Meet Cheryl Hiltzik | Produce/director

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

Hi Cheryl, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Producing videos about recovery is my passion. It’s all about hope and the possibilities that can be achieved. ❤️❤️❤️ I am equally passionate about capturing life stories of everyday people. Everyone has a story and a video portrait is a perfect way to preserve that journey. Recently I recut a 23 minute video portrait produced 13 years ago into a short version for a memorial. The widow was so grateful to have access to her beloved’s voice… That is better than an Oscar ❤️❤️❤️

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Although I spent 20 years working with Hollywoods top stars producing publicity videos it is my work as a video portrait painter that fills my soul. Producing stories of recovery for various nonprofit groups really opened my eyes to the resilience and courage of the human spirit and my legacy videos are created through interviews, personal stills and home movies, to produce these priceless treasures. These videos have played at fundraisers, birthdays, weddings, bar mitzvahs and celebration of life memorials. Everyone has a story and capturing that for generations to come has taught me so much about life because you don’t know what you don’t know and seeing the world through another’s perspective is really quite illuminating.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
To me the best part of LA is the variety of topography and temperate climate. Malibu State park has beautiful trails to hike, waterfalls and film sets all in one breathtaking spot. Working up an appetite from a day in the park is wonderfully satiated at Castaways restaurant in Burbank. Nestled in the Verdugo mountains this delightful eatery feeds both the stomach and eyes. A stroll down Hollywood blvd is always entertaining people watching with an occasional star sighting.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My mother is the person I must recognize for my success. She always told me I could do anything, except marry young like she did. As a 23 year old divorcee with 2 little girls, my mom struggled to make ends meet, so it was quite impressive to see how successful she became. First with her own television show, then when she aged out (45) she created an entirely new way to market films, this is when I joined her company. I was a 25 year old college drop out making ends meet as a cocktail waitress when I came to visit my mom in LA. She had just started marketing herself to the studios and was working on her first project for Universal Studios. She was hired to produce tv segments with Jack Lemon to promote his new release Mass Appeal (1984). My mother brought me along as her assistant and I marveled at the ease and access this huge movie star gave us. Not only did he play the piano for our cameras, but he made sure it was his own musical composition so we could use the footage, Mr Lemon then wrote a lovely note thanking my mother for the best interview ever and sent his regards to me. I was hooked and quickly found my niche editing the footage into 3-5 minute segments. I learned from the best- my mother is a master interviewer and from her I learned how to make people feel comfortable and open. It is a skill that has enabled me to tackle very difficult topics like addiction and domestic violence.

Website: TriCuzz.com

Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/cheryl-hiltzik-9b444112

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hiltzik1?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6BZht95VQsay4VNoWpqmKx_YiykCOBow&si=K9PnDw7zSBQ31U4-

Other: https://vimeo.com/showcase/3377420 https://www.facebook.com/hiltzik1?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
First photo is me and my mom Reba Merrill