November 28, 2023, 12:00 a.m. EDT
As VP of Production for Mattel Films, Kevin McKeon had quite the summer with the smash hit, Barbie, taking the world by storm. But he didn’t land on the pink carpet overnight. He shares his journey from PA to studio exec with Hunter and how Emerson shaped every step along the way. Kevin also talks about the changes he has seen on the Emerson campus, reminisces about his time as a student and offers advice to current students about keeping an open mind and knowing their worth in the industry. Recorded on September 14, 2023.
Transcript: Season 7, Episode 6
Kevin McKeon
Speaker 1:
What does it mean to make it big? Well, it depends on who you ask, and we did. Welcome to Making It Big in 30 Minutes, a podcast for, by, and about the Emerson community. You are about to meet an Emersonian who's making it, making a living, making a difference, and sometimes making it up as they go. As far as we are concerned, if you are making something, you've made it, big time, we know you'll enjoy hearing our host Hunter Reese from the class of 2017, and all of our guests share how Emerson shaped their lives and careers after graduation. So let's get into it.
Hunter Reis:
Kevin McKeon just got to celebrate a major success with the release of Barbie. As the Vice President of film production at Mattel, Kevin helped shape the production of the summer blockbuster since its first ideation in 2018. He joins us on Making it Big to share how both Emerson and the film ministry have changed since he graduated in 2007, his path to becoming Vice President and how Barbie was only the beginning. This is Kevin McKeon in making it as a film producer.
Thank you, Kevin for joining us today. This is a very special episode of Making it Big in 30 Minutes because I'm reporting live from Emerson where all the magic happens. It's been a long time since I've been to campus and it's completely different since the last time I was here. They added a ton of new buildings and a lot of new signage too.
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah, I went to Emerson back in May actually, and I got a tour of all the new facilities. Most of the buildings that I was in are gone. And they renovated a lot of the ones that I did have when I was there. So it's an ever-changing campus.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah. Was there something about your tour that stuck out to you? I just had a similar tour and there was a ton that was different.
Kevin McKeon:
What stuck out to me actually was funny enough, was sort of a wistful remembrance of the old Little Building. I mean, the lobby is the same, but I was sad when I went up. I was like, "Oh, I missed my time at Emerson. I miss the Little Building." It's all brand new and it's gorgeous, but it's very different. So that's the one thing that stuck out to me was just sort of like it's moved on beyond me basically is what it's sort of the takeaway that I had.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah, I felt antiquated there. Those old wooden lumpy couches are no longer there either. It feels really like colonial vibes now, which really surprised me. For me, the biggest thing was honestly the dining hall. It doubled in size. I couldn't believe it.
Kevin McKeon:
And I had actually never seen the gym before, which is so funny. I mean the Piano Row, I think opened the year that I left. I think I had something in Piano Row. I can't remember what it was, but I saw the gym for the first time, which was actually, I was very impressed by the gymnasium. So that was really cool. I thought that was really cool. Again, ever-changing Emerson. I think athletics was not even a thing when I was there and it's changing and the student body's changing. So that was kind of interesting to see.
Hunter Reis:
Let's get into the crux of it. So I want to hear a little bit about what you do professionally. Can you explain your job in a quick sentence or two?
Kevin McKeon:
I work at Mattel Films and we shepherd, and produce, and develop feature films based off of our IP at the company.
Hunter Reis:
That's great. So what role do you play in making some of these films?
Kevin McKeon:
We develop these movies from inception all the way to the start of production. We oversee production and then we oversee post and all the way through release. So it really is a very predatorial relationship we have with our projects. We're not a licenser. We don't just license out our IP and say, "Go ahead, Warner Brothers, make a Barbie movie." We are involved every step of the way creatively.
Hunter Reis:
Nice. That's amazing. And yeah, like you said, obviously Barbie is your most recent huge project. Can you talk a little bit about the work that you put into that?
Kevin McKeon:
I started the company... Mattel film started September of 2018. I just had my five-year anniversary. I got a little doll from Mattel congratulating me.
