Danila Koverman

II. How To Stay On Your Career Path

Work Hard, Stay Focused
Avoid distractions, as there are many in any work environment, especially at startups.
There are a lot of projects you’ll want to volunteer for, and you risk of not doing well on any of them, by doing too many. Stay focused on your primary responsibilities rather than over extending yourself or socializing too much.  Do not mistake camaraderie or socializing off hours as job protection.  Social politics is a short-term strategy for getting ahead or getting any respect.  Nothing beats hard work, staying on task, and delivering results for your company.

My Story:
As a news research reporter on the assignment desk at KCBS, I was tasked with doing beat checks every hour. This was a tedious assignment that involved calling all the PIOs (Public Information Officers) in the city and county in hopes of getting first whiff of a breaking news story. With so many numbers to call I often worked through dinner, while others took a dinner break.  Yep, I was a news geek. Plus, I really enjoyed talking on the phone and I didn’t have money to spend on eating out every night.  The PIOs became my phone pals and I got a lot of breaking news stories for the 11 o’clock news. After six months, my perseverance and tenacity paid off when the Los Angeles Fire Department PIO gave me the Richard Pryor fire story. At first, no one knew that it was Richard Pryor; all we had was a man on fire running down Ventura Blvd. But it was intriguing enough that I stayed with it, and eventually figured out who it was and what caused the fire.  Our night reporter, Pat O’Brien, scooped everyone that night with an exclusive live shot from the Sherman Oaks Burn Center.  Predictably, beat checks became the thing to do.

Be a Student & Cross Train
Be a sponge absorb everything always. Learn as much as you can from your colleagues and supervisors, especially if cross training is offered to you on the job. Also, try to pursue outside training, as it will make you a more valuable and informed employee.

My Story:
About a year into my (entertainment) producing job at Good Morning America, the show announced that they were combining responsibilities, and producers were going to be trained to direct field segments and possibly some studio based segments.  For some producers, this was too technical, and they opted out, but I jumped at the opportunity and was trained by some wonderful people at KABC. It was very challenging compared to just writing and editing stories, but I enjoyed learning something new and technical. Once equipped with some new skills, I was eligible for more assignments. My favorite was the entertainment news segment with Chantal that appeared right after GMA’s top of the hour news segment.  We shot it against green screen and I had to key in background and graphics as well as roll in footage while calling the shots live to tape. It was an adrenaline rush that gave me the foundation for remote live shots and live shows.  Later on as a manager I had a better understanding and greater appreciation for the technical crew.

Be Prepared, Be Available
Assume you will be asked to help with last minute projects and deadlines, especially if you are low on the food chain. If you have a flexible, ready for anything mind-set you’ll be better prepared to handle almost anything that comes your way. It’s also important to be available; try to anticipate when the company will need extra help and offer assistance. Flexibility early on, garners many brownie points.

My Story:
When I was a Planning Editor and wanna-be reporter at KHJ-TV in Los Angeles, there was a horrific mid-air plane crash over Cerritos on a Labor Day weekend. Few people were around because of the holiday, so I called into the assignment desk and offered to help out as a producer-reporter. I ended up being on the air doing live reports for several hours until the staff reporters made it to the scene. This was a great way for me to showcase my skills and hold my own on a national story.  Around the same time, Mexico City had a tragic 8.1 earthquake. Tens of thousands were dead and the city was in ruins. I had a current passport, lived near the airport, and was able to get on one of the last flights to Mexico City before they closed the airport.  Producing and reporting on an international disaster was another great opportunity that fell in my lap because I was prepared to travel. Being fluent in Spanish was a huge advantage once on the scene, and I was able to convince airline pilots to hand carry our tapes back to Los Angeles, since all the transmission towers were down in Mexico City.

Know your Company and Manage your Bosses
Take the time to learn about your company and be aware of their growth and standing. Make the effort to get to know your boss and be cognoscente of his or her work style and rhythms. If possible, try to align yourself with supervisors who share the same work ethic and goals.

My Story:
At the syndicated entertainment show Extra, our days were long and driven by demanding Executive Producers. The deadlines were intense and the job required mental and physical stamina. As the Supervising Producer of entertainment stories, I needed to stay on top of a lot of details and appear to be all knowing about celebrities. I had my team of brilliant bookers and segment producers send me status updates every night, which not only kept my staff on track, it also allowed me to keep my bosses informed with daily updates. At Style, Marta Tracy was my passionate and enthusiastic boss. She was highly engaged and thrived on constant collaboration.  I made a point of knowing her schedule so that I could get my meetings and work done when she was in her meetings, making myself available to her when she was around the office.  This made for a very productive work relationship and Style still ranks as one of my all time favorite jobs.

About Danila: Danila has nearly 20 years experience in the production and program development areas within major cable television, broadcast and digital media companies. Danila was VP, Program Development and Production at E! and helped launched the style network and Danila also was the SVP, Programming for the TV Guide Channel and has held many other senior and creative roles at HBO, Extra, Good Morning America and Telemundo.

About Break Media: an Internet advertiser based entertainment company that creates original content to target market to a predominantly male demographic audience. Danila is responsible for the development and production of short and long form digital content for original series, branded entertainment, and customized advertising across multi-distribution platforms. Danila works with Break’s commercial advertisers, and brand clients who want to reach a target audience via customized commercial content.

To read Part 1, click here.

About Danila: Danila has nearly 20 years experience in the production and program development areas within major cable television, broadcast and digital media companies. Danila was VP, Program Development and Production at E! and helped launched the style network and Danila also was the SVP, Programming for the TV Guide Channel and has held many other senior and creative roles at HBO, Extra, Good Morning America and Telemundo.

About Break Media: an Internet advertiser based entertainment company that creates original content to target market to a predominantly male demographic audience. Danila is responsible for the development and production of short and long form digital content for original series, branded entertainment, and customized advertising across multi-distribution platforms. Danila works with Break’s commercial advertisers, and brand clients who want to reach a target audience via customized commercial content.