Producer Lina Baumann, giving us her Two Cents, on the film industry, how to build a network and the secret of being a working mom.
Lina is a young and talented producer who has worked with big agencies. She has done campaigns with Mercedes and Vogue… Lina, tell us about your background, your story?
My background… well, I think I didn’t really had another chance. My father was a producer, my god father was a producer, my aunt was a makeup artist and my uncle runs a lightning company. So while others were playing outside I was playing in the studios.
It completely hit me from the first moment I entered one of those buildings, which are filled up with people from the creative industry who have such an inspiring energy. It still surprises me how much you can build when you build it together as a team.
After all those years that I’ve been able to work in TV, feature film or photography, the moment that hits me the most is when – very early in the morning – everything comes together : the first trucks arrive with the equipment, the first crew members, the agency, the client… Then you just stand there and see the achievement of what you have been working on the last couple of weeks. It’s just a match. It’s like making a cake and all of the sudden, you see the cake in the oven!
You are a person full of energy and you are very good at working with people. Do you feel like it’s an important thing to have as a producer?
I think that’s the key. What you need is a positive energy to gather the team that you want to work with. You need to make everyone feel part of the team and of the success. On set each person only exist within the team.
I also don’t make a difference between clients, agency and production crew. Once we are on set – once the cake is in the oven to get baked – we are all equal.
Whenever we start the shoot, I like to first introduce all the crew members and all the involved people with their names and positions, like that you start at zero. You will never be scared of asking anything to anyone. It feels like you have already met them in some way!
As a producer it is very important to have a big network of people you can contact. Could you give us some tips on how to build up a network?
You can only build a network by yourself. It didn’t really helped me to have the whole background coming from my family. Sometimes it was even a bad thing instead of a good thing, because people tough that I was getting things faster. The most important thing is that you always try to open as many doors as possible.
After my degree I went to Los Angeles to start working in the feature film industry. So I worked two days at a production company, two days at a film market company, one day at camera rental – I know how to load a 35mm in the dark ! I tried to fill up every day of the week with meeting as many people as possible and learning as much as possible about the whole industry. This really helped me to open doors, and within those doors were other doors… That is how my network grew.
You just have to take every opportunity. When you get the chance to go somewhere you need to take this opportunity. When they ask you if you want to go tomorrow on a Sunday morning to a set, go there, go there, give your best everyday that you are able to go somewhere you just have to really feel it and want to be there.
You are a mom, and on top of that you run a successful company. What is the secret?
The baby is the secret. When I was pregnant, my biggest fear was that I have to quit my job. I actually didn’t work in the film industry for a while, since I was more in photography and I really missed the film part. In 2015, I got this back for myself, started to work in film again, and then all of the sudden, I had this big bum.
I knew this baby girl would come and probably cost me a lot of time and energy, so I talked to her when I was still pregnant and said “you have to be very nice to me and you have to sleep very well”. I worked more than ever until she was born.
Then she slept well, she was very nice to me, she came with me to the office and on sets. She really enjoyed being around all these people, she still does! I have a really great husband and father for my daughter who always help me. I think she pushed me to go beyond my limits. Now I work and I am a mother at the same time and it actually works pretty well. It’s just up in the head maybe…
Interviewed by Xaver Walser