I’ve been called a brass balled bitch more times than I can count.

The biggest secret I’ve learned to being able to be successful and effective in those situations is to embrace the insults. Embrace the name calling. Make it my own and by doing so disempower it. Use it as a calling card. “You keep talking over me, I’ll pull out the bitch.” Another female film maker bought me a hat for wearing on set that says BBB on it. Brass Balled Bitch. 😀 I never have to be rude or mean or bitchy. I do my job strongly and if they call me names, I embrace it. If they don’t do their job, I fire them. Kind but strict and unafraid of their intimidation.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I started acting at the age of 14, moved into computer game animation and fine art painting in my 30s and then decided to become a film maker/producer/director in my 40s.

My children grew up in dusty theater green rooms and often speak of how they love the smell of greasepaint. Only one followed me into entertainment, but all of them learned a lifelong love of the arts that has done well for them. An unusual childhood, but apparently not a bad one.

It’s been an interesting ride. Each step before seems to have been something I would need to know now as a director and producer. Allowing me further down this path with each experience. I feel I’m coming into my main career now as a film maker but each career before definitely informed this one.

Currently I have a feature film and a number of shorts out at film festivals and doing well. I attended a festival in England in June of this year and my films ended up winning SEVEN awards. One of my shorts will be available soon on Shorts.TV. We have a television series and a wonderful horror feature in the works that is being written by a NYT best selling author. Life has gotten pretty darn exciting these days after all the struggle of the years before!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

For my journey, definitely resilience (as a single mother working in the arts, a must have) and a drive to keep being creative even when the world told me (as it tells many artists) that I shouldn’t. The third quality is the willingness to admit that I don’t know things.

We’re often told to fake it till we make it, but I’ve found in life that if I’m willing to admit I don’t know something that the person who does shows up to teach me. When I pretended I knew it all so that people would have confidence in me, the help didn’t come and the chances of failure went way up. My biggest secret I’ve learned is that you don’t have to know it all. You can inspire confidence in those around you by being honest with where you are in your journey.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

Not a book but two quotes that have informed the bulk of my career and my life.

The first is “What you are in the dark is what you are.” Meaning that the person you choose to be when you think nobody is watching is who you really are. If you steal pens from work you are a thief, no matter how honest you present yourself. If you cheat in secret, you are a cheater. Even if you’re never caught, if you lie, you’re a liar. I’ve tried hard to live the truth of the kind of person I want to be both in secret and in public.

The second is “No man has more power than the one that speaks to you for two hours alone in the dark.” said by a famous director about film. Film has a responsibility to not just entertain, but to lead humanity into a better direction. To connect to people for healing and growth. Preaching won’t do that. Entertaining will. Film is a powerful tool for destruction of people and a lowering of civilization or the the building up of those things. I have some wonderful, marketable projects that I no longer will pursue because they use that power in a way that harms.

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Image Credits

Photos by Gretchen Faulk, Beckett Gladney and Lucas Millhouse

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