172. Melanie A. Ragone on Being a Woman in Crew: Tips & Tricks of the Trade, Working on Set, and the Life of a Grip

Melanie A. Ragone started her career in Atlanta, Georgia, as a Production Assistant before moving into the Grip department. Throughout her career, she has worked in a variety of feature films and television productions, including The Walking Dead, Love Simon, Captain America, Sleepy Hollow, The Hate U Give, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles in 2018, to pursue producing and directing. She has since launched a Kickstarter for her new book, "Below the Line", giving women on film crews a survival guide filled with all of the information Melanie wishes she had when she was first starting out. Melanie breaks down being a female crew member, what her day-to-day life is like, and how to work up the crew ladder in the below the line set hierarchy. Melanie's kickstarter ends April 8th and it is almost 50% funded. Let's give our crew some love and help publish this survival guide that we could all learn something from! 00:12 — Episode Intro and "Below the Line" Kickstarter 03:30 — Living in a Man's World & Putting Herself Out There 05:52 — What a Grip is & What They Do 08:47 — The Best Boy Grip and Below the Line Set Hierarchy 11:13 — Working Up the Crew Ladder 15:31 — Day Player for Crew 17:07 — Being a Female on Crew 20:12 — Breaking Down a Typical Day 24:18 — Union (IATSE) Sets vs. Nonunion Sets 28:42 — What Actors Need to Know About Crew 31:05 — Melanie's Volvo Oscars Commercial 37:30 — Tips for Working Crew 43:25 — Scheduling Time for Ourselves 48:15 — What Keeps Melanie Going Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Melanie's IMDb Contribute to "Below the Line" by Melanie A. Ragone Kickstarter -------- Want more? Check out Patreon for bonus episodes, IG Close Friends content, and so much more. And don’t miss all the content on IG and as always at, OneBrokeActress.com And if you're needing some personalized help from Sam, you can schedule a chat with her right here. Don't forget to join the mailing list here!  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/one-broke-actress-podcast/message