Women's History Month: The Legion M Staff Edition!
In honor of Women’s History Month, we spoke with some of the Women of Legion M to celebrate the many accomplishments of women in entertainment. We’re proud to showcase the talents and contributions of our amazing team members who worked tirelessly to make Legion M what it is today. Check out what they had to say about how they got started in entertainment, their role at Legion M, and advice they would give to women following in their footsteps.
Terri Lubaroff
Head of Content & COO
Michelle P. Carter
Creative Executive
Mandy Bardisbanian
VP of Merchandising and Licensing
Prophetess Branchcomb
Director of Finance
Clare Bateman-King
Events and International Business Development
Terri Piñon
Community Manager
Michelle P. Carter
Creative Executive
What do you do at Legion M?
I do it all! My primary role as a Creative Executive is to assist in all aspect of development, which includes reading scripts and writing coverage; designing marketing, sales, and pitch presentation decks for our projects; organizing and scheduling meetings with creative partners and business development contacts; collecting, organizing, and (sometimes) designing assets for our projects; and running our development internship program!
But why stop there? Some of my secondary (and tertiary) job duties at Legion M include writing content for our website, blogs, FAQs, and social media; writing content for our email blasts and newsletters; managing and writing replies on our social media advertising and organic posts; writing copy for tools and initiatives like M-Pulse and Film Scout; writing content for our crowdfunding campaigns, like Girl With No Name; writing recaps of our events and announcements; designing merchandise assets for our store; designing assets for our social media announcements; communicating with our shareholders about their investments; data analysis for our various tools and initiatives; and anything else that anyone could ask of me! I haven't met a task yet that I can't demolish.
How did you get to where you are today?
I have a Bachelor's Degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of Connecticut (class of 2010, baby!). My goal was to pursue writing and/or editing fiction novels or non-fiction essays in journal and magazine publications. I always had my sights set on Los Angeles for that – but when I actually came out here, the biggest opportunities were in television and film! Television was always a passion of mine, but for some reason, I never considered pursuing it as a career. But once I got into it, there was no other option for me! My entertainment career started in reality television, working on shows like The Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, The Voice, Battle of the Network Stars, and so many more. While that was my "day job," I also got a lot of on-set experience on various feature films, webseries, and short films as a script supervisor and BTS photographer.
I first came to Legion M as an interested prospective investor. My husband and I discovered Legion M at Stan Lee's LA Comic Con in 2016 and dove head-first into all things Legion M. When the next round of funding opened up, we threw all of our life savings in (okay, maybe not ALL of it) and began attending all of the events in Los Angeles and various cities nearby. After a few years of being heavily involved in the community, I had the opportunity to come on board as staff! I left my day job(s) to work for Legion M full-time and never looked back.
What inspired you to work in entertainment?
I've always loved television. TV got me through some of the roughest parts of my adolescence. TV was there for me when I moved across the country and had no friends or family to lean on for support. TV introduced me to people who became my best friends, my roommates, and even my colleagues. TV showed me that there's more than one way to tell a story. And I had so many stories to tell. I always thought I had to tell them in prose, but being in Los Angeles showed me that writing for TV and film is a lot more accessible than I thought it was. If I can inspire even one person with my stories the way I was inspired so many times growing up, then I feel like my life will have immeasurable meaning.
What does being a woman in entertainment mean to you?
It means I have to work twice as hard to get half the recognition! When I tell people that I'm a comedy writer, they pity me. They question me. They caution me to do literally anything else. But I don’t believe that past is prologue. What I do believe is that if you're discouraged by a lack of precedent, then it's time to set one. As women, too often we feel like there's not much space for us in Hollywood; but that's not going to stop us from making some.
What advice would you give to women who want to follow in your footsteps?
Well, first I have to make some footsteps worth following! But what I would say is: listen to everyone, and listen to no one. Listen to all the women who come before you about their experiences and what they have to offer; and don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can't do something for any reason – but especially if that reason is because you're a woman.