Today we’d like to introduce you to Joanna Pasiecnik.
Hi Joanna, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
When I was younger I knew a traditional 9 – 5 pushing papers job wasn’t going to be for me. I knew I’d need to spend my time doing something with people, outside an office, and creating. From a young age, I was fascinated and bewitched by Oprah. Her intelligence, the way she commanded attention, her strength, her story telling abilities, and her way to engage with people was something I marveled at. When I reached High School a teacher took me under his wing and introduced me to video editing. It was a new medium of storytelling I had never known of or explored. In those formative years, I learned like so many of the women I admired: Oprah, Mindy Kaling, Lucile Ball, Julie Taymor, and so many other that I too could be a creative, and tell my stories in my way.
I come from a farm family, my dad is a third-generation farmer, though that is how I grew up, I quickly new riding tractors was most likely not how I would be spending my own time and how I wanted to live my life. I learned a lot about hard work, patience, and dedication from growing up in a farm community and as grateful as I am too have grown up in such a unique way I’ve taken those life lessons and applied them to what I do in my work. Producing is a lot like the patience, hard work, and determination I had learned about when I was growing up.
Being a female in any field is going to be hard, you’ll always have to prove yourself (which is where the patience comes in) and you’ll have to keep pushing forward even when you’re on you’re millionth job and you’re still being questioned about who you are and what your experience is, if you want it bad enough you’ll find the determination to work hard enough to get to where you want to be.
I knew this field wasn’t a traditional ladder you work hard at and got promoted and worked your way up. It’s a bit of a game and a puzzle to figure out how to get from one project to the next, whilst also working your way to the position you want. For me to become a Producer I started doing any job in the production field I could get my hands on, I would take a job knowing or most of the time not knowing how to do it and just faking my way into figuring the out the position. Most of the time taking long bathroom breaks youtubing tutorials and walking out with confidence.
I worked as a production assistant, editors assistant, and script supervisors working for scaled rates or favors and worked up connections and my skills that way. The Atlanta community is fruitful in hungry people just wanting to create which is a great way in which I’d ended up working with and then hiring so many talented crew members.
Once a few years went by my sister (who also works in production) and I noticed the lack of women on sets, in charge, and getting hired. After 2 tireless years of working in Atlanta we decided to just start our own production company, J and J Productions in an attempt to right the wrong we were seeing. We have a strict code we work and live by which is giving everyone a seat at the table. We wanted to hire all people, no matter gender, color, sexual orientation, and we particularly wanted to give these minorities the voice they’ve never had working on the sets we’d all felt marginalized on.
We have happily and successfully hired over 20 women and people of color, most who have gone on to get enough hours to become a part of the union. Being a part of those stories and successes is a huge drive. I am always working towards building my career to be bigger and I’ll always want more for myself, but being apart of such a flourishing community that I can grow with has really been a great source of inspiration and energy.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Working in any job as a woman isn’t going to necessarily be a smooth road. I’ve been in many situations where I’m revered in my performance and then asked to train several new hires and then go off to see those men whom I’ve trained either be promoted or given new opportunities as I’m told “it’s just easier because men are more versatile”, “you wouldn’t be able to lift the equipment like the men”, “it’s more of a boys club this time”. I’ve even been a part of writers rooms where I’ve advocated that there needs to be more people of color casted, to which I’m often told “we haven’t written a part for them, yet” or they’ll happily try to find the smallest part they can and there you have a token character. These attitudes of pre-conceived things that hold people back because of their gender or the color of their skin will always be an obstacle, but it’s in these moments is where you can challenge people and promote growth and change.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Currently, I am in the middle of post-production for a new series, The Campaign, I’ve co-produced along with Josh Warren, Sean Bokelman, and Ravi Saini of Action Show Studios. We are excited about this upcoming web series that will be streaming on The Fantasy network as early as next year! I am also in the middle of writing a new short film to go alongside our short film, Unemployable (now streaming on Vimeo). This latest project is one of three installments that will partner the journey we saw our characters from Unemployable go on. It’s entitled Unhealthy and its about a “fat” woman’s journey to finding a doctor who will help her find a diagnosis other that just being reminded she needs to lose weight. It will take the same tone of taking a serious situation and finding the funny.
As well as producing several other projects I hope will also come out in early 2022.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jandjproductioncompany.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jandjproductionsatl/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl9q07totGPiV-aROyBmIaQ
- Other: https://vimeo.com/#at=2
Image Credits
Photos by Willie Gene Prince
