Welcome to my Blog. Elaine Writes Media is the umbrella for all my writing activities, and this blog will reflect where my writing takes me.
In May of 2021, I published my memoir Outside The Spotlights: Conversations With Unsung Creators Behind the Screens in Hollywood. The focus of the book is 37 career stories of people I met while working behind the screens during Hollywood’s digital revolution. They are some of the most admirable people I know from all over the entertainment business.
None is a household name, but each contributed important knowledge and skills to a variety of technology applications that help make the Hollywood magic happen. Some work for the major studios in traditional roles. Others hold positions way behind the camera in the business offices of entertainment corporations. Still others work in music, game development and web site production. I am incredibly lucky that they were there to make me better.
I also told the story of my career, which coincides with the story of how technology came to Hollywood. I collaborated with people who helped make it happen – defined it, built it and launched it. It’s a story of thinking outside the box, learning new ways to do things and taking chances on previously untested methods.
We helped businesses thrive, helped new ones form and succeed and defined new jobs in the process. The people in the book played vastly different roles, but each is a proven innovator and believer in the ability of a team of like-minded, talented individuals to achieve the unexpected. I was so lucky to have been a part of it and telling others about it is a privilege. It’s my mission to let others know what you can do when you combine the strengths of multiple brains to envision what can be.
Since many more people work in entertainment than can be famous entertainers, the inspiring stories in my memoir can help you find the place you belong. You can learn how it’s done from real life people who’ve done it.
The blog posts here will expand on the book’s content and tell more stories of fascinating, creative innovators. One of the stories may be just the one you’re looking for to tell you where you should go next.
I will also emphasize career stories from the accomplished women in technology and entertainment who appear in the memoir. How they find their path and their examples of what it’s like to be a woman leader in entertainment technology will hopefully inspire the next generation of leaders to define their own paths.
Posts in the blog will not always be specifically about my first book. Some will in fact spotlight (pun intended) professionals in the book, adding details to the stories already documented. There will likely be stories from others I met who weren’t in the first edition; yes, there are more! There could also be articles about the latest in Hollywood technology or my reaction to the current evolution of the business. I’ve decided to write what moves me and see where that goes.
From time to time, I will write about my current life in retirement—what I’m learning and what it has been like to literally spend years writing my first book.
I hope you find your place and that my story and the stories of the people I met can confirm just how many possibilities there are for starting your perfect career. The entertainment jobs no one talks much about may be just the ones that mean you love going to work every day.
You can find the book on Amazon here:
Enjoy.
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