Entertainment & Sports
Jun. 1, 2001
Lawyer Loves Her Station in Life
LOS ANGELES - What do you do with a law degree when you realize you don't want to be a lawyer? Monica Y. Castagnasso turned her legal background into a creative career in radio production.
Monica Y. Castagnasso
Associate Producer
Family Theater Productions
Career highlights: Associate producer, Family Theater Productions, 2000-present; attorney, 1994-99, working on a free-lance basis
Law School: Willamette University College of Law, 1993
Before making the change, Castagnasso worried that she was wasting her law degree. But after immersing herself in the entertainment industry, she realized just how many producers had law degrees and how beneficial her degree was in her new line of work.
Friends and family were supportive of her decision. The only rude remarks came from casual acquaintances who teased her about throwing away her career.
These days, other attorneys often envy her position as a producer and wonder how they can blend creativity and the law.
Family Theater Productions produces 30-minute family dramas in Spanish that "deal with pertinent social issues of today," Castagnasso said from her Hollywood office. The dramas are broadcast in 25 countries worldwide. Family Theater Productions also has a television department.
For those unfamiliar with the name, Family Theater Productions has a long and illustrious history. Founded by Father Patrick Peyton (who coined the phrase, "the family that prays together, stays together"), the radio division's first program in 1945 featured Bing Crosby. In 1947, "Family Theater of the Air" debuted with a broadcast featuring Loretta Young, Jimmy Stewart and Don Ameche. Highlights from Family Theater Productions' television archive include James Dean's first filmed television role and Grace Kelly's last television film.
So what exactly does an associate producer do?
"Absolutely everything," Castagnasso says.
Castagnasso is involved with every aspect of a production "from the time of hiring the writer to the actual recording of the episode," she said. "I do the paperwork, I get the contracts signed, I get the income-tax papers done," she said.
Castagnasso also is in charge of talent and helps edit the scripts. However, she is not a lawyer at Family Theater Productions, which retains an of-counsel attorney.
The attorney skills Castagnasso finds most helpful at Family Theater Productions include organizing, documenting, and creating paper trails. Her background as an attorney also is beneficial when dealing with agents.
"I understand what they're trying to get at from a legal point of view, what they want ... or don't want. I can already kind of foresee that because being an attorney as well, I would do that for my client," she said.
Castagnasso's creative skills come into play when editing scripts, putting together promotional materials, casting and auditioning actors. Although acting talent and the right voice are important, so are other factors.
"From a producer's point of view, I also see how reliable they are. For me, that also goes a long way. I mean a talented person is great, but a talented, responsible actor is the best," she said.
A typical story line might include the themes of communication within the family or domestic violence, although since all programming is family-oriented, there is no profanity or graphic violence.
"It has to be good for the family," she said.
The company produces 20 dramas each season.
"We're trying to attach a Latino big name to each episode," Castagnasso said.
Recent "big names" have included well-known English and Spanish language actors Liz Torres and Maria Canals.
Unfortunately, the radio dramas are not broadcast in the Los Angeles area.
So how did Castagnasso transition from being an attorney to her current position?
"I always loved television, theater, movies. I always had a passion for it as a child," she said.
But growing up in Los Angeles, she didn't think her interest was unique.
Castagnasso graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 1988 with a degree in business (emphasizing marketing and management) and a minor in dance.
"When I graduated, my business degree was pretty much a dime a dozen," she said. "I was making more money working as a checker in a supermarket, working 24 hours a week than my friends who were working 60 hours a week at an entry-level job with a business degree," she said.
Going to law school was a way to become more marketable.
Before enrolling in law school, Castagnasso took some time off to visit family in Argentina.
Although her mother and father were both born and raised in Argentina, Castagnasso says, "I'm a mutt. I am German, Hungarian, Argentinian on my mom's side. Italian, Argentinian on my dad's. And American on my own."
By the time Castagnasso graduated from Willamette University College of Law in 1993, California was in the midst of a recession. Counting herself among a lost class of law school graduates, Castagnasso said finding employment was very difficult.
"Law firms were laying off partners so you can imagine they certainly didn't want admittees," she said.
At the recommendation of a friend, she fell into doing temporary work as an attorney. Although she didn't make a conscious choice to do so, she worked steadily as a temporary attorney from 1994 through 1999.
"For the time, it was quite beneficial and then in time, it also allowed me to pursue other interests," she said. "Because I wasn't a, quote, 'employee' of the law firm, they couldn't throw ten cases at me like they would at other lawyers."
Castagnasso primarily assisted with litigation, doing research, discovery, and trial preparation. Working for large firms through temp agencies, Castagnasso said her experience as a temporary attorney was for the most part a positive one.
Castagnasso worked with other temporary workers, such as paralegals, who were pursuing careers as actors. As friendships developed she would "eyeball" contracts, make career suggestions, and refer aspiring actors to auditions she had heard about.
"Finally a friend of mine looked at me and said 'You know what, you can get paid for doing that,'" she said.
"That's when it sort of really sunk in that, you know, that's when I was my happiest," she said. "I loved reading the trades. I would read the trades just to read them, even though it didn't help me in my, quote, 'law career.'"
She started talking seriously to people in the entertainment industry.
"It's all about networking and connecting," Castagnasso said.
Through her affiliation with a local community theater she obtained a mentor, which led to additional contacts. As a result, she became the associate producer at a Nosotros Theater production of "The Last Angry Brown Hat," which Castagnasso describes as "kind of like 'The Big Chill', but Latino style."
Castagnasso also volunteered for several years at the City of Angels Film Festival, which emphasizes uplifting films. Melba Novoa, who worked at Family Theater Productions, was on one of the committees. Castagnasso now occupies Novoa's old position and Novoa, as Director of Radio Department at Family Theater Productions, is Castagnasso's boss.
Networking in the entertainment industry is essential since many positions are not advertised and those that are receive a deluge of applications, Castagnasso said.
When deciding whether to "jump ship" as an attorney, Castagnasso's only reservation was financial. She received a lot more pay as an attorney than as a producer, she said.
Castagnasso had to turn down other jobs in the entertainment industry because of the low salaries.
"You have to know how much of a financial sacrifice you're willing to make," she said.
This may require waiting for the right opportunity to present itself.
For Castagnasso, Family Theater Productions was that opportunity.
Castagnasso anticipates continuing her career in production, and would like to branch out into television and film production.
Staff Writer
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