Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to TAMARA MCDANIEL. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
TAMARA, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I guess I get my work ethic from my parents. In addition, it was taught in school, and I saw it as a theme on television and in movies. All the cool folks were hard workers and that was important to them. Doing the right thing was important. My parents always worked hard and did the right thing even when it wasn’t easy.
A strong work ethic was an American thing, and everyone respected that. That’s the idea I was raised with. From the time I was able, I always had little jobs, cleaning the neighbors’ house, babysitting, picking returnable bottles, and returning them. As soon as I was old enough, I went to work at McDonalds and they expected and insisted on a strong work ethic – I fit right in. It was my first real job and I realized not everyone had that same ethic. It made me stand out and that work ethic has stood me in good stead in every aspect of my life.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I have a film group here in Phoenix The Phoenix Independent Film Makers Group https://www.meetup.com/The-Phoenix-Indie-Film-Makers-Meetup-Group/ , that’s got well over 3,000 members in every aspect of filmmaking from producers to crafty and everything in between. This is a group of professionals though this group also reaches out to film students to bring them into the business as soon as possible. The group has an email list and it makes hiring very easy. When you’re crewing up or casting – you send one email and you get to all the members at once. In addition, the members then send off to their friends as well – and professors send out to their students – so the 3K members turn into about 6K in no time. This is the biggest group of filmmakers you’ll reach in AZ all at once.
On top of my film group, my husband and I have an LLC of the same name. We produce movies and television, both narrative and documentary, We also produce industrials, commercials, and other short-form media. In addition, we can also come in as a team to help get your film completed in many areas. We can 1st AD/2nd AD, LIne produce, UPM, Cast, do post-production supervision, editing, VFX and many other functions to help you get your project completed.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think the three qualities that help in any endeavor and have definitely helped me in mine are a strong work ethic, tenacity and a desire to help others by doing your best at what you’re good at.
My advice is to hold yourself to the level you expect from others around you and lead by example. That’s what makes you a good leader. The other thing is to LOVE and APPRECIATE your team and let them know that. When you are the hardest working person on your team, and you treat them with gratitude and appreciation, they will all get on board and work hard with you. Also – leave egos at the door as much as possible. In the film business, this is hard – but the fact is – it’s not about any one person – even the star – because without all the others even the star doesn’t matter. It’s got to be a team effort. That mind set and way of working applies in every business.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
I think the most impactful thing my parents did for me was to teach me about being honest and about having a strong work ethic. They also taught me how to be good leaders. They had various businesses and when holidays came up – they worked and gave their employees time off. They paid their employees as much as they could and gave bonuses when they could. They always treated the people who worked with them like family and because of that, they had incredible loyalty from their employees.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.meetup.com/The-Phoenix-Indie-Film-Makers-Meetup-Group/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PIFMG/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PIFMG
- Other: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm2373342 https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0143259
Image Credits
Taken by Glen Benson
