Her Story
About Marlene
Marlene Forand is a commercial photographer with 35 years of experience in film, television, and print. She began her career as a wardrobe stylist on a Coca-Cola commercial and expanded her skills over time to include art direction and photography. In her role, she meets with clients to gather information on goals, budgets, and items to feature, whether in fashion, food, or corporate contexts, and designs or art directs shots, sometimes following creative decks from agency directors. She specializes in food photography and styling, having worked on challenging projects such as making unappealing dishes look exquisite, beverage and liquor photography including a Gray Goose shoot, and Asian food for Vietnamese and Korean restaurants. She also has experience styling for celebrities such as Drew Brees and Jerry Rice. Earlier in her career, she attended the University of Miami and the University of South Florida, both as a theater major, then pursued nursing school and worked as a nurse for about five years before transitioning back to the film, television, and print industry. She values integrity, loyalty, and a spirit of excellence, applying the same high standards to every project regardless of client size. She is active in her community, volunteering at food pantries for 15 years and participating in jail ministry at the Pinellas County Jail for women once a month.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Marlene
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was from a photographer who is no longer with us. But he said to me, Marlene, everything is in the prep. In other words, preparation is critical for the success of anything you do in life. In any project, whether I'm styling, art directing, shooting, editing, it's all about the prep, and getting all the information, asking the right questions, not leaving any stone unturned.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The best way to get into the industry and learn the industry is by being on set. And you have to align yourself with someone who's very good at what they do. Hopefully you can get an apprentice-type position. You have to be on set learning how it works. With each and every project there's usually a different production company, different producer, different director, so you have to be able to take direction. Listen, take direction, don't look at your phone, look at the monitor.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
In the food genre, it's dealing with ugly-looking food that you have to make look exquisite. Sometimes even with people, if they have deformities or are uncomfortable, determining how much editing they want done. Dealing with a high-end chef who loves his dish but is making it for the consumer and not the camera. There's a huge difference in lighting and composition.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I consider myself someone that's old school regarding integrity, loyalty. I work with a spirit of excellence. I don't care if it's a big client or a small client. I bring the same level to each and every project. It's important to do that. That's just me personally. That's how I run my life, how I run my business.
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