Congratulations to our latest Tongaler of the Month, For Example Media! This duo of Erin Germain and Jennifer Fernandes first met in college, but pursued their passions separately before teaming up to form their production company. Here you'll read about their creative backgrounds, their enthusiasm for documentary style work and adventures in South America!
Izzy Francke: What’s your production background? Did you go to film school?
Erin Germain: I was a Media Arts major in college, which covered film, television and communications. My senior year I got an internship at The Oprah Winfrey Show, so I packed my bags and moved to Chicago. After too many Chicago winters, I decided to move back home to Southern California where I worked as a freelance TV producer for 7 years before starting For Example Media.
Jennifer Fernandes: I come from the agency side of things in marketing and public relations. I’ve worked with consumer brands, national non-profits and even lifestyle personalities through multi-channel, creative campaigns. I studied journalism and marketing in college.
IF: Impressive! How did you find Tongal?
EG: Word of mouth! A friend mentioned it to me.
IF: Tell your friend Team Tongal says thank you! What do you look for in a Tongal Project and what specifically attracts you to one when there are so many on the site?
EG: We specialize in documentary content, so we really try to focus on the Projects that allow us to work with real people. Sometimes this limits the Pitches that we submit, but I believe it’s also what sets us apart. We love the challenge of finding the perfect story that fits in with a brand and naturally ties it into the story. For our recent Video for Lucy, we cast a busy entrepreneur who uses her nightly run to recharge and make time for herself. We couldn’t have written something more perfect!
IF: That is perfect! It's so cool that you have a sense of what makes your work unique. What’s the most interesting part of the production process for you?
JF: It’s amazing to see that initial spark of inspiration transform and grow into the final piece with the help of so many awesome people. It’s that moment when we upload that Video and see how all of our thoughts and ideas have been brought out visually.
EG: I genuinely love getting to know people, learning about their stories and then figuring out the best way to visually tell them on camera. I’ve had some incredible experiences in my career from surprising a wounded veteran with a new house to building a giant Rube Goldberg Machine with NASA Engineers to watching the sunrise over San Francisco from Alcatraz…the one thing they all have in common is a great story!
IF: We're always inspired by a good story. Speaking of which, I love the live event coverage spots you did for LEGO Mindstorms and Simple Kind to City Skin. How do you typically prepare for shooting a live event versus a commercial?
EG: I love live events. From my years producing documentaries and reality shows, I’m very comfortable directing cameras around things that are unfolding in real time. It’s all about setting up the right crew and then capturing things as they happen. You don’t get a second chance to capture someone’s real and honest reaction to something. Having the right cameras and sound in place is crucial for that. For the LEGO Mindstorms event, we were awarded the Project on a Tuesday morning and were on a plane to Seattle less than 24 hours later with local and LA crew ready to go. We had very little time to prepare, but knew that if we had the right team in place, that we could pivot to capture everything that was happening at the event and tell the story.
IF: We’re always impressed with your ability to tell stories in such an authentic way. How has your style evolved over the course of your career?
EG: Thanks! Having a background in research has given me a great foundation for finding and telling real stories. I still use a lot of the things I learned early on in my career when planning our projects now. I also learned to be a chameleon from being a freelance producer. I would jump from show to show, so one month I might be shooting with famous artists in a museum and the next wearing steel toe boots in the forest with loggers. These experiences taught me how to connect with a lot of different people, which I think is an important part of producing an authentic story. It wasn’t until I started For Example Media that I really got to start experimenting and having more control over directing and style, which is lot of fun. We are always evolving and learning, but what is important for me is that we find the right tone for each Project.
JF: Yes, thank you! Working in public relations, we were also digging deeper to find the story that would resonate with audiences best. It was always finding unique ways to share the human interest side of clients or causes.
IF: What’s your favorite work you’ve done for Tongal?
JF: We’ve been really grateful for all of the cool Projects we’ve been able to work on through Tongal. If I had to pick one, I would have to say my favorite was the P&G Everyday Me web series. Our host was actually a friend from college who is an artist and we were able to really tap into the DIY, creative space on this one.
EG: It’s hard to pick favorites. I loved getting to know all of the amazing girls that participated in our Clean & Clear shoot. LEGO Mindstorms was also a huge opportunity for our company. It combined all of our loves into one video: a great story, a cool kid, an educational aspect and LEGO! I also really loved the P&G Everyday Me web series. The end product was fun and whimsical!
IF: What would be your dream Project on Tongal?
EG: There are so many possibilities! I would love to go back to my roots and do a longer documentary. What’s great about Tongal is that it is constantly surprising us with the cool Projects that pop up that we could have never dreamed up.
IF: We're glad you're able to consistently find an exciting variety of Projects on Tongal. What do you find unique about being a female filmmaker in such a male-dominated industry?
EG: Over the course of my career I’ve been fortunate to have worked with many incredibly talented, supportive women in television. It wasn’t until I switched over to more of the branded content side that I noticed things were a little more male dominated. It’s something we’ve talked about and it is definitely part of a bigger conversation in the entertainment/advertising industry right now. When we started our company we wanted to combine our backgrounds in TV/Documentaries and Marketing/PR and we also wanted to tell stories that we were proud to be a part of. I think the fact that we are women is just one part of that and as a whole we are a different option for people. What is exciting about this industry right now is that there are so many opportunities for people to make their own paths. More so than being a woman filmmaker or director, I feel that I am someone who is forging my own path and offering a different option.
IF: It's wonderful to hear your perspective on this, and we love that you're forging your own paths! What are your daily must-reads?
JF: I like to know what’s going on in the world. One of the first things I do in the morning is read The Skimm on my phone to get a quick scoop on the news. I’m also on the lookout during the day of what’s coming through on CNN, NYT, Upworthy, etc. I’m also a fiction book lover, so always looking for my next read.
EG: I’ve always been a big reader and find a lot of inspiration in reading stories on a wide variety of topics. I follow a handful of blogs daily (Deadline, Adweek/Adfreak, Laughing Squid and Apartment Therapy). I also subscribe to way too many magazines (Elle, Marie Claire, Wired, Time and Travel & Leisure are my favorites) and enjoy the rare free moment I can sit and read one all the way through. However, the pile on my coffee table never seems to go down!
IF: Wow, that's a lot of great material for inspiration! Tell us a fun fact or surprising hobby about yourself.
JF: We both love South America and each taught in different countries (Chile & Ecuador) through WorldTeach. We actually go further back than that and first became friends in college.
EG: And, I am actually going back to Ecuador in a few weeks to teach a course on Branded Content at one of the Universities there.
IF: That's so exciting – have a fantastic trip! What’s next for you, on Tongal or otherwise?
EG: We are still a relatively new company so we are incredibly grateful to be busy. I’m getting ready for my trip to Ecuador in a few weeks and we have a few exciting projects outside of Tongal that we are currently working on. And, of course we look forward for our next great Tongal adventure!
IF: Do you have any advice for other Tongalers?
JF: It’s easy to get discouraged when you don’t win that Project you think is perfect for you. Just keep on it and really try to focus on Ideas/Projects that fit your strengths.
Thanks so much for chatting with us. Team Tongal is so glad we got to know more about For Example Media's creative process and work…we can’t wait to see your next Tongal Project!
