It should come as no surprise to those who regularly follow me that I literally do reach out to just about anyone I can in every facet of the entertainment business. And in the case of Nicole Hansen, I have proven that to be accurate yet again. While she was an actress (and she will be seen in Chesapeake Shores this season as well), her main focus is publicity and promotion of others within this field. I am pleased to share my recent interview with this talented and capable woman whose story is just as inspiring and entertaining (if not more so) than many of the clients she represents.
Photo by Gary Fleder © Nicole Hansen
RH: How/Why did you decide to pursue a career in entertainment? What kind of training did you receive to help prepare you?
NH: I grew up in Boulder, Colorado and had an eighth-grade speech teacher at Centennial Junior High who cast my best friend as the lead in a play. She told me if I wanted to see her after school for the next eight weeks, I would have to audition too. The play was Up the Down Staircase and I played the uptight librarian. After that, I was hooked, and in my last year of junior high, I was voted most dramatic.
I went on to Fairview High School because they had the best drama program. I then spent some time at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and studied at Playhouse West in North Hollywood, training with Jeff Goldblum and Robert Carnegie.
Later, I studied with Alan Savage in New York with Michael Knight (All My Children) and Tony Goldwyn (Scandal), both of whom are godparents to my two sons. I also studied with acting teacher Bob Krakower, who we consider as an additional godfather to my boys!
What was your first professional work in the business and what are your memories of working on that particular project?
Just out of high school, my first job was acting in a music video for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I was a girl in the front row at the Rainbow Music Hall in Denver, where I had been to many concerts before. It was fun. We shot all night, and it was then I realized that being on camera is very different than being in a play. You have to repeat every movement the same way, multiple times from multiple angles.
Sodier Boyz 001 (2016_12_05 21_40_03 UTC) with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa from MPCA (Brad Krevoy, producer)
From there, my most life-changing early work was in The Blue Nile’s “Headlights on the Parade” video as well as director David Fincher’s two Billy Idol videos “Cradle of Love” and “L.A. Woman.” I played Marilyn Monroe in all of them, and it opened up a whole new life for me. I left my longtime boyfriend and bought a ticket to Europe by myself and connected with people I had met earlier in life. I visited my eighty-year-old maternal grandmother yia yia in Greece. One day while we were eating lunch in her home, she saw me on TV for the first time. She got up from the table and started dancing around her apartment saying “Nikki bazooki! Nikki bazooki!” (“Nikki is dancing!”) She didn’t speak a word of English, but her excitement wasn’t lost in translation.
What are some of your notable works in acting and producing in the business? Why are they especially memorable?
Virgin Mary of the Future, Nicole Hansen, American Cyborg
For acting, I guess those would be my leading roles. American Cyborg: Steel Warrior was shot in Israel and I was practically in every scene. I shot six days a week for eight entire weeks. I played the “Virgin Mary of the Future” who also happened to be the “Last Fertile Woman on the Planet.” Those really could have been the titles to their own movies. Maybe it’s time for a sequel. Believe it or not, there are actually critics who’ve said that!
I played one of the leads in the ensemble of Beyond the Ashes with Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) playing my husband, and my own son, Nikos playing my son, whom I lost on a ferry coming back from the Statue of Liberty. It was a very difficult shoot, but we had a great cast including Janeane Garofalo, Giancarlo Esposito, Pauley Perrette, Jennifer Carpenter in her first role, and Michael Knight (All My Children) who provided the comic relief. We made the movie in lower Manhattan within a year after September 11th, on only an $80,000 budget. That’s how much the story resonated with people in New York at the time: they wanted to be involved with little or no money. The film went to the Tribeca, Austin and Vail Film Festivals.
My first movie as a producer was Tinseltown aka Self Storage with Ron Perlman, Joe Pantoliano, Kristy Swanson, and Arye Gross. My parents financed the film and I co-produced it. My ex-husband rewrote a play he had done. I was pregnant with my oldest son while were shooting, so I didn’t act in it, except for a small part in the reshoot of the ending when played an actress recreating the opening scene, in a movie within a movie.
