WOMEN ELITE 2008: INDEPENDENTS--New challenges

Things are tough all over, executives with independent labels agree, but they say that being a woman at the top of the industry is the least of their concerns.

Citing broad economic concerns that are impacting consumer spending, these women say their companies are taking inventory of the most pressing challenges facing their businesses and developing fresh ways to address them.

“I think, honestly, [the challenge] is making sure that consumers still find DVD to be at the top of their disposable income list,” says Christine Martinez, executive VP of corporate strategy for Genius Products. “Our financial health is tied to how consumers spend their money and, as a distributor, it’s our responsibility to our content partners to make sure their product has relevant place at market.”

For Jere Rae-Mansfield, Monterey Media chief financial officer and managing partner, the ongoing consolidation of various sectors of the industry in recent years—what she calls “the narrowing of America”—has made the business environment increasingly monochromatic, leaving Monterey with fewer outlets to which to sell its wares.

“It’s going to be 10 or 20 years before we see the diversity and appreciate small businesses again,” Rae-Mansfield believes, “and I don’t want to see us get into a Rollerball environment where the corporations control everything. We’re a wonderful country made up of fantastic individualists, and when we lose our small businesses, we lose our roots.”

But as they compete not only for consumer dollars but for what little time those buyers can spare to watch independently produced and distributed product, executives say they are finding more opportunities to do their existing jobs differently.

“Finding ways to break through the noise is our constant challenge. It’s very exciting,” says Susan Margolin, co-founding principal and chief operating officer for New Video. “We’re reinventing ways to reach the consumer, whether that’s by social networking sites or the blogosphere or house [viewing] parties; these are all new models. Distribution is a creative exercise now.”

She adds that King Corn and Autism: The Musical, two of New Video theatrical releasing arm Docurama Films’ most successful releases, have benefited from some of these lower-cost and highly targeted marketing approaches.

“These times really do call for creativity and innovation, but I think that companies like New Video, because we’re small and flexible, we can really take advantage of the tools that are being developed and that we’re helping to develop ourselves,” Margolin says.

As to how gender impacts the way they function on a day-to-day basis, Genius’ Martinez says that the work done by the women who blazed the trail ahead of her and her colleagues into the workplace created an environment where the differences of gender can not only be acknowledged, but seen as providing a distinct strength.

“The one thing that I will say I continue to find, and this is not industry-specific, is that there’s still an element of emotional intelligence,” Martinez says, which she believes “helps make women more successful in what they choose to do.”

And although Rae-Mansfield says she still looks forward to the day magazines like VB will honor people of note together without regard to gender, she agrees that femininity provides women executives with a unique approach to business.

“I’ve watched the women in our business bring a different tempo and attitude toward our business,” she says. “When we sit on panels together, I find that the softer, gentler, more universal view of the business comes from the feminine side.”