TAYLOR JESSEN

Somewhere on Catalina St. ● Burbank, CA 91504

 http://home.earthlink.net/~ironybread ● ironybread at earthlink dot net

 

EMPLOYMENT SOUGHT:    Executive Secretary

 

 

Employment History:

 

SECRETARY III                                                                                                                              

Walt Disney Company – Enterprise IT 820 S. Flower St. #104A Burbank, CA 91502 (818) 238-4661              16 July 2007 – present

Supervisors:   Debra DelMar, Director, EAS Portfolio Mgmt. Office & Supplier Mgmt.                       Current wage: $46k/yr

                        Mary Madill, Director, SAP Reporting

  • Comprehensive support for two Directors, plus team of 75 of their direct reports and staff
  • Maintain executive calendars: create meetings, coordinate scheduling with other executives and their assistants using Outlook, track invitation accept/decline responses, reschedule in case of emergency
  • Procurement: Cater breakfast/lunch meetings, order office supplies for department through eSource, stock kitchen, track pending orders, establish new department accounts with vendors as necessary, coordinate conference calls, coordinate video teleconferences
  • Onboarding new personnel: Create shopping cart for new contractor P.O. in SAP, arrange workspace cubicle and phone installation, track creation of Personnel number / LAN login info / Hub login info, meet & greet new hires, arrange security details / building badge / parking badge, order computer hardware & software
  • Travel: Make executive travel arrangements, including booking flights/car rentals/lodging
  • Expenses: Track & categorize all expenses in cache of executive corporate Visa accounts; gather business meal receipts and identify subjects of meetings and names of all attendees; itemize hotel folios, airfare, cellular phone bills; process and submit expense reports through SAP, maintain chronological T&E history file; reconcile complete transactional history to trace mystery credits & debits
  • Phone reception: Screen callers for executives; track incoming messages; monitor voicemail
  • General office administration: File documents in existing filing systems; design new filing systems as necessary; package old files for archiving with Records Management; create/design/maintain memos, spreadsheets, slide shows in Word/Excel/PowerPoint, sort office mail.

 

 

 

PRODUCER / ARCHIVIST / SCRIPT SUPERVISOR                                                             

The Firesign Theatre                                                                                                                                        July 1999 – (ongoing)

(Philip Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman, Philip Proctor; multiple Grammy Award-nominated comedy recording artists with Columbia Records, Rhino, Artemis and other labels, 1968-present; Inductee, Library of Congress National Recording Registry, 2006 for Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers)

9824 Wanda Park Dr. Beverly Hills, CA 90210 (residence of Phil Proctor, group treasurer) 310-275-6743

Last Wage: $36,000/yr, est. (freelance)

  • Script Supervisor: Conformed scripts on an ongoing basis throughout 2009-2010 for Firesign’s new touring show “Forward Into the Past”. Processed editorial instructions via email from each group member, made appropriate edits, then posted latest version in an online shared drive for approval. Also did sound design & ran live sound cues during Firesign stage performances in Monterey and Hollywood in 2009.
  • Archivist: Logged silent home movies of 1970 radio broadcasts and used context clues/mouth sync to identify corresponding sound sources, then sync home movies with archived radio broadcasts. Created user-input form at Firesign’s home page at www.firesigntheatre.com where fans could write in to describe rare Firesign artifacts in their own collections to  help complete Firesign’s library. Completed comprehensive inventory of Firesign Theatre storage unit in North Hollywood plus complete personal collection of Peter Bergman personal ephemera. Identified and logged more than 1000 record cues in Firesign live radio broadcasts, 1970-1972, in preparation for reissue. Ongoing negotiations with fans for rights to private recordings; identified/screened/logged 100 hours of videotapes; identified cans of 8mm film not previously transferred to video; sourced local film-to-tape transfer production house and supervised transfers.
  • Co-Producer, Box of Danger box set: Did research/coordination/production for Box of Danger, four-disc box set with five hours of live & studio performances, 1968-2008 (released on the Shout! Factory label, Sept. 30 2008). Did exhaustive surveys of member’s archives, other private archives, and internet tape traders to track down all known studio/live performances relating to “Nick Danger” over past 40 years; graded each performance for sound quality / performance quality; transferred open reel elements to hard drive; restored sound elements in Adobe Audition; created chronological rundown for four-disc box set; identified any sampled records used as background music in performances; compiled comprehensive information packet for delivery to Shout! Factory; negotiated with fans for honorariums; wrote liner note copy; created pre-release publicity including soliciting & arranging press interviews.
  • Tour coordinator: Coordinated “Radio’s a Heartbreak” tour (Portland, Seattle, Campbell, Marin, Cerritos), January-February 2005. Made travel arrangements for full group, plus six-member crew, including booking flights/hotel accommodations/car rentals; set up/tore down merchandise area; did merchandise in-count/out-count; hired outside vendors for cashbox; liaised with venue representatives on hospitality issues, final settling of evening’s accounts; compiled list of group comp tickets; created/distributed maps to venues/hotels.

