Ep. #5 of the Hollywood series: documentary producer Katie Doering

Katie Doering was born and raised in Los Angeles, right in the heart of Hollywood. After college in the midwestern United States, she spent years teaching in South America and working as a labor organizer in the south Bronx before finding herself back in LA working in documentary film and reality television. 

Her first production job was for the groundbreaking documentary series POV for PBS. Since it's premiere in 1988, "POV" has won 34 Emmys, 19 Peabody awards, and 3 Oscars. 

Katie specifically mentions the POV documentary Two Towns of Jasper.

After leaving POV, Katie went on to work on such popular shows as LA Ink and Intervention, as well as producing on the documentaries The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia and ESPN's Angry Sky.

After leaving her work in reality TV production, Katie was hired by the Sundance Institute, the entity that hosts the world-famous Sundance film festival. Working as a producer for the Women at Sundance Initiative has allowed her to play an active role in tackling one of the entertainment industry’s biggest ongoing problems: inequality in both opportunity and wages for women.

For the last 13 years, 25% of the American directors at the Sundance Film Festival have been female, a figure vastly higher than the typical American box office, where only 4% of the top 100 films were helmed by women. The Women at Sundance initiative organizes a summit of Hollywood decision makers seeking systemic change, and also provides a year-long fellowship program for talented female directors and producers.

Two books that have made an impact on Katie's life are Working by Studs Terkel and Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans.

Ep. #4 of the Hollywood series: celebrity bodyguard Wayne Newton

In twenty-five years of protecting some of the world's most high profile celebrities, bodyguard Wayne Newton has never spoken publicly about his job. This conversation is a fascinating look at the logistics and emotions behind celebrity bodyguards.

What exactly are handlers protecting celebrities from? And how do they go about it?

Wayne tells us how he went from a working class neighborhood in London to the world of private security, and why he turned away from the traditional path of law enforcement that first drew him into service. 

He's been on tour, on the red carpet, and in cities around the world looking after such public figures such as Mariah Carey, Madonna, Pele, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Jennifer Hudson, and many more. What Wayne says in this interview will make you rethink any assumptions you have about who is REALLY the smartest person in the room.

The book that has had the greatest impact on Wayne is The Autobiography of Malcolm X. 

Listening to Wayne's perspective on his job as protector for the rich, famous, and talented, will be something you'll want to discuss with others. 

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Ep. #3 of the Hollywood series: Executive producer Shanna Zablow

Shanna Zablow is an executive producer and general manager for the Gorilla Flicks Productions whose producing credits include MTV’s Rob and Big, Ridiculousness, and Nitro Circus as well as feature length films such as Bad Grandpa, Being Evel, and the Jackass franchise. 

This interview was personal for me as I am the one who hired Shanna for her first job in production many years ago, and she has been an irreplaceable part of my husband Jeff’s team ever since. The productions Shanna has worked on for more than a decade are all shows by boys and for boys, and in this episode, she explains how this dynamic has created both difficult challenges as well as a deeply rewarding career as a producer. 

A book that has made an impact on Shanna's life:

Kissing Outside the Lines by Diane Farr

Thanks for listening to Ep. 3 of Smartest Person in the Room with Laura Tremaine!

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Ep. #2 of the Hollywood series: production designer Ethan Tobman

Ethan Tobman is one of the most sought after production designers in Hollywood. 

He designed the intricate and innovative set for the Academy award winning movie Room (based on this book by Emma Donoghue), and his artistic vision has graced everything from national commercial campaigns for Target and Cadillac, to culture-shaking music videos like Beyonce’s Formation.

In this episode, Ethan explains what exactly a production designer does from start to finish, weaving in his own tales about working with famous directors, actors, and music superstars. 

This is one of the most fun conversations I have ever had with someone in the entertainment industry, and I think you’ll enjoy listening in. 

See more of Ethan Tobman's work on his website.

Ethan talks about just a handful of his credits, including Rob Reiner's 2014 movie And So It Goes starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton. 

We also discuss Beyonce's video of the year: Formation

Grammy nominated best video of the year "Formation" from LEMONADE the Visual Album Available Now! iTunes: http://smarturl.it/LEMONADEitunes Amazon.com: http://smarturl.it/LEMONADEcd TIDAL: https://lemonade.tidal.com

And OK Go's The Writing's on the Wall:

Buy Hungry Ghosts on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/HungryGhostsiTunes For dozens of exclusive behind-the-scenes video clips from the set, visit http://okgo.net/wotw/ Buy the EP now on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/OKGOEP LYRICS: Listen, I know it's been hard, you know it's no different for me. We're less than a zero-sum game now, and baby we both know that's not how it's supposed to be.

Two books that made an impact on Ethan:

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and Another Country by James Baldwin

Thanks for listening to Ep. 2 of Smartest Person in the Room with Laura Tremaine!

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Introducing Smartest Person in the Room

We are so excited to announce our latest podcast Smartest Person in the Room.

This show was born out of the desire to surround ourselves with the smartest and most passionate people we can find. 

Smartest Person in the Room will be divided into a series of episodes based on one general topic. We're kicking off our first series with a dive into Hollywood. Other subjects we're working on include religion, health & wellness, family, and education.

Follow the show on Facebook, sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe in your favorite iTunes app!

Listen to the official SPITR trailer to hear more about our vision for Smartest Person in the Room: