We had the good fortune of connecting with Christie Marchese and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christie, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The team. Hire people smarter than you and get out of their way.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve been really fortunate in my career to work for people who have had big ideas on changing the world, and that’s given me the inspiration and opportunity to do the same. I’ve had various positions that each combined entertainment, online community building and impact, and at companies that encouraged taking initiative and experimentation. Historically this includes social media management at Norman Lear’s nonprofit Declare Yourself, digital strategy for the Social Impact team at Participant Media, impact producing through my company Picture Motion and now supporting the growth of community led cinema at my new venture Kinema.

Along the way I’ve seen and experienced just how much good leadership and true teamwork matters. I’ve had managers, bosses and clients who set great examples on how to do this well – and fortunately only a few who didn’t. One thing I’ve learned that has been a factor in my growth and success – but is also a constant journey – is finding the balance between listening and speaking, delegating and doing, and elevating others or leading. I guess it’s all a part of leadership in a way, and interest in that growth and journey might be something that sets me apart in some ways – to answer your question.

I don’t want the world to just know about our brand or my story, I want them to experience it themselves.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
*cracks knuckles* Where do I even start?! One of my greatest joys is a proper travel itinerary for friends and family. I don’t often go back to the same places, so I want to make sure I don’t miss a thing. Expect unique hotels/Airbnbs (haunted when we can) and travel (bikes, buses, trains, covered wagons), 3 meals a day of hidden gems and highly rated restaurants of local cuisine, mixology spots with local bartenders, comedy clubs for a taste of local humor and an absolute must is a ghost tour. Naps and relaxation are also scheduled, ideally in a historic park. 🙂

If you’re visiting me in NYC, you’re going to get a combination of fab food, theatrical entertainment, historic sites and park walking. Historic can mean almost anything. One of my favorite tours was designing the Gossip Girl pub crawl for my sister’s 21st birthday. Blaire Waldorf would have been proud.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people to shout out! We all have so many cast members in our story. Even Castaway had Wilson (the volleyball). But I’ll dedicate this shoutout to my partner at my last company, Wendy Cohen. I loved and valued our 8 year partnership and would do it all again with her in a heartbeat.

Website: kinema.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kinemahq/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kinemahq?lang=en

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.