Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kacie Lehner. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kacie , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Talk to us about building a team – did you hire quickly, how’d you recruit the first few team members? Any interesting lessons?

When my partner, Jamal Watson, and I started our film and television production company, we knew two things. 1) Move culture forward with what we create and 2) people first. With this in mind and Good Soil Collective underway, people was such a huge focus because we can’t create without the creatives. We say, “we know a lot of good seeds, it’s about watering them, nurturing them, and watching them grow”. Jamal and I talked at length about who we are on a granular level and connected on our shared morals and fundamentals in life. In the film and television industry, you can sometimes be working with a person for a number of years, so we set out to work with people who believe in that foundation across all areas of this business. When it came hiring our creative executive, it came down to having a meal together and getting to know each other in a way that stemmed beyond how many writers or directors someone could rattle off or how quickly they could send out emails. For us, it was important that we could connect on a human level, we could feel the passion for this industry, and their their kindness, integrity and work ethic was undeniable. We found that in Chelsey Colosimo and she has been an integral part of the company. And when Duran Jones came to us as a producer, we possessed the same qualities and we quickly brought him into the fold. We created the adjective: they are Good Soil to describe the people that embody those characteristics. As a company, we know that if one of us describes someone as that, it is without question we want to work with them. And this extends to the creatives (writers, directors, talent) to the production assistants on set and everyone in-between. We are so lucky that our job is to create, it should be fun, there should be good energy, we should want to show up to work everyday and continue this thing that we are so passionate about. So we’ve made conscious effort to find those like minded individuals and continuously work with them, even if their experience is less than another person, we believe when you are Good Soil, your talents will shine and we want to work with you. We also believe it’s about taking care of the people you work with, appreciating what they bring to the table and valuing every minute they put into the job. And we extend this attitude from our company employees to our contract employees on specific jobs. We recognize that we can’t function without people and Good Soil people, so we strive to continuously find and work with them.

Kacie , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Good Soil Collective is a film and television development and production company based on supporting and uplifting projects and creatives who have something to say through art. We know a lot of good seeds. We know know how to nurture and grow those seeds. And we know how to give the space and platform for those seeds to flourish. Through our development process and our production infrastructure, we’ve been able to construct a space for creatives to move culture forward, in whatever way that means to them. We have many projects on the horizon from some truly incredible voices.

In working with many creatives on many levels, we’ve been able to approach the entertainment industry from many different angles, evaluating trends and pivoting with them. We are a people first company, so many of the decisions we make when taking on a project in the large media landscape comes down to 1) who are the people we are going to be working with 2) does this feel like it’s moving in a direction that is creatively fulfilling to us and 3) in line with how we think about media and where the industry is headed.

To summarize a bit about my own personal journey:

When I was 14, I started working for my mom at a recording studio that did music for film and television. It was a small, but quickly growing company, and I had a chance to really understand the business of post-production landscape. It was also one of the first times recognizing that making, creating and the business of film was something I was attracted to. Fast forward to summer of my senior year at USC, I got an internship for another growing company called Relativity. There, I learned film finance, creative development and saw the small company grow to a mini-major. Recognizing that I wanted more of an indy approach and really dig my hands into grassroots filmmaking, I left Relativity as a creative executive to become an independent producer. I taught myself to line produce, met and formed relationships with incredible crews, and produced a couple of features. In 2021, I partnered with Jamal Watson to form The Good Soil Collective, which take our philosophy of growing and nurturing good stories and people into an art that helps move culture forward. And since our founding, we have made a developed film, television, commercials, music videos, and digital content, with much more to come.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I’ve never been a networker, it didn’t feel natural to me. I’ve always been the type of person who feels slightly awkward at a big social gathering and never comfortable talking only business. Transactional relationships have never been something I’m comfortable with and something I’ve actively avoided. Part of me thinks that perhaps approaching business in that manner may have gotten me farther ahead faster, but the other part knows I’ve gone the route that feels authentic to who I am as a person. For me, building true friendships, connecting with people on a human level and forming a bond that goes beyond the business has been the key to building a tight knit community of incredible creatives, executives and crews. Being selective about who I give my time to and keeping my circle of integrity first talents has allowed me to build a reputation of knowing good people. Surrounding myself with the right people and working with the right people has allowed me to accomplish projects that run efficiently, on schedule and under budget, but more importantly completed in a way in which all members of the team feel valued and accomplished in their own right. When you constantly have projects and experiences with others that run in that manner, people start to recommend you or will pull up on any project just to work with you. And from there, you continue to build.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I started my career at a studio knowing that producing films was an end goal of mine. I worked really hard, starting as an intern and eventually becoming a creative executive. When the time came for me to take the leap of faith and think about going out on my own as an independent producer, I knew it was a risk. I knew that the indy film world was tough, but I was up for the challenge. I was young, hungry, and didn’t have the responsibilities that wouldn’t allow for such risks, so off I went. Fortunately, I very quickly got a feature off the ground and was doing the thing I always dreamed of doing. I couldn’t have been happier that I had worked my way up to this moment, except, when I stepped on set I realized that I was a fish out of water. Being an on set producer was much different than being a studio executive. The decision making required a depth of knowledge that I didn’t have, I barely knew what any crew actually did on set, let alone the name of any of the equipment, so I found myself completely relying on other people’s opinions to make decisions. It was clearly not how I wanted to start this new journey off, but it was also a good lesson to learn that I needed to acquire a new skill set.

So I pivoted to learning how to line produce, and gaining a breadth of knowledge of physical production. I started over on small scale digital pieces that were low risk so I could learn as I went and make mistakes that were much more easily fixable. I didn’t think I’d ever do digital content, but realized that this skillset was imperative if I ever wanted to be an affective film producer. It was that pivot and journey in the digital content space that lead me to meeting my now partner. Had I not made that decision and taken a “step back”, I would not be in the position I am now, for which I am very thankful.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @kacielehner
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kacie-lehner-a7b45b17/