Hunter Reis:
Nice.
Kevin McKeon:
The deal had just closed with Warner Brothers the week before I started, and so we were set at Warner Brothers, but there was no story. And so we heard with Lucky Chap Margot Robbie's company, so Tom Ackerley, Josie McNamara and Margot herself. We heard about God like 60 to 80 different takes just trying to figure out what the Barbie was going to be and what it could be. And then we had originally approached Greta very, very, very early in the process. I think probably month one or two, and she was really busy and she just couldn't wrap her head around it and she was a huge fan of the IP, but it just wasn't going to work out timing wise. But then it kind of came back around.
I know Margot has a very close relationship with Greta and approached her about the movie and they told us their passion. They wanted to write it together. Noah Baumbach, her partner and herself, they wanted to write it together and we got sort of a nice scene, creed sort of poem that was what was going to be the movie. And then we get the script during the pandemic. And so we developed the script with her. We figured out ways to make it more emotional. We figured out ways to bridge a lot of the comical elements to it. We dived in on character then going to set to see the movie come to fruition. But the thing is, when you have someone with such a singular vision like Greta, you have to just trust her instincts and trust her filmmaking prowess and her vision and just kind of go with it. And that's what we did.
Hunter Reis:
That's so cool. That must've been such a fun project to work on just from start to finish. Were there different iterations that you guys were looking at before? I know there was supposed to be Alina Dunham edition or something. It was in the works.
Kevin McKeon:
So there was an Amy Schumer version which ended up actually being, I Feel Pretty, that movie that she made that was loosely based on what the script was. It was at Sony for years. I read a draft that was for Anne Hathaway, but just we wanted to start fresh. We wanted to start fresh, and we heard some takes that were interesting and we liked some of them quite a bit. But it was, like I said, when you have somebody come in that really has a handle on the material and really has a singular vision for the movie, you kind of just go with it.
Hunter Reis:
And it seems like that was the right decision to make.
Kevin McKeon:
Thank you.
Hunter Reis:
Do you ever work on something that you think would really impress your college age self?
Kevin McKeon:
I had sort of an out-of-body experience when we were... The LA premiere was fun, but I've been to different premieres in LA and I've been to my own premieres in LA before. The LA Premier was just big and sort of very boisterous and there were a lot of people there and the party was huge and it was really fun. It wasn't until the London premiere when I walked the pink carpet and I just saw the size and the scope of what Barbie had become, the juggernaut that it was and the anticipation for it. I felt this real, I don't know, I just felt this real emotional pull, like, "Oh my goodness, when I was at Emerson toiling in film one with my Bolex, did I ever, ever think that I'd be a part of something so big." And I don't think I'll ever be a part of anything bigger. I just don't know how you top this. Not to say that my career has peaked, but I do think I might not ever have that experience again. And so I just took it in and appreciated it and sat with it. And then I'll tuck that into memory banks forever.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah, I mean it was a very unique experience. Barbie was really the monoculture all summer and it seems like everybody had seen it. Parents, grandparents, kids, everybody, but Mattel films, I feel like they have a lot of cool things in the works.
Kevin McKeon:
Oh, for sure, for sure, for sure. We have Masters Universe, which is a huge movie and that'll be really big fan bases so at voracious. We have Hot Wheels, which I know will be a really big movie that we have with Bad Robot. So that's not to say we won't have any big projects like this, but I think the cultural impact that Barbie had, it's just so big and it's going to be hard to replicate I think.
Hunter Reis:
I'm excited for an American Girl, a Monster's High movie. I think that would be fun. I know there's been a couple Monster High movies before, but not like this.
Kevin McKeon:
Well, we have American Girl in Development. We're about to close the deal with the studio and we have a writer on it. It's a very unique and fun take that I'm really excited about. That's been a hard one too, to put together because obviously, we don't want to be precious about the story too much. We want to make sure that it's relatable and that the fans of the IP, they're going to want their nostalgia honored. But at the same time, we want to be able to bring in people who don't don't know the IP and who want to have a good time at the movie theater. So the American Girl's been a tough one. Monster High is another one that we're in the final negotiations on with the studio, and that'll be a big movie for us. We're really excited to really push that one. So yeah.
Hunter Reis:
It must be difficult to balancing some of these legacy brands and keeping them true to the lore and the story, but also making them for a modern audience. Can you talk maybe about the work that goes into diversifying some of these films, especially I would think Monster High, where I know the cast is already very diverse to begin with, or not the cast, but the cast of Monsters?
Kevin McKeon:
Well, I think first and foremost, in terms of approaching these IP, whether they're just strictly IP in terms of story or mythology or their IP, like Barbie, where there are toys that exists, I think you have to really adhere to the inherent play pattern of the toy. Battleship had aliens in the movie and there's no aliens in the game. You play the game and it's a game of strategy and all that. And so don't add aliens and don't add things in that don't make sense for the IP. And I think that's the way that you draw people in, that you make them feel that you capture what they remember about the IP and then going from there, it's taking risks creatively. I think Barbie was a risk. It was a risk. You had a filmmaker who excels in a type of genre and a type of filmmaking that wouldn't necessarily be the first choice for something like this, but was the right choice.
And so the next part would be trying to find that sort of unimpeachable voice that comes to the project, who can really breathe life into it, and a vitality into it, and an excitement into it that not to bring everything back to Barbie but that Barbie had. So that's our plan moving forward, especially with something like Monster High, American Girl, Hot Wheels, Masters Universe, these bigger properties that have mythological baggage to them or don't have any sort of narrative at all. And we have to come up with that and figure out what that is, if that makes sense.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah. Which one do you think is harder kind of working with something that has so much history and background or working with something where you have to make it up as you go?
Kevin McKeon:
I think making it up as you go, because people, when there isn't a narrative, people create their own. I'm sure there's no narrative to Hot Wheels, but I'm sure a kid plays the Hot Wheels in Columbus, Ohio, and he has a name for the guy who drives the car and he has a very specific idea of what the car does and the story behind the car. It's then making a movie that speaks to that person, even though it might not speak to the narrative that they've created as a child or what they have as a memory that they have, but it's figuring out a way that is universal to everybody. I think that's really difficult. Very, very difficult, and you don't want to disappoint anybody either.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah, that is difficult. I know my first memory that I would connect with Hot Wheels is those little rugs that would be shaped like a town or it would look like a town. You could drive the car through the roads, but some people's, I'm sure is doing the wheels, and tricks, and stuff on the Hot Wheels. So it's kind of like finding that balance.
Kevin McKeon:
Or just throwing them against the wall. I mean, I used to throw them against the wall and crash them, so I don't know what that says about me as a human being, but I used to throw them against the wall and crash them off the counter, and that was the way that I played with Hot Wheels. And it's like coming up with a story for Hot Wheels that is engaging for everybody is that difficult, whereas, Masters Universe, it's a very specific mythology and there's a very specific story behind each character, and there is a challenge in honoring that for sure. But you already have it baked in and it's figuring out what the tone of the movie's going to be and figuring out what characters are going to be in the driver's seat, and what the story and the arcs can do for the characters. But it's all kind of there for you. And same thing with American Girl, it's kind of all kind of laid out for you. It's a question of tone and a question of how you're piecing it together, but something like Hot Wheels or Matchbox or anything like that where there's no story whatsoever is in coming up with that. It's very exciting, but it's also very difficult.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah, I bet It really allows you to just flaunt your creativity and come up with some of the craziest ideas and see what sticks, see what other people are liking.
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah. Take risks.
Hunter Reis:
What is... On the similar field, what's one mistake that you're glad that you've made?
Kevin McKeon:
One mistake that I'm glad that I made, okay. I mean, this is the first thing that came to my head, but I don't know if it was a mistake, but I remember, and it was a mistake. I remember when I was applying for internships, I had done an internship in Boston at lycos.com, and if you don't remember what that is, it was a web portal and it was a black lab was the logo, and it was like, "Go fetch, Lycos." And it was a search thing, and they tried to do this thing called Lycos Cinema. They had a bunch of Emerson students get involved. I worked there the summer and I became kind of close to the CEO of the company, and this was a major company in Boston, and I asked him to get... Because he knew the head of Lionsgate, so he called the head of Lionsgate and got me an internship.
I remember turning it down to go somewhere else, and it was such, I mean, I look back at it and so embarrassed because I was like 22 and stupid, but I turned it down and I went and did something else. And I remember now I look back and I'm like, "I cannot believe I called the CEO of a major company who called the CEO of another major company. And then I turned down the internship because I didn't like the commute, such a mistake." But had I not done that, my career could have taken a different route. And I'm very happy where I am right now, and I'm very happy in my life, and maybe it was meant to be, but it was definitely a mistake. It was definitely a mistake to have engaged those people at that level and then just sort of say, "Okay, I'm not doing that. Sorry."
Hunter Reis:
Kind of a flex. It's the LA story being like, "Oh, nevermind. It's too far."
Kevin McKeon:
No, it's not a flex. It was terrible. It was terrible. I remember I reached out to the CEO of Lycos and just to kind of give an update of what he was doing. I never heard back from him. I'm sure he was insulted. Anyway, that was a mistake, but I'm glad that I made it because I think that I charted out a decent trajectory for myself.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah, absolutely. Can you tell me a little bit about the years before joining Mattel? What was your first job out of college then?
Kevin McKeon:
My first job was a line producer's assistant on this movie called The Perfect Game. It was a small movie that was independently made. It was with Luke Goss Jr. And Clifton Collins, and Cheech Marin, Francis Fisher. It was a family film directed by William Deere who did Harry and the Henderson's, the Rocketeer and small movie. It came out, no one saw it, but that was my first movie. And I mean, I truly believe that people should get physical production experience if they want to become producers. I know that the general wisdom, and I do agree with this general wisdom. The general wisdom is to work at a management company or a agency first to get the lay of the land of Hollywood. And I do agree with that, but not understanding or knowing how production works, I think hinders you as a producer. So it was amazing to get that experience with the line producer and seeing how cashflow, and unions, and turnarounds, and how production actually works and functions.
And then I became a PA for a while on different movies, Valentine's Day, the Julie Roberts movie, and then Edge of Darkness, and I did The L Word and Seven Pounds with Will Smith. And then I left that to become Drew Barrymore's assistant, and I was her assistant for a while through the movies, Going the Distance. And then we went to Alaska to do the movie, Big Miracle. And then I got a job through Emerson, actually, an Emerson alum was at Oliver Stone's company named Aaron Copelof. And I went to work for him at Oliver Stone's Company for the movie Savages. And then I became really sort of impatient and I was like, "I don't want to be an assistant anymore." So then I became an art department coordinator on this movie called Near A Mirror, which was the another Julie Roberts movie that was shot in Montreal. And then I met Robbie Brenner, who is my mentor and friend and is the best person on the planet who really kind of shaped my career and who I look up to very, very much so. She's my North Star. She said to come work with her. So I did. I was her assistant, and then I became an executive at Relativity Media, and then Robbie and I went ahead and produced three movies together, and then we went to Mattel. That's sort of the Cliff Notes version of things.
Hunter Reis:
Wow. Yeah. It seems like you've really kind of had your hands in a little bit of everything during your career so far?
Kevin McKeon:
So far, yeah.
Hunter Reis:
It's good because I am about six, seven years out of graduation now, and I've probably hopped around to four different jobs at this point, so it's nice to hear that on all these conversations that I'm having with people that is a very shared experience and that it's rare to be at this job for five years. You've been at Mattel at this point, at least early years.
