Kacy Andrews has been actively involved in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years. Her diverse resume includes feature films, television series, theater, and animation. She has worked throughout the world, and was recently profiled in PEOPLE ASIA Magazine’s 2006 People of the Year issue.
Kacy spent nine years in production and project development at Los Angeles-based Hyperion Studio. This includes work as one of the Producers on Miramax’sPlaying By Heart (Sean Connery, Gena Rowlands and Angelina Jolie). Kacy’s portfolio at Hyperion also includes the feature film Tom’s Midnight Garden (Joan Plowright); BoneChillers, a children’s television series for ABC (Linda Cardellini); and numerous animated projects such as FOX’s Life With Louie (Louie Anderson); HBO’s Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (Denzel Washington and Whoopi Goldberg); and Paramount Pictures’ The Oz Kids (Jonathan Taylor Thomas).
Moving from Hyperion, Kacy had a stint as Vice President of Development at Blue Focus Management where she worked on developing projects for MGM, Disney and Sony. She then dabbled in the dotcom and software arena at Creative Planet and Entertainment Partners.
In 2003, her consulting work at Bigfoot Productions led to the creation of Bigfoot Entertainment and the International Academy of Film and Television. As the CEO and co-founder, she has overseen the set-up and development of the studio and film school located in Cebu, Philippines with offices and additional schools in both Hong Kong and Los Angeles. The company has since grown to more than 300 employees both foreign and local.
Over the past few years, Bigfoot Entertainment has invested in several feature films, including Shanghai Kiss (Hayden Panettiere), East Broadway (Margaret Cho) and 3 Needles (Lucy Liu, Olympia Dukakis and Sandra Oh).
During her tenure at Bigfoot, she has served as a Producer/Exec Producer of such feature films as; the soon to be released Deep Gold, The Curiosity of Chance, Irreversi (Estella Warren), Hui Lui, Within, The Girl With No Number, and Midnight Movie. She has also produced documentaries, 9000 NEEDLES and USS Cooper as well as reality series’ Hollywood Boot Camp. These projects have been shot in such international locations as Belgium, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, The Philippines and Los Angeles. Recently her focus has shifted to launching Bigfoot Ascendant Distribution which will be the foreign and domestic sales arm of all Bigfoot’s internally produced as well as acquired product.
Kacy is a recipient of the David Letterman Internship and a Cum Laude graduate of Ball State University with continuing studies at the American Film Institute. In 2000, she was awarded Ball State University’s Graduate of the Last Decade and more recently was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award. Since her move to Los Angeles, where she’s based, she has been actively involved with organizations such as Women in Film, Step-Up, and Big Sisters/Big Brothers of Los Angeles. She currently sits on the Board of Governors of Bigfoot Asia Pacific Foundation.
What are you working on right now?
Opening new film schools in Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Releasing 17 new films, documentaries and TV shows into the market with the launch of our new distribution business.
What does your typical day look like?
Meetings, emails and phone calls all throughout the day. Often calls and emails also in the evenings as that is when Asia is waking up and starting their day. Add in spending some time with my 2 year old son and my husband. That makes for one busy day.
3 trends that excite you?
Digital distribution, social media and 3D TV.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I start by writing a business plan and then execute it.
What inspires you?
Creating new businesses. My husband and son.
What is one mistake you’ve made, and what did you learn from it?
I’ve made plenty more than just one. But one I made recently was not trusting my gut on a hiring decision. I learned that I must trust my inner voice, even if someone is great on paper and in person.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
After spending countless hours researching preschools – I think a website needs to be created to rank and rate preschools. I also think there needs to be more bilingual or immersion language preschools.
What do you read every day, and why?
Daily Variety to keep up on the entertainment industry news. Los Angeles Times to keep up on world news.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read, and why?
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell because it’ll change the way you think about certain things in life and business which is never a bad thing.
What is your favorite gadget, app or piece of software that helps you every day?
My iPhone keeps me in touch 24-7 with the world.
Three people we should follow on Twitter, and why?
President Obama to keep up with what is happening in our government, Dalai Lama to keep spiritually grounded and Chelsea Handler because it’s important to laugh every day.
Who would you love to see interviewed on IdeaMensch?
Filmmaker JJ Abrams
When is the last time you laughed out loud? What caused it.
My two year old son makes me laugh out loud all the time. He’s a funny kid and his smile/laughter is infectious.
Share a piece of business advice.
Love what you do so that work doesn’t feel like work. Work should just be a part of your life and not “work.” If you are a clock watcher, you are in the wrong job. Go find something you are passionate about and love doing. It’s the key to happiness and success.
What do you do in your spare time?
I don’t have much spare time, but I love to spend time playing with my son, wining and dining with my husband, traveling and I recently took up boxing.
Connect :
www.bigfoot.com or I’m on LinkedIn and Twitter
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.