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29. Almudena Toral: Focusing My Energy by Elaine Sheldon

From left to right: Elaine Sheldon (She Does), Almudena Toral (Univision), Sarah Ginsburg (She Does), Maylin Colmenares (WOMANMAY) at Film Gate in Miami, Florida.RELATED LINKSAlmudena's WebsiteInterview on ReportHersVimeoTwitter

From left to right: Elaine Sheldon (She Does), Almudena Toral (Univision), Sarah Ginsburg (She Does), Maylin Colmenares (WOMANMAY) at Film Gate in Miami, Florida.

RELATED LINKS

Almudena's Website

Interview on ReportHers

Vimeo

Twitter

Almudena Toral is a Spanish visual journalist and the head of video at Univision News Digital in Miami. Prior to working for Univision, Almudena freelanced worldwide and worked at The New York Times and TIME. Her work has been published by The Guardian, VICE, AlJazeera, Huffington Post, El País, Canal+ and other outlets. She's the recipient of a 2013 Pictures of the Year International Award of Excellence – Multimedia Photographer of the Year. 

Her work has received accolades from the Emmys, National Press Photographers Association, the World Cup of Photography, and The Deadline Press Club. Almudena is passionate about multi-platform storytelling, human rights, health and gender issues, the global south and immigration policy, among others. 

In this episode, she talks about Univision News Digital’s goal to serve Hispanic and Latino communities in the U.S., the benefits of being a woman in journalism, covering heroin addiction in Tanzania, and her many lessons learned as a freelance video and photojournalist. 

Almudena gives great advice on pitching stories. Most importantly, she encourages artists and journalists to be flexible with the ability to do many things, but to really specialize in and master one thing.


MUSIC BY: WOMANMAY

WOMANMAY is the solo project of Maylin Colmenares. Venezuelan-bred and Miami-based guitarist and vocalist. We were lucky to have Maylin open the live show at Film Gate for us. Stick around at the end of this episode to hear a short interview with her. We’ve sprinkled songs from WOMANMAY'S latest album Ahi Ahi throughout this recording.

 

9. Linda Pan: Our Little Video Store In The Cloud by Elaine Sheldon

Linda Pan’s parents moved from China to Saskatoon, Canada--making Linda a first-generation citizen. They persuaded Linda to follow a path similar to theirs: electrical engineering. So she did. After two engineering degrees and a handful of hard family conversations, Linda talks about how she transitioned from electrical engineering to media business, attended Harvard Business School and climbed the ladder at MRC and Netflix. Today, Linda is the general manager of SundanceNow Doc Club and Vice President of Business Development at AMC Networks. Similar to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, Sundance Now Doc Club offers a place for both longtime documentary lovers and those new to the genre, to stream classics and new releases. Learn how Linda, your video clerk on the Internet, curates and stocks the shelves and makes the business decisions behind what the new streaming service offers.


I have realized in my years of working with all different types of people, that airtime is not equivalent to thinking time. Sometimes you just need to be heard and say something. You don’t need to over think it, over analyze it. It’s just important to tell people how you think. And over time you grow to be comfortable putting your voice out there and developing your own style. The most important thing is to just speak up.
— Linda Pan

RELATED LINKS

Linda Pan on Twitter 

Join SundanceNow Doc Club

SundanceNow Doc Club on Facebook

Ira Glass’ curated documentary list 

Variety: Susan Sarandon and Linda Pan talk about Doc Club 

Name: Linda Pan

Current Gig: General Manager of SundanceNow Doc Club and Vice President of Business Development at AMC Networks

Current City: NYC

DOB: 6/1982

What are you listening to now? StartUp podcast

What books changed you? "The Stranger" by Albert Camus and "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Who is your career role model? Sheryl Sandberg

What is a tool you can't live without? Wunderlist

How do you take your coffee? With a dollop of cream

What's your spirit animal? My dog. He reminds me everyday to take joy in the simple things in life.


MUSIC FEATURED IN SHOW: Our featured MusicMaker this week is Casey Dienel, of White Hinterland. Learn more about Casey here.

Songs featured from KAIROS album 

  • Cataract
  • Thunderbird
  • Icarus
  • Moon Jam
  • Bow & Arrow

Songs featured from BABY album 

  • Begin Again
  • Metronome
  • No Devotion
  • Dry Mind
  • Baby
  • Ring The Bell
  • David

Others:

  • Lunirascible
  • Hung On A Thin Thread

CLIPS FEATURED IN SHOW:

Modern Times: Charlie Chaplin (Eating Machine clip)

1950's Westinghouse TV Commercial 1950

1978 Panasonic VHS Commercial

Cinema Paradiso (trailer)

NEWS: Netflix Splits DVD Mail Service Into Qwikster

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: Wildebeests Documentary

Stop Making Sense (Documentary about The Talking Heads)

 

CREDITS

PRODUCED by Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg

SOUND DESIGN by Billy Wirasnik