Kevin McKeon:
Oh my God. I mean, the longest I've ever been at a job is five years. I've bopped around, and not because I was getting fired, but it was because you have to figure out what is best for your career and what's the best for your trajectory, especially in your younger years, being as an assistant for more than two years somewhere and not seeing a path forward or a path of upward mobility, you have to say, "Okay, I got to go to another desk and bide my time there." Or, "I'm ready to move up, but I know it's not here, so I have to start taking meetings to be a junior executive somewhere." So it's constant movement.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah. Is there a time, I know you didn't take that job at Lionsgate, obviously, and you don't have to name any other names, but is there a time where you were kind of debating whether you should leave a job? Maybe there wasn't room for promotion or you weren't getting paid enough, and what was the decision that made you decide to leave or stay?
Kevin McKeon:
I was working as a temp somewhere where an assistant went on a maternity leave, but then ended up leaving the business. I saved quite a bit of time afterwards, but the money was terrible and I just couldn't make ends meet. I didn't have supplemental income, and I know it was a great job. It was on a lot on the studio lot, and they were making movies, a lot of movies. There could be opportunity for up and mobility, but the money was just so poor that I couldn't stay there, and so I left.
Hunter Reis:
How long into your career were you at this point?
Kevin McKeon:
It was just before Relativity Media. It was before I met Robbie. So I was 27. I was 27.
Hunter Reis:
I mean, I've had similar experiences in my first couple of jobs out here where it's a really cool company. It's something that I really want to be doing, but the pay is just not enough to continue living in LA. So you come to that crossroads where it's like, "Do I stay here and do this and get my years, or is it time for me to go and find stability elsewhere?" And I find that a lot of people are struggling with that.
Kevin McKeon:
I think it's crazy. I mean, the fact that I work at a company that pays our assistance very well, and I'm very proud of that, but there are a lot of companies that still pay the same wage that I was paid nearly 20 years ago, and that there's been no change in terms of a raise in salary. And I think it's wild, and to think how expensive LA is, people coming out of college and getting these jobs, but then paying double what I paid in rent, my apartment that I had, it was the most amazing apartment ever. I loved that apartment. It's now double. It's double of what it costs me then, and I can't even imagine making the same amount of money and affording that place now.
Hunter Reis:
Right.
Kevin McKeon:
You got to do what you got to do. You got to leave. If it's not working out for you and it's not paying you what you believe you should be paid, you got to go find something else.
Hunter Reis:
I agree. I totally agree with you. So you're LA based now, right?
Kevin McKeon:
Yes. Yep.
Hunter Reis:
And you did the LA program. Have you been here ever since?
Kevin McKeon:
Yes. I've been in LA 16 years now, almost 17. That's crazy. Next year I will have lived in LA more than any other place in my life, so I guess I'm a true Angelino.
Hunter Reis:
That's so big milestone.
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah, I've been here a long time.
Hunter Reis:
Nice. What went into your decision behind moving to LA after the LA program?
Kevin McKeon:
Well, I just felt if I wanted to work in film as my childhood dream, that the only place I could do it was Los Angeles. Not to say that New York is impossible or Atlanta, but for what I wanted to do, this is sort of the home base for all things, film, TV, and music. So I knew that that was a big life change that I had to make.
Hunter Reis:
What was the most difficult part of post grad in your first couple of years?
Kevin McKeon:
I think finding my niche in LA, finding friends was difficult. I think finding my go-to restaurants and my go-to hangouts and just kind of navigating the city, but then also trying to figure out what my career was. I think a lot of people think that their first or second job has to establish what their career is going to be, but it really doesn't. I think people should go into LA with an open mind, because I was convinced I was going to be a director for so long. I was like, "I'm going to be a director." But I realized that my skillset is not directing, it's producing. I just don't have the skillset to direct. When you come out here, you might think, "Oh my goodness, I'm going to be a writer." And then realize, "Wait, I think I'm a director. I think I'm a producer. I think marketing might be where it's at." And I think just keeping an open mind and taking jobs that might feel like it's not perfect for you to realize what your potential is and what your skillset is.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah, absolutely. And I feel like especially when you're first starting out in those first few jobs post-graduation, a lot of these job titles mean different things at different companies. So I've been a producer at one company that's mostly all writing, and I'm in a producer at a different company that's all social media. So it's really kind of just figuring out your niche and figuring out what these companies are looking for in each of these different job descriptions. That was one thing that was hard after graduation. What was the best part of your first few years after graduation when you first moved to LA?
