AANY’s New Yorker of the Moment for November is Lucia Kaiser. Kaiser’s list of accomplishments is interminable. To start she is a two-time Emmy Award-Winning Producer who got her start as publicist & talent coordinator for the Johnny Carson Show. She also has a wonderful reputation for opening doors previously closed to women
Kaiser was the first female President of Studio Film Exchange, President of the first women-only advertising agency in NYC, first woman President of Bruce Lee’s production company and the first female General Manager of KGU radio in Hawaii to list a few.
She is also known for her philanthropic ventures and has been honored and awarded for them numerous times including being personally commemorated by President George W. Bush.
Currently she is focused on her efforts as a movie producer. Included in these efforts are the ongoing projects Midnight Love, a feature film about the life of Marvin Gaye and the film Framed.
Without further ado we present our quick session with Lucia Kaiser below:
How long have you lived in NYC?
I was born on a boat in the middle of the ocean while my parents were immigrating from Messina, Sicily. I was raised in New York then moved to Honolulu at 15 years old to become a professional surfer/model, etc. I’ve lived all over the world, Hong Kong for two years, Europe, South America, Australia. I even ended up back in Hawaii for 23 years before moving back to the NYC for good in 1998.
What is your favorite thing about the city?
After living all over the world, I couldn’t live anywhere else. I love the theatre, concerts, nightlife, and all the great restaurants…especially since I don’t
cook; delivery in NYC has everything you would want. And I love New Yorkers!
What is your least favorite thing about NYC?
The winter/cold
Where would you be if you weren’t here?
I would say if my husband had not passed away tragically I’d still be back in Honolulu and Maui. Though now that I am in the film industry the only other places might be Italy or France.
What are you doing right now that you are passionate about?
I am one of the Producers of a major feature film Framed based on, my partner and dear friend, Tod Volpe’s life. He was the art dealer to the stars. The script was written by the great Terrence Winter (The Wolf of Wallstreet, Boardwalk Empire, The Soprano’s). The film has a budget of $20 to $25 million and features the great and famous Bonnie Timmerman (68 films under her belt) casting A list Actors and Director. This is very very exciting to me–I’m hoping this will be my Academy Award.
As we could not possibly cover Lucia’s entire list of accomplishments in this venue, please check out her profile and get the full story here.
