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

Hi Mary, career-wise, where do you want to be in the end?

I began my business over 30 years ago shortly after earning my degree in communications with an emphasis in Film and Video from Cal State University, Fullerton. I found work on a feature film as a production assistant. As we got closer to the filming date, I was elevated to Production Manager. I was now handling a much greater load. Midway through filming on location in Northern California, the director parted ways with one of the producers, and so my role dramatically changed resulting in my promotion to producer.  I oversaw or was involved in all major aspects of the film: casting, SAG relations, location relations, and cast & crew scheduling and payroll.
After this film and a couple of other Hollywood film and TV jobs, a friend and collaborator from college, Trent Noller, wanted to form a video production company as a partnership. Thus was born Glass Eye Productions, Inc. Wow, it’s been a long time since those early days, and I’m grateful for all we have accomplished.
At this point, the career goals I have for myself and my company are to nurture our current client base and continue to grow the business each year with new clients. I would measure success at the end of my career by several factors: did I provide/facilitate stellar content for our clients so that they could achieve their goals? Did I provide a workplace where our employees enjoy their work, stick around because they love the environment, and feel appreciated? Did I carve out time for my family and friends and not solely focus on the work? So professionally at the end of my career, I would like to look back and see that we had continued growth, and that I created a strong company where everyone thrived to their full potential, including me!

What should our readers know about your business?
We are a full-service video production and post-production studio based in Brea, California. Whether on a studio shoot or a panoramic production, our goal is to get the highest quality results for our clients. Each individual on our team brings a specialized set of skills to the table. A goal we set for every client is to provide budget efficiencies and create engaging content without sacrificing quality. Growing the business to the level we are at today was not always easy, but it has been worth it. Challenges along the way included investing in equipment that was beyond what our client base could support. That meant sacrificing by not taking the pay we wanted and putting it back into the company instead. It has paid off. The work we are doing now was our dream and the goal all along. We are grateful to be working for a nice roster of enterprise-level companies. Our crews travel all over the country, and our projects run the gamut across a wide-range of industries. It’s always educational, challenging, and I enjoy the hard work. My hands-on involvement includes working with the client throughout all aspects of a project, and my “hats” include Producer, Director, Editor, and Project Manager. At any given time, we might have 50 or more projects in various stages of production, which I oversee. It’s a fast-paced environment and we are all always learning new tools to stay at the forefront with our production skills.

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?

We are fortunate to have a bounty of restaurants in our fair city of Brea! Current favorites are Old Brea Chop House, Bruno’s Italian Kitchen, and Taps. A nice hike in Brea at Carbon Canyon Regional Park ends with a redwood forest and lots of nature along the way. Brea is nicely situated in North Orange County, between LA and San Diego, so there is a lot of fun either heading north or south. I always take visitors to the beach. My favorite is Victoria Beach in Laguna. You’ll have to find parking and take a long stairway down, but you will be rewarded with white sands and good waves. There is even a “Pirate Tower” that looks like a cross between a castle and a lighthouse and we have fun exploring the tide pools. We head to LA for concerts in large and small venues. It might be John Mayer at the Forum or Neil Finn at one of my favorite smaller venues, such as Largo at the Coronet. We also enjoy seeing comedy shows at The Groundlings Theatre.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family has always been a huge support to me. When I was young, my mom and dad had the attitude that I could pursue any career that I wanted and be successful. My earliest aspiration was to be a pediatrician. From about 3rd grade on, I dutifully followed a path that would get me to where I wanted to go. My mom connected me to a mentor, a female pediatrician. In my senior year of high school, I was accepted to UCI as a biology/PreMed major. My dreams were coming true! At this point, I learned that one of the first things I would be doing once I started in this major was dissecting cadavers. I was rocked to my core. The idea of dissecting cadavers truly disgusted me. What was I thinking? I was not cut out for this at all. I decided not to follow this path. It took me a year or so to get my bearings on what I wanted to do. After a few video production courses, I decided not to do what was safest. I should do what sounds the most exciting! What’s the worst that could happen? I might have to change gears again, but this was my opportunity to find out if I could follow my wildest career dreams. My parents supported my leap of faith, and after graduating from college, when I got my first big feature film, they accepted my invitation to travel to the filming location for a week and be extras in the film. Once my partner and I started our own business, my husband, my daughter, and son also supported me in many ways. Early on in the business, life could get hectic and crazy, but they always encouraged me and I could feel their pride and love

Website: www.glasseyeprods.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glasseyeproductions/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/glass-eye-productions-inc-

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GlassEyeProds

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlassEyeProductions

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/glass-eye-productions-brea-3

Image Credits
All image credits: Glass Eye Productions

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