Kevin McKeon:
Well, it was pre... Well, actually it wasn't pretty smartphones, but there was reckless abandon. It was just fun. And I have a lot of really fond memories of making things work on a shoestring budget and having interesting parties, and meeting interesting people, and trying to find free things to do in LA. I wouldn't say it was reckless. I'm just making a joke. It wasn't like, "Let's go to this fancy restaurant and order a great bottle of wine." It was like, "Oh my goodness, let's go to the Griffith Observatory and watch the sunset, and let's make a picnic, and let's go to the beach, or let's go to so-and-so's house. Oh my goodness. They have a pool at their house or at their apartment complex." And it was just being created and finding ways to enjoy yourself because it's not easy. It's an expensive city. You don't make a lot of money out of college. I really have a lot of nostalgia and a lot of really happy memories of that.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah, absolutely. I still get excited when somebody has a pool at their house or their apartment.
Kevin McKeon:
Me too. Me too. Even now. Even now at my age, I still feel the same way.
Hunter Reis:
Going back a minute, do you have any favorite spots or restaurants that you want to shout out? I know you mentioned that you found your spots after a while.
Kevin McKeon:
Bestia downtown in the yard. I used to live by there, so that's delicious. I love Osteria Mozza. It's the best. It's worth every penny. It's little expensive, but it's worth every single penny. I see a real Italian food theme here. I'm trying to think of something else that isn't Italian food. There's a great wine bar in West Hollywood called The Wine Room, which I love. I've had a lot of birthday parties there. They have great wines and they have great staff. West Hollywood used to be called Sherman California, and it was the Sherman California Public Library. So it's a whole library theme in there, and it's really cool. So those are a few spots that I love.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah, I mean, you hear a lot about the history of Boston, but I feel like there's a ton of places in LA that I'll go and then later find out this historic thing happened here. "Oh, John F. Kennedy spoke here." Or something like that.
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah. LA has a really cool history to it that I think that people don't realize. I think we tend to think of the Academy Awards in Hollywood, but there is a lush history, a great tapestry of diverse communities that make up LA that really give the city its flavor and its culture.
Hunter Reis:
Definitely. And the city really started booming back in the 1920s, so I feel like everything's turning 100 right now. So it's all in front of mind and a very cool time to be there.
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah. I'm about to turn a hundred myself. So-
Hunter Reis:
You and Disney World.
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah. Exactly.
Hunter Reis:
So kind of going back to your career, if you had to switch jobs right now or switch career paths, what would you be interested in doing?
Kevin McKeon:
I don't know. I don't even know what I would do well. That's a really tough question. I've thought about that myself many, many times, but would always have to be in the creative space. I'm a big book reader, so I maybe getting involved in publishing in a meaningful way. You have a certain skillset, and so you'd have to take a few steps backward in order to move forward. So I don't know if I'd be ready to do that quite yet, but if I ever leave LA. You know what'd be great? Owning a vineyard, a wine vineyard. I'm a big wine person owning a vineyard, working in a winery, living out in the boonies, and just drinking wine all day.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah, can't beat it.
Kevin McKeon:
Riding a horse.
Hunter Reis:
You wouldn't even have to leave LA County.
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Exactly.
Hunter Reis:
Nice. Did you have to do a lot of script coverage when you were kind of coming up?
Kevin McKeon:
You know what? I didn't.
