Kristen L. Graney

In addition to my role as Senior Video Editor for IBM’s Marketing Services Center in New York, I was charged with overseeing the post-production process for some of the largest conferences IBM has to offer. Providing conference sessions as on-demand replays, preparing talks for mock-live broadcast, and archiving videos with in-house accessibility, I worked closely with the IBM Events and external production teams. Establishing clear communication and direction with my team of editors, I created a process and workflow to ensure up-to-date edits and fast turnarounds.

Multi-platinum songwriter Shelly Peiken, best known for Christina Aguilera’s “What a Girl Wants” and the Grammy nominated hit, “Bitch,” performed by Meredith Brooks, needed an online presence. She wanted to manage her own content, but, overwhelmed by the social media landscape, she wasn’t sure where to begin. We spoke at great length and began with the design of her website. I chose Squarespace for its user-friendly interface and 24/7 support, which I knew would be important to Shelly once the site was live and our training sessions were complete. At the time, Instagram was trailing Facebook in popularity. I didn’t want to add to her overwhelm so we capped off at Facebook and Twitter pages giving her time to plant her feet in the social media world before taking on new platforms. Over the course of a few months, we covered everything from the how-to of creating posts, frequency, and garnering engagement to knowing when it’s time to just step away from the screen.

After accepting the newly created position of Educational Television Supervisor at Greenburgh Central School District No. 7 in 2004, I was given an office, a consumer video camera, and a plastic tripod. When tasked with building a video department, I was ready with a vision that would lead the district to the 21st century by providing facilities, equipment, programs, and services that support media literacy education.

By 2012, I worked with an assistant in the new educational media center in the middle/high school. We trained teachers and students in digital video production both in and after school. We produced, shot and edited productions in our new television studio and out in the field. Programs were broadcast from our office on a dedicated educational access channel. Middle and high school students brought cameras home (and returned them intact) and brought their footage back to edit on Final Cut Pro. Fourth, fifth and sixth graders learned how to shoot a close-up, hold a boom and edit on Final Cut Express. Game shows were made, film festivals had, and pizza parties thrown.