Her Story
About Autumn
Autumn Harrison is a producer based in Los Angeles, California. She works for a small business that serves other small businesses by creating cinematic, documentary-style videos as a marketing tool to connect with customers and communities. Harrison has over 10 years of experience in film and TV production in the narrative space and has spent the past 3 years focused on commercial video production. She is also producing a feature film. Harrison earned her bachelor's degree in drama with a Film and Media Studies minor from UC Irvine and studied script writing and video production at the University of East Anglia in the UK. She attended a performing arts charter school in Jamestown, Northern California. Her short film The Coyote Sisters, in which she acted, wrote, and produced, won awards for Best Comedy, Best Comedy Drama, performance, and Best Directing on the film festival circuit. Harrison is a member of SAG-AFTRA. She attributes her success to the constant pursuit of meaning in life and the ability to do what she loves while putting food on the table and creating emotionally meaningful work. Harrison values integrity and empathy, emphasizing that people are the reason for everything in work and personal life.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Autumn
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think the constant pursuit of meaning in this life we're given. Success for me is being able to do what I love and the ability to do it for a living. It's having built a life where I can spend my time doing these things that I love and pursuing my passions, and being able to put food on the table at the same time, and create something that's gonna mean something emotionally to other people.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
When I was a kid I reached out to an actor for a school assignment and they said don't even think about coming into this career, it's terrible. It really taught me from an early age to not care about what other people think, to take everything with a grain of salt, and to connect with what passion and desire is inside of me in spite of what other people say and think.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Just be a sponge. Learn as much as you can. Listen, listen and observe as much as you can, and take everything with a grain of salt. There are a thousand voices telling you to do things a thousand different ways, and focus less on what's right and wrong what people say is right and wrong, and focus more on your internal compass and what feels in line with your inner life, with your inner desires.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
In Los Angeles it's been a rough few years with the pandemic and then a strike, a lot of production has left the city. People are struggling, moving away, taking lower-paying jobs. There's fear of AI taking over creative positions. Social media scrolling culture has changed film and video production, attention spans are different, people aren't consuming long-form content as much. Keeping up with advances in technology and current interests and demands of viewership is a challenge.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity and empathy. Really understanding people. People are the reason for everything. Any service, any business, anything that you provide, it's for someone, and it means something more than just that service.
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