On Location with EP Martha Holmes at Nat Geo's "Yellowstone Live"

This behindthescenes operation would be impressive even excessive for a TV studio but in the middle of the wilderness it39s incongruous On vast meadows baby red bison huddled behind their mothers which incidentally dwarf most SUVs Eagles perch on oldgrowth trees and at night wolves39 howls pierce the cold air This spring saw a baby boom in the park Elk beaver eagle bear and wolf newborns will be featured on the show For anyone who thinks otters are adorable wait until you see the pups which video editors monitor from a live feedMartha Holmes an executive producer whose most recent program for National Geographic was Hostile Planet remains fascinated by different creatures that crews have been filming all week to use during segments of the show in case thereamp8217s a quiet moment while host Josh Elliott and naturalist Chris Packham are on air Holmes chatted with MediaVillage about her 30year journey from zoologist and marine biologist to becoming an executive producerJackie Cutler What is your role as an executive producerMartha Holmes My role is twofold I have built and oversee a relationship with the national park They have a lot of demands on them from filmmakers and it is quite a process applying for permits and getting permission especially for live telecasts I have a duty to Nat Geo and Plimsoll the UKbased production company where she heads natural history and to the park to represent the animals fairly and rightly and with respect My specialty is interpreting animal behavior for televisionJackie Have you been out in the field much hereMartha I donamp8217t really get in the field I would love to Sadly the more senior you get in any role the less contact you get with the grassroots In this case the grassroots really is the grass rootsJackie How is the project different from what you were doing with Hostile PlanetMartha Itamp8217s a completely different mindset Itamp8217s reactive and immediate where Hostile Planet was years in the making Itamp8217s like news in a way itamp8217s live and what happened today and itamp8217s exciting The moment the show is over you are moving onto the next showJackie When did you become an executive producer and whyMartha I became an executive producer in 2013 I was reentering the business after a threeyear break and I was offered a job as an executive producer I was excited I had only been a showrunnerJackie Are you one of the only women executives behind the scenesMartha I guess I have a very helpful husband It is literally logistics isn39t it When you get married and have children most women take time off and my husband wanted to bring up the children so I was home for a very short window just literally a few months I need to be doing something I am not a sitaround person I thought breastfeeding was the worst job in the world I was so bored I need to be physically activeJackie As a woman past 40 you must have some war stories of sexual harassment at work What were your experiences likeMartha Itamp8217s never a big deal for me Itamp8217s a moment in passing I am a very straight talker I move on You just say amp8216no thank youamp8217 and move on I am not a victim and I never feel a victim and I think that39s critical I am not looking to blame anybody I am not on that path And I don39t play the game That39s another thing I am not a very feminine female so I don39t invite those approaches where other people unconsciously might I don39t even know how to do itJackie When did you feel you had made it as an executive producerMartha When I got the job and someone believed in me and gave it to me It was a series called Predators Up Close with Joel Lambert Itamp8217s quite a step from being a showrunner to someone who gently steers things rather than running it so you are not in the nittygritty detail of every day It is hard to let go To do well you have to have opinions and you are working with people who feel exactly the same This is their show and I will gently steer it I miss the job these guys are doing in the mountains and in a helicopter filming My job is to make sure everything runs smoothly from hereJackie What have you seen here at Yellowstone that you hadnamp8217t seen beforeMartha Everything I have been here before but every bit of behavior is new and exciting To see those little black bear cubs run up a tree amp8230 they scamper It39s amazingClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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On Location with EP Martha Holmes at Nat Geo's "Yellowstone Live"

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Jacqueline Cutler

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On Location with EP Martha Holmes at Nat Geo's "Yellowstone Live"

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Jacqueline Cutler

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