Meet Dianna DiPrimio | Custom Content Producer

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

Hi Dianna, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
This is THE question I think about a lot and has evolved as I’ve gotten older. I’ve always tended to lean into taking bigger risks whenever a certain aspect of my life felt a bit too comfortable or if a rare opportunity arose that I had an inkling I might regret later in life. It goes hand in hand with me wanting to stand out of the crowd in some way in my life and career.

One of my favorite risks I’ve taken was when I moved to another country in my 20’s. It was a couple of years after I graduated college and at the time I was working in San Francisco as Director and Video Editor and was feeling a bit stuck in my life and job. The typical and expected move for someone in my industry would have been to move to Los Angeles or New York City, and I knew I would one day, but I wanted to try something different and something new. I’ve always asked elders what they wish they’d done when they were younger (I recommend everyone does this as much as possible), and almost everyone said they wish they traveled more. I looked at my life and realized it was probably now or never as my boyfriend and I had just broken up, my apartment went month-to-month and flights were relatively cheap at the time.

I did a bit of digging and realized I had enough money saved that I could move to Australia for ahad couple of months if I stayed with a friend while I tried to find work in the Entertainment industry. I didn’t have a full plan figured out but the stars seemed to be aligning so onward I went full speed, and without discussing it with anyone (a key in my riskier decision making process), I gave my 2 weeks notice and booked my tickets.

I was on cloud nine and really excited about my upcoming adventure, but as soon as I started telling others my plan I received endless wide-eyed and record scratch reactions. In hindsight I now understand everyone’s concerns, but at the time was surprised at how fearful people were for me. They worried I was compromising my career, wouldn’t be able to get a job there and would have to return home with a large gap on my resume that would be a red flag to future interviewers.

Fast forward 2 years, and I had worked and traveled around Australia and also backpacked through New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, China, Italy, France, England, Scotland and more. I had the time of my life, learned firsthand about other incredible cultures, made great friends and was also able to work. I was hired on large films like The Impossible to small Australian indie films, as well as lived on an island off the Great Barrier Reef, went skydiving, bungee jumping and luging for the first time, embodied Indiana Jones as I adventured through Angkor Wat, rode horses through kangaroo herds in the Australian Outback, learned to make pasta from a non-English speakingItalian family, searched for Loch Ness, and more. I never regretted my decision to lean into a risk that felt right to me. A great upside also was when I came back, my global experience was the thing over and over that grabbed the interviewer’s attention and helped me stand out of the crowd of applicants who only had domestic work experience. To this day I smile when I think back to my travels and it’s a great reminder to not be afraid to do something different.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community? What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

I’m inquisitive to a fault and a lover of storytelling in all mediums, which is why I love making behind-the-scenes content for TV shows and films, which get to highlight a story that doesn’t always make it to light otherwise. I work in Marketing but like to think of the videos I create for the most part as mini-documentaries that will uphold the legacy of a film for the rest of time (or as long as the internet exists – thanks Youtube).

I’m also that person that loves talking to strangers whenever possible to hear about their lives, and luckily having this skill has helped me with my job when I’m interviewing actors or Directors on set, and also to meet a large variety of people over the years. I find 98.3% of the people I meet fascinating in one way or another and have always preferred hearing about them then talking about my own life (this article has been ROUGH). Funny enough though, self-promotion has been a really important aspect of my journey to where I am today. I’m not saying that I stream what I ate for breakfast, but because I keep in contact with people I’ve met along my life, and promote the work I do, it’s definitely increased my chances of connecting with others, either while I’ve been traveling abroad or through an acquaintance putting me up for a job.

Please tell us more about your career. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about.

When I think about this question, I have an instant flashback to running high school cross country races in San Francisco. I’ve always enjoyed running from time to time, but the thing that kept me motivated in a competition was that I wouldn’t focus on winning the race, I’d just focus on passing the one person directly ahead of me and, step by step would keep getting faster and closer to the finish line. I was never an amazing athlete, but that mentality has translated to my career path as I’m always studying interesting people in jobs higher up the ladder than I am, and keep focused on moving up and onward to wherever that may lead me.