Hunter Reis:
You mentioned that you're a big book reader, so I wasn't sure if that went into it or-
Kevin McKeon:
No, I didn't. I had to do coverage in my first internship for Watermark Pictures with Mark Waters company at Paramount. I did a lot of coverage there. I was very bad at it, very, very bad at it because I would infuse my opinion in coverage, and coverage really is a summary. But I would say, "This character was dumb to..." I wouldn't say that simply or crude, but I would say like, "Oh, this didn't make any sense." Instead of saying what actually happened. And then after that, I worked at such small companies, all I would have to do is walk up to say Drew, or Oliver, or anybody I was working for and just say, "Oh, this didn't work for me. I didn't like this." And then when I became an executive at Relativity, we had a whole story department that would do coverage and recommendations and things.
Hunter Reis:
Nice. Yeah, you had people do that. One of my good friends, it's a big part of their job, and they can get through books in a day and a half, which is impressive, but it just seems very tiring.
Kevin McKeon:
Coverage is boring. I'm sorry. It's very boring writing coverage. It's terrible. Because you want to be able to talk about it in a meaningful way, and if you're just doing the coverage and summarizing it, and then obviously you give your notes and your thoughts afterwards, but then you have to be also very political with your thoughts because written and it becomes part of record. So it's much easier to come up to me and say, "Oh my God, I hated that script because I can't point to it."
Hunter Reis:
Just casual.
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah.
Hunter Reis:
Okay. So you were a Can Advisor back in 2019? I actually was just a Can Advisor this past spring semester as well, was for the first time, which is a lot of fun. You went to the ELA campus and did all of that with them?
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah, yeah. It was pre-pandemic, so we were still in person. I think it's back in person now isn't it? It must be.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah. We had three meetings and two of them, it was in person and one of them was on Zoom just to meet everybody else. It was like a speed dating round. I'm not sure if you had something similar?
Kevin McKeon:
I did. I did. But we did it had folding tables in that all-purpose room. Yeah, I really liked it. I've been really impressed with a lot of people. There was actually, speaking of the speed dating round, there's been somebody from that that has kept in touch with me and reached out quite a bit to let me know what they're doing and stay in contact with me, which I'm just so impressed by. There were certain people that really stood out to me, and you could tell we were very ambitious and very motivated to work in the industry and be in the business, and I really was impressed by that. That was really something.
Hunter Reis:
I have to say. I really mirror that, I left feeling more impressed than anything. It seems like all of these students were so ambitious, and if they didn't know exactly what they wanted to do, they had six different things that they wanted to try and see what worked. And I just thought that was so cool, and it felt really nice to just be in a room full of that energy of people graduating and ready to start school. Once you're in the workforce for so many years, you get a little burnt out when it's not as exciting anymore. Is there anything that you do when you're feeling a little burnt out to get back into the groove?
Kevin McKeon:
I'm burnt out a lot. Recently, it's been very slow because of the strikes. What boosts me is a win. So when something happens that's exciting and it's something that I put together or that I helped put together, and that's successful, that kind of re-energizes me and makes me feel like I can keep going.
Hunter Reis:
Nice. Yeah, that makes sense. It's always the small victories that get you through the end of the day. Is there a mark that Emerson left on you, whether that's professionally or personally?
Kevin McKeon:
I met my best friend from Emerson. She's still my best friend. Actually went to The Bowl last night together. She walked me down the aisle on my wedding. So that's something that I take with me, appreciate from Emerson. But in terms of the curriculum or the socialization, I entered college fairly under confident and sort of a little lost. And I think Emerson had a real hand in kind of fostering my personal growth and my professional growth in a way that I think is meaningful. I wouldn't necessarily say that your experience at Emerson mirrors the industry in any way, but it does focus you and help you realize your potential if you put the work in. So that's something that I appreciate from it and that's why I continue to give back what I can to the community at Emerson.
Hunter Reis:
Do you see other Emerson alums at your job or other workplaces that you've worked in the past?
