Today we’d like to introduce you to Jill Bailey
Hi Jill, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in Rochester, NY and was raised by a single father who is absolutely amazing. I was an ice hockey player for 23 years and went to college at R.I.T and played hockey while studying Psychology and minoring in Criminal Justice. I went to Graduate School for Social Work and also completed 2 years of Clinicals. I wanted to help people and ended up working for an HIV/AIDS non-profit, then as a Clinical Social Worker in Children’s Hospice in Virginia where I moved after college. Working with children that were dying taught me more than I ever thought was possible. It was here that I met so many incredible and inspiring little ones, including a 7 year old boy named Tommy. I walked alongside Tommy and his family for several years of his cancer treatments for Ewings Sarcoma. A few months before Tommy passed away, he looked at me and made me promise him that I would “Follow My Dreams.” After Tommy passed, I lost my job and a friend of mine John Forte invited me to come work at a studio he was a Director at until I got another job as a Social Worker. John taught me everything from how to be a P.A. to how to field log, set etiquette and so much more. Within 3-4 months, a large production with Lifetime “Coming Home” came into town and was looking for a field logger. I applied and got the job, But when I arrived to set, I was terrified because instead of logging 1 or 2 cameras like I was used to, I would be logging 3-5 cameras footage at any given time! I thought for sure I was in over my head and would get fired, but after the 1st day of filming, the production company was happy with my work. It was on this set that I met my L.A. mentor Karin Jarlstedt, who took time everyday to teach me what it took to be a Producer. The show continued for several more months, and they brought me on the road with them to Tennessee and Alabama. After we wrapped, Karin told me to stay in touch and to let her know if I ever moved to L.A. In 2011, I decided to take the leap and move out to L.A. to pursue my career in T.V. and have been here ever since! If it were not for Tommy, the little boy that told me to “Follow My Dreams,” I would not have had the courage to make the jump into TV. So many people have helped me along in my journey to becoming a Producer, and I give all the credit and glory to God for always placing people in my life that have guided and cared for me throughout it all.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It was not always a smooth road in my Producing career. When I prepared to move out to L.A., I had a job lined up with a company, had an apartment and moved at the end of December 2011. The week I arrived in L.A., the show that I had lined up to be an A.P. on was cancelled. I was so scared, I had just moved across the county and left everything I had known for this job that was now not happening. Then the Executive Producer for “Beyond Scared Straight” Arnold Shapiro that I had met and worked with on a couple of episodes in Virginia as a P.A. a few years earlier called me and said he had a Producer that would be going on vacation for 2 weeks and asked if I would like to come in and work for 2 weeks while she was out. I jumped at the opportunity to make money even if it was for only 2 weeks. Arnold is an amazing man who has helped thousands of people throughout the years with their careers and is a humble and incredibly talented. My first week there went well, but at the end of the week Arnold said he wanted to meet with me. I was worried that maybe I was not doing a good job learning the show as an A.P., but to my surprise, he told me that he had brought me in as a test to see how well I could work with the team and asked me to stay on for the next 9 months! It was my 1st gig in L.A. with some of the best people in the business. I continued to be referred for shows and work regularly as a Field A.P. for 2 years and then started working as a Field Producer. I was then asked to be a Casting Producer on “Catfish the TV Show,”(I had worked in the field on the show previously) and I had to learn a whole new set of skills, which was a challenge. I worked both as a Field and Casting Producer and still do to this day. The industry has changed a lot over the last few years, a lot of it having to do with Covid and mergers of bigger companies, which has made it much harder for everyone to find work. It has been a huge challenge not just for me, but for thousands in the industry. But I am so thankful that it has been mostly a smooth road and transition for me, and that I have been able to work on incredible shows that make a difference in people’s lives. I think that having a strong faith in God helps me to stay positive and overcome challenges that could otherwise trip me up.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am so blessed to have worked on so many shows that make difference in people’s lives. My father always jokes that I got the “right college education” by having degrees in Psychology and Social Work. You can learn all of the logistical aspects of T.V. if you study, but teaching someone to have people skills is not easy. A lot of what I do is listening to someone’s story and then finding a way to share their story in a way that is true to who they are. Working on shows starting with “Beyond Scared Straight” to “Intervention” for several seasons, it is so important to not only hear the stories, but to provide help to these people. I love working on Docu-Follow shows because it is showing you someone’s life through their eyes, in real time. I use a lot of the skills that I learned as a Clinical Social Worker to talk to and work through any concerns that our subjects may have about filming. The challenge of working with these shows is that you are truly on the subjects schedule and things can and will change according to what is going on in their lives. You have to be patient, understanding and they have to know that they are cared about in order to get them to share their lives with you. I am proud to work with some of the most incredible teams in the business on the shows that I do. I am also proud of the family that has supported me in my dreams of being a Producer; especially my husband who always supports me through every show I work on. I don’t think that anything really sets me apart from others, there are so many hard working Producers in this industry, and so many incredibly talented people who have inspired my career. I just rely on my faith in God and try to show compassion and kindness to the people that I work with so that they know that they matter and that their stories will have an impact on our world when they are told.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Most people do not know that I was raised by a single father. My father always encouraged me to keep my faith in God, and work hard to achieve whatever goal I set my mind to. He raised not just myself and my sister, but helped raise my cousins and my step sisters. He is the most humble, kind and faithful person I know, and he never even batted an eye when I jumped from being a Clinical Social Worker to a career in T.V. My father is my best friend, a strong man of God, and my heart. Without him, I would not be where I am today, or have the faith that I have, which has helped me to navigate some of the toughest times in my life.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jilljohnson19/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jill.johnsonhess
Image Credits
All personal pictures that were taken by my phone with permission on set or personal family photos.
