Career
Twenty-year veteran Film and Television Director, Producer and Screenwriter, Heather Hale is a rare triple threat – with over 100 hours of produced credits herself. A former mortgage banker/broker CFO with a degree in Creative Writing (and soon a Master of Fine Arts terminal degree in Film & TV with a Directing emphasis), Heather’s impressive left-brain financial and production savvy pair perfectly with her innovative right-brain creativity and unique story sense. Her intuitive knack for connecting the right people with the best projects and most strategic resources at market-relevant price points help bring stories to screens around the globe.
A well-respected Entertainment Industry Consultant, Heather is highly sought after by entrepreneurial and aspiring Content Creators (Producers, Screenwriters, Authors, Directors and Actors) as well as Intellectual Property Rights Holders and Equity Investors around the world for her one-of-a-kind Creative & Marketing Analyses of scripts, books, life rights and other literary assets, intellectual properties and entertainment industry ventures.
She currently senior produces Lifestyle Magazine, the #1 life coaching broadcast television talk show and second-longest continuously running television series (behind Meet the Press). She wrote the $5.5M Lifetime Original Movie The Courage to Love (2000) which starred Vanessa H. Williams, Stacy Keach, Gil Bellows and Diahann Carroll. She directed, produced and co-wrote the million-dollar thriller Absolute Killers which was distributed theatrically then sold at Walmart and Best Buy.
She has books published by the two major entertainment industry publishers: Story Selling: How to Develop, Market and Pitch Film & TV Projects (2019, Michael Wiese Productions) and How to Work the Film & TV Markets: A Guide for Content Creators (2017, Focal Press/Routledge).
The Independent Film and Television Alliance approved her as a qualified independent producer to pitch projects to NBCUniversal for their annual development fund. As IFTA’s Industry Liaison, Ms. Hale booked all the speakers for the 2013 American Film Market, including their flagship Conference series as well as launching their Producer’s Workshop.
Ms. Hale served as the Vice President of Event Programming for NATPE (the National Association of Television Program Executives) for whom she also booked speakers and designed curriculum as well as consulting professionals to polish their pitch packages and sizzle reels to prepare them to pitch their TV concepts at their annual TV markets.
A popular international Keynote Speaker, Ms. Hale has taught custom pitching workshops to ABC/Disney Drama Executives, a weeklong screenwriting retreat in Australia (integrated with concurrent directing and acting programs). She teaches webinars and online classes for the Writers Store, Screenwriters University and Stage 32. She is a member of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (The “TV Academy,” the entity that awards the Emmys) and ShowBiz Mensans.
Whether breaking a high concept story or adapting true-life stories into monetizable, protectable literary assets or building the perfect production team or marketing campaign, Heather is an indispensable asset from beginning to end. She can come on board in soft prep to break scripts down into schedules and budgets – or teach your team how to. She mentors Artreprenuers developing project, slate or event business plans – including ROI waterfalls, cash flow analyses, affinity marketing and targeted distribution campaign strategies – so they truly understand all the elements and phases and feel confident and empowered to pitch their projects. She creates powerful pitch decks, proposals, packages and other marketing materials – including writers’ or series’ marketing bibles or reality TV formats, rip-o-matics and look books. She can develop then coach you on your pitch – or even co-deliver equity investor presentations or customized pitches for distributors, financiers or key talent, brand attachments with or for you.
For the right people and projects, Heather can be brought on board as a Producer, Line Producer, Physical Production Supervisor, Executive in Charge of Production, Producer of Marketing and Distribution, Co- or Associate Producer, Behind-the-Scenes and/or Social Media Producer/Content Creator, Certified Script Supervisor or Certified COVID Compliance Officer. Heather can can be hired to develop, program and execute customized curriculum and/or embedded events, retained as a coach, teacher or tutor, or secured as an in-person or virtual Teacher, Lecturer and favorite interactive workshop facilitator.