Kevin McKeon:
Well, Sean, my colleague, he's from Emerson. Yeah. I mean, we work with Warner Brothers, and Pam Abdy is an Emerson alum. We see each other a lot. It's a very, very big crew out here of Emersonian. In film, it's a little less, I find that it's really big in TV, but film, it's a little less, but when we do meet each other, it's like, what dorm were you in? What dining hall were you at? Were you there when they had the east side of campus? Were you there for Charles Gate? Which Charles Gate was gone when I was there, but there's a big crew of us out here.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah, totally. It seems like every job that I've had, there's been at least one person from Emerson. I agree with though, I'm from the journalism world when I graduated in the journalism department, and there's not a whole ton of journalism students that go out to LA. Maybe there's more in New York, but I feel like a lot of them end up going to different places out the country to do local news. What does it mean for you to make it, what do you think is the definition of them success, and how will you know when you found it?
Kevin McKeon:
Happiness. Yeah, happiness and fulfillment. I mean, I made this movie called Call Jane, which I'm incredibly proud of, it was at Sundance in 2022. It's with Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver, and it tells the story about these women in the late sixties who had an underground abortion ring that they would help women find clean and safe abortions before it was legal. Before Roe v. Wade, and especially after the decision from the Supreme Court recently, I felt really proud that we made that movie, and the movie was not a financial success. It was a critical success. It didn't make a whole ton of money, but it sort of found itself, and people see it, and they'll say to me that they loved it. And I'm incredibly proud that we produced a movie that meant something, but it wasn't necessarily the most successful thing. I didn't buy my $18 million house in the hills from it. It wasn't that kind of movie, but I'm so happy that I made it, and I'm so fulfilled that I made it. So I think happiness is the true meaning of success or the true barometer of success.
Hunter Reis:
That's great. Do you feel happy in your current role?
Kevin McKeon:
Oh, yeah. I love working at Mattel. It's a corporation that really takes care of its employees. They give us really carte blanche creatively to do what we want to do with these movies and to find our ways in that we find compelling. They trust us, and I love their culture of dedication to fostering growth in children, and families, and adults. So yeah, I'm very proud of my work at Mattel so far, and I'm very proud to work there.
Hunter Reis:
Great. Yeah, it seems like it's really only the beginning for Mattel so far. It's still so much on the horizon.
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah, there's there's a lot sitting behind. There's two strikes right now. So hopefully when the strikes are over, we can put a lot more out in the world.
Hunter Reis:
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And to wrap up, just is there any advice that you would give to any Emerson students who are about to graduate and want to work in film?
Kevin McKeon:
Keep an open minds. Two things. Keep an open mind. I think going in and saying, "I'm going to do this." Isn't necessarily the right way to go about it. I think having aspirations is absolutely a good thing, but I don't know if pigeonholing yourself either is a good thing. So keep in mind, dabble what you can try new things, but second, always know your worth. Getting the right pay is important. Having people treat you the way that you should be treated is also very important. I think there's been a revolution amongst the industry in terms of treating people with respect, and I think that's so important. So really honoring yourself and knowing your worth, I think is the second thing that I would say.
Hunter Reis:
Absolutely. What a great piece of advice to wrap up on. I totally agree with you. There's so many companies out there right now that just will try to get as much work out of you as possible. And it's really great to be able to find a company that values you, and values your opinion, and values the work that you do.
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah, and I'm not saying that you have to be paid $20,000 a year out of college. I'm just saying that just know your worth. Know that you are worth so much, and you deserve to be respected and treated fairly.
Hunter Reis:
At least a living wage. Yeah.
Kevin McKeon:
Yeah, exactly.
Hunter Reis:
Nice. Well, thank you so much again, Kevin. I really appreciate you jumping on today. This is a great conversation.
Kevin McKeon:
Of course. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Speaker 1:
Making It Big in 30 minutes is brought to you by the Office of Alumni Engagement and was created in partnership with Alum Terry Trespicio. Our executive producer is Rebecca Glucklich and Lilly Meehan-Egan from the class of 2023 is our producer and editor. Additional editing and mixing was done by current graduate student, Trinity Hodges. Stay connected with the alumni community by following us on Facebook, Instagram, and joining the Emerson Alumni Group on LinkedIn. You can also find upcoming events, benefits and more by visiting emerson.edu/alumni