How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges?

Getting where I am today hasn’t been easy, and still isn’t easy to maintain. My best quality can also be my worst, as there’s always a next step I want to take and it’s hard to feel comfortable where I am without wanting more. Like millions of other women, I struggle to find a comfortable work/life balance with two adorably chaotic toddlers at home, and using my voice in rooms full of louder, and mostly male ones.

Over the years there have been beyond frustrating moments of being overshadowed for one reason or another, but I find power and strength by looking at other incredibly resilient women in the world, knowing I’m not alone in this struggle and that the only way forward is through. When I feel like I’m being silenced, I lean into the thought of “what if” in a positive light. What if someone else has a similar question or idea and it starts some momentum to bring my concept to life? What if another woman has been wanting to speak up in a meeting but because it’s been mostly men talking, they haven’t and just the fact I said something gives them that tiny boost to join in as well. Getting out of my comfort zone and speaking up feels like a muscle to me, and if I don’t use it, I fear I’ll lose it.

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way.

I’ve learned even if I don’t think anyone may ask for it, always be ready with an opinion. I’m always surprised how well that’s helped me be ready for when an high up executive turns to me and casually asks “What do you think?” that it helps take away the dread of being put on the spot. I also try to live by the mantra of never just do what is asked, go one step farther and give a suggested next step. I’ll never forget this, and it was on a very basic level, but back when I was just starting out as a Production Assistant at a Reality TV production company and working two jobs to pay rent, my boss asked me to get him a Coke. I came back with an icy cold soda can and a napkin, and he said right then that he knew I was going to make it, because the other PAs always just gave him a soda but never thought to give a napkin.

This obviously was a very small detail but I’m a true believer that my life is just an accumulation of a lot of very small actions over time, and I try to stay focused on making small moves instead of huge jumps. That boss gave me a great review which led to my next job, and so on, and so on.

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?
Oh God, I already feel boring with this one. WIth two young kiddos under the age of 5 at home, an itinerary for a week-long anything feels very daunting but will give this a shot.

No matter what, when people visit LA, I try to give a mix of some shimmer and sun. A must in good weather is chilling at a beach like Zuma or another as far away as you can get from the busier touristy beaches. For anyone’s first time coming to LA, I like to take them on a Saturday morning “hike” at Runyon Canyon because the views of the city are stunning and the overheard conversations and style choices of fellow hikers are non-stop entertaining- still not sure how people hike in full makeup and with their hair down.

I’ve also always enjoyed the local farmers markets in Hollywood, Santa Monica or Studio City, the latter of which also has bouncy houses for the kids and lots of fun celebrity sightings which out-of-towners seem to love. The LA Tar Pits also gives me a lot of nostalgic feelings as we used to drive down when I was younger and knowing we’re in the same place that Woolly Mammoths were thousands of years ago is still magical. Lastly, I love showing off our Hollywood history through Studio lot tours and recommend the Sony, Paramount, Universal and Disney lots, and of course it’s a bonus if they’re having a beer festival on that lot as well.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Not to sound cliché, but I owe everything I’ve accomplished to my mom as she’s my main inspiration in my life and career. When I was growing up, she was a single mom working two jobs and even with the extraordinary stresses that put upon her, she somehow pushed herself to constantly grow, adapt and evolve to make a better life for her kids. My mom is not only a self-made and accomplished business woman, but she’s also one of the most thoughtful people I know, always writing a thank you card or calling someone to give support when they’re going through a hard time. She pushed herself in her career so that her kids could dream big, and it took me longer than it should have to recognize that she had been teaching me by example my whole life. Love you, mom!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianna._._._._._/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dianna-diprimio-5940727