 

 

 

EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT                                                                       

Aquent 6100 Wilshire Blvd. #410 Los Angeles, CA 90048 (323) 634-7000                                                                June 2005 – July 2007

Supervisor: Natalie Sanderson. Last wage: $37,500/yr                                                                                                                    

AppleOne 325 W. Broadway, Glendale, CA 91209-9048 (818) 247-2991                                                   Jan. 2001 – Dec. 2004

Supervisor: Lori Mandel. Last wage: $37,500/yr

The Right Connections 509 N. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048 (310) 657-3700                                      Jan. 2000 – Dec. 2000

Supervisor: Harriet Kay. Last wage: $29,120/yr

  • Full administrative assistant duties, serving Walt Disney Studios on a temporary contractor basis.
  • Maintain executive calendars: created/adjusted meeting schedule in Outlook
  • Phone reception: Screened callers; tracked incoming messages; monitored voicemail; rolled calls.
  • General office administration: Maintained / adapted / created filing systems.
  • Transcription: Transcribe phone interviews in cassette & MP3 format; check all personal names/place names through internet research [note: as a Disney vendor, these duties are ongoing for Disney VP Animation Communications Howard Green]
  • Publicity Coordinator: Assisted Buena Vista Pictures Publicity with cast & crew screenings, press screenings, and movie premieres; maintained RSVP voicemail boxes; tracked all RSVP data in database; kept running tally of attendance numbers to house capacity cutoff point; distributed RSVP list to all in department prior to screening; assisted in setup / takedown / guest check-in / misc. problem-solving at screenings.
  • Fan Mail: Created database of fan mail recipients, with forwarding addresses (including agency addresses, home addresses, or interdepartmental forwarding contacts as necessary); sorted incoming mail.
  • Buena Vista Pictures Press Notes: Coordinated publishing of press kits for all Disney Feature Animation product from 2002-2006; proofed various drafts of production notes as created by publicist; solicited bios of filmmakers/actors, proofed and edited for content as necessary; created bios for talent for whom bios did not exist; tracked notes/revisions from other publicity executives; submitted final proofed document to printer.

CLIENTS INCLUDED:

Howard Green VP Studio Communications, 500 S. Buena Vista St. TDB #407G, Burbank, CA 91521 818-560-1944 (Aug – Sept 2006)

Elaine LaZelle Senior Publicist, Buena Vista Pictures Marketing, 500 S. Buena Vista St. ROD #234, Burbank, CA 91521 818-560-1747 (Apr – July 2006)

Peter Seymour Senior VP Media Networks Strategy, 3800 W. Alameda Ave. Suite 1773, Burbank, CA 91505 818-955-7467 (Aug – Sept 2005)

John Sabel Senior VP Creative Print Services, 500 S. Buena Vista St. ROD #326, Burbank, CA 91521 818-560-4708 (Aug – Sept 2004)

 

DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION RESEARCHER                                                                                     

Triage Entertainment, Inc. 15260 Ventura Blvd. Suite 700 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 (818) 386-6800                 Sept. 1999 – Dec. 1999

Supervisor: Kristi Burns (Clearance Supervisor). Last wage: $23,400/yr

·         Researched video footage / still images for use in documentary television programs.

·         Performed internet research; queried stock footage libraries; found most appropriate footage/stills through keyword searches; ordered footage screeners; liaised between segment producers and clearance department; prepared license forms for owners of stills/footage, submitted to licensees, delivered signed forms to clearance department; performed frame count on Edit Decision Lists to determine minutes/seconds of footage used for each licensee; prepared/assembled show bibles.

CREDITED SHOWS:

Exploring the Unknown (FOX Family Channel series, 1999, 30 min. per episode)

History’s Mysteries—Getting High: A History of LSD (History Channel, 1999, 60 min.)

 

 

 

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT                                                                                                                                          

Creative Production Group 12711 Ventura Blvd. Suite 160 Studio City, CA 91604 (818) 508-3308           June 1998 – Sept. 1999

Supervisor: Rob Kirk (Exec. VP). Last wage: $23,400/yr

·         Production assistant for documentary production company.

·         Tape Vault Librarian: Organized tape library of 2500 Beta SP / VHS / MiniDV tapes, including interviews, B-roll, and stock footage; created system of library maintenance and check in/check out system; logged incoming B-roll tapes; processed incoming stock footage requests, made & shipped stock footage screeners

·         Motion Control Session Supervisor: Liaised with segment producers to determine what still images were needed for shows; helped choose motion-control moves; supervised motion control sessions at outside production house.

·         Transcription Supervisor: Sourced/priced transcription houses to transcribe show interviews; delivered tapes & picked up finished jobs

·         Script Supervisor: Conformed script during voiceover sessions. Proofed final show scripts prior to submission for closed-captioning.

·         Camera Operator: Shot additional interviews/B-roll/inserts/pickups on MiniDV and Super 8 as needed.

CREDITED SHOWS: 23 original hours, including:

Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness (Nippon TV, 1999, 120 min.)

As It Happened—Berlin Airlift: The First Battle of the Cold War (History Channel, 1998, 120 min.)

Time Machine—Robots (History Channel, 1998, 120 min.)

In Search of History—Mercury 13: The Secret Astronauts (History Channel, 1998, 60 min.)

Suicide Missions: Ball Turret Gunner / Combat Medic / Sniper / Wild Weasels (History Channel, 1998, 240 min.)

 

 

 

EDUCATION: B.S. Visual Communication (incorporating radio/TV production), with Music Minor: University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho; May 1994

OTHER STRANGE AND UNUSUAL TALENTS: Perfect pitch. Piano from age 4. Saxophone from age 10.

REFERENCES: Howard Green (Senior VP Publicity, Disney), James Cross (independent producer), David Ossman (founding member, Firesign Theatre and voice of Cornelius, A Bug’s Life). Contact information available on request.