How did you make the switch over to being involved in publicity for TV/film? Feel free to elaborate as much as you would like to.
Nikki and Mikey Knight 2003 001 (2016_12_05 21_40_03 UTC) premiere party for Ash Tuesday at Tribeca by Patrick McMullin
I wasn’t really interested in being in front of the camera again. I basically stopped fifteen years ago, right after Ash Tuesday premiered at Tribeca. My youngest son was diagnosed with autism a few weeks after, and my oldest son was diagnosed with severe dyslexia and ADHD. I had therapists coming to our home on a daily basis. While I went on a few auditions about 8-9 years ago, I just didn’t have the time to spend hours waiting to go in when I needed to be home with my kids. Not to mention when I went on auditions, I saw even younger women than me having their faces worked on, and I didn’t have time to become self-conscious about my looks. I figured I would rather stay and work from home.
I felt I was always good at publicizing my own work. When American Cyborg was released, Cannon Films put out the posters, and I noticed that my name was below the title rather than above it, as they were contractually obligated to do. So when I was in their offices, I asked the producer why he did that. He said, “because a woman can’t get as many young men into the theaters as a Joe Lara can.”
So I took that as a challenge and bet him that I could. “You just watch,” I said.
Nicole Hansen in American Cyborg
Cannon Films
They wouldn’t give me a release date for the film, but eventually, I started seeing ads on TV. I called Cannon and asked them to give me the names of the publicists handling the film in Denver and Dallas, two cities I grew up in or had family ties to. I flew to both places and did local TV, radio and newspaper interviews. I also signed 300 American Cyborg posters at a Dallas theater the night of the premiere. Two months later I ran into the producer at a film market, and he gave me a hug and said I was responsible for the movie being held over for two weeks in Colorado and Texas.
United Nations – NYC – USA – June 11, 2009 – Tony Goldwyn speaks at the 2nd annual IREO Renewable Energy Awards Gala at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
From there, I worked with the film festival publicists on my indie films. I produced my then-10-year-old son’s public service announcement Save It, and helped promote it via social media. After he won numerous honors, other producers started asking me for help with their online promotions, and I built a company out of it. One of those producers was Brad Krevoy, whom I knew from when I acted in his HBO movie Soldier Boyz before I got married. Brad had heard that I was helping brand producers online and hired my company eBrandgelize Digital to upgrade his website and do social media for a few years. That’s how I got to know and adore the Hearties and help plan the first Hearties Family Reunion. I became so close and relied on one Heartie so much for advice that I ended up hiring her, and she was also a special needs mom like myself. Debi Bailey is now the director of our Faith and Family Entertainment consulting for eBrandgelize.
How has publicity changed over the few years?
American Cyborg Steel Warrior Cannon Films
Publicity has mainly changed because of social media. Now you can get the word out online and it’s instantaneous. Unfortunately, so is any fallout, so you really need to monitor social media constantly to gauge what the fans are saying. That’s where my team and I come in: We help our clients engage with fans, help monitor notifications, and listen to questions, with suggestions of how to respond to them, up to the minute.
We also help with personal branding, executive branding, and updating IMDb pages. We have produced branded events, a mobile app game and promotional videos. As branding producers, we assist in product placement and trade-outs for film and TV productions
I understand that you are not only the Web Publicist for Daniel L. Paulson, the Executive Producer of Chesapeake Shores, but you also make an appearance in two of the episodes. Please tell us how that came about, what your role is, and what was most memorable/exciting about your appearance?
Yes! Barbara Niven introduced herself to me when I attended the screening for Hallmark Channel’s A Nutcracker Christmas, and the next day she had lunch with Dan Paulson and suggested he hire me to do social media to promote Chesapeake Shores, and he agreed.
