Chickens, and the Importance of Research

When I walk into the studio with talent, I like to be as prepared as possible. Film sets can be chaotic spaces, and the producer has the tall task of making sure everyone on set is having a good time, doing their best work, and the day is flowing. All sorts of novel situations can arise, a camera lens needs to be changed, batteries have died on a microphone, a police car is driving by outside and we need to hold for sound. The producer should shepherd the crew through, whatever arises.

So when I’m getting ready to interview talent, I come prepared, because I want to keep them engaged even if the production isn’t ready. There are the usual things you should know about someone you are interviewing, their accolades, where they grew up, what they might be promoting at the moment, etc. But I always like to go one click deeper, to see if I can find some unique common ground between me and who I’m interviewing.

In 2024, I got the chance to interview a soccer football legend for Betterment’s Pursue Better campaign. Carli Lloyd is one of the greatest football players in the world. Two Olympic golds, two-time World Cup winner, two-time FIFA Player of the Year. Just go watch her hat-trick in the World Cup final if you haven’t seen it. And I came prepared, I had all these facts in my doc, plus other tidbits about her career, but the truth is, I’m actually not a massive football fan!

And that’s when I found it. Since 2020, I’ve been an avid gardener, and if I’m being ambitious I might even call it a micro farm. And it just so happens that Carli is somewhat of a farmer too. She keeps a flock of chickens, Rhode Island Reds to be precise, something I so desperately wish I could do in my little space in Brooklyn.

I kept this fact in my back pocket, knowing it was the perfect question topic to deploy if production needed to halt to address an issue with equipment. And it happened! Midway through our interview our cameraman wanted to change out a battery, and I launched straight in, asking Carli about her chickens. The room loved it! Everyone was so excited to hear about Carli’s chickens, what she fed them, how many, their names? Crucially, this allowed our camera team to work without the pressure of talent waiting for them to get going again. I was able to hold the production together, keep spirits high, and keep Carli chatting until we were ready to roll.

Now here’s the fun part. One of our last scripts of the day was a script where a Betterment employee showed Carli how to set up an account on the app. The original creative had Carli comically go back and forth on whether to save for her soon to be born child, or save for a vacation. We made a last minute script change to go in deep about chickens! The quick aside in our interview earlier had become a bit of a recurring joke on set, and we thought it made perfect sense for the script we were shooting.

All this is to say, being prepared, knowing who you will interview, and looking for something you can connect deeply on, even if it’s between takes, can create real magic video moments.