With Barbara Niven and Dan Paulson
Chesapeake Shores
Last January, I brought my colleague Debi Bailey to attend a cast and crew event in L.A. the night before the TCA Awards. She met Bill Abbott, CEO of Hallmark Channel, and said to him, “You know, Nicole used to be an actress, and I know a lot of Hearties and Chessies who would love to see her on Hallmark Channel.”
I said to Bill that the only way I’d ever go back to acting is to have my Screen Actors Guild health insurance reinstated. A few months later, my client Dan Paulson called me and said they had a part for me to play in Chesapeake Shores.
I played Jacqui Kaese, a woman who is organizing the regatta, alongside a character played by my client, Dan Paulson, in the finale episode of season three. The funny thing is, after not acting for all these years, I read the part, and she happens to be an event planner. I didn’t even have to think about who the character was: I’ve been her! I just tapped into my event planning experience, including producing an awards dinner at the United Nations. After my first scene, the actors Laci {J Mailey}, Brendan {Penny} and Carlo {Marks} came up to me and said things to the effect of “Wow. You were like an old pro. It’s like you’ve done this before.” It was really fun letting them know that it was how I used to make my living. I joined SAG back in 1987!
Any other upcoming works you can mention (in any field)?
A lot of my work I do as a consultant, but I try to keep a low profile. There are PR teams that I work with at various networks and studios. In the capacity, I consult and don’t want to take the focus off their in-house teams whom I just support with my insights from the outside.
As a woman in the business, have you struggled with gender bias?
Yes, it’s not been pretty. I don’t want to call anyone out, but I’ve had multiple instances where I’ve done a good job on something and had men who were in powerful positions feel threatened. They then say, either in earshot or directly to other men, incredibly inappropriate things to me. Things like “the only reason she was so successful at _____ is because everyone involved wanted to sleep with her.” It erases you. It’s awful.
What is most rewarding to you working in film/TV in the capacity you now do? What do you enjoy the most? What is one of the more challenging aspects of your career?
Helping people and connecting people is the most rewarding part of the job. I love making other people look awesome. The most challenging aspect is taking into account that everything our clients post online is public, so we have to think carefully about how things are worded and advise them accordingly.
When not working, what do you like to do for fun?
My hobby is working on my family tree. It’s been fun finding out that on my dad’s side, we are descended from the Plantagenets. I also have numerous direct ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War as patriots. That makes me most proud of all, especially since I had wanted to be a historian who focused on American History.
I enjoy cooking, hiking and going to the symphony. I’m a huge Gustavo Dudamel and Mozart fan. I also love to travel and visit people I’ve met throughout the world.
With Gregory Harrison
Chesapeake Shores set
As one who dabbles in marketing and promotion on a miniature scale, I find myself awestruck by all that Nicole has accomplished both personally and professionally in her chosen career. While she is one who is often behind-the-scenes, laboring to promote the works of many of our beloved shows and films, her steadfast devotion, charismatic temperament, and circumspect attention to detail is something that has shaped the course of more career entities and media than we might realize. I, for one, am incredibly grateful for someone like Nicole who takes her job so seriously and recognizes the importance of character, punctuality, and integrity in all she does, and I look forward to witnessing the fruition of her labors for many years to come.
I sincerely hope that everyone will tune in to the Hallmark Channel for the season finale of Chesapeake Shores on Sunday, October 7th, while keeping a sharp eye out for Nicole (as well as Dan Paulson whose interview post will make an appearance later on this week). Additionally, please consider checking out all the links below for Nicole and eBrandgelize Digital as listed below, and feel free to follow both on social media if you are so inclined. I do believe that we viewers are blessed to have someone as immensely capable as Nicole working to ensure that quality shows and films find their way into our homes, and I can only hope that we will be the beneficiaries of her dynamic work for many years to come!
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1 Comment
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How wonderful she’s been able to have a long career in the business working in marketing/branding/publicity and able to do a little acting, too.
