From Assistant Director to Executive Producer: Nina K. Noble's Creative TV Path
00;00;10;11 - 00;00;28;01
Rob Lee
Welcome to the truth in this art. I am your host, Rob Lee. And today, I'm privileged to be in conversation with an American television producer from Blown DEADLINE, and their credits include The Wire. We Own This City and Treme. Please welcome Nina Noble. Welcome to the podcast.
00;00;28;14 - 00;00;29;29
Nina Noble
Thanks, Rob. It's great to be here.
00;00;30;16 - 00;00;47;21
Rob Lee
It's great to have you on. I'm speaking to you like kind of like television royalty here, like definitely from the political front and are just going over the history as like, okay, this is a great career. I was like basic Instinct is on this list. I was like, hold up, hold up. So.
00;00;48;03 - 00;00;53;03
Nina Noble
Yeah, that's that's what people don't realize is that, you know, there's another chapter before The Wire.
00;00;53;22 - 00;00;59;12
Rob Lee
Yeah, that that's what I mean. I might have a basic instinct question and a rapid fire and we'll talk about we'll talk about it.
00;01;00;18 - 00;01;00;23
Nina Noble
Yeah.
00;01;01;07 - 00;01;20;05
Rob Lee
So before we get too deep into it, I want to I want to have you like share or share that story like the chapters bef before the wire, the chapters including The Wire and you know how we get here at this point and if you will, you know, share a few of your some of the things that you were watching like growing up.
00;01;21;01 - 00;01;49;14
Nina Noble
You know, I did everything I could to avoid the film business. Actually, I am I grew up my dad was a was a producer and production manager and we grew up on location. We just kind of went wherever his his shows were. And that meant, you know, for a kid like changing schools, often in the middle of the year, just, you know, sort of being displaced quite a bit.
00;01;49;14 - 00;02;14;19
Nina Noble
And I there was no allure for me with the film business. It just seemed, you know, for a kid, kind of boring, like you had to just stand around a lot on set. You had to be quiet, like people kept telling you to be quiet. And only good thing was they had a lot of good snacks, actually. But so I went, I and I didn't grow up, really.
00;02;15;01 - 00;02;38;17
Nina Noble
I thought about, you know, television shows. I watched we really didn't watch a lot of television. I think we went to the theater a lot. We watched a lot of musicals. We watched musicals on on television to movie musicals like West Side Story and Guys and Dolls and Oklahoma and Carousel and Music. Man, you know, all that kind of stuff.
00;02;39;10 - 00;03;07;22
Nina Noble
Sound of Music. I think as a family, those were some of the things that we did. But I don't remember. I don't know if we always had a TV. You have to understand that, like when we were traveling around from one location to the next, we usually rented a house because there was three kids and a whole family and mom would just get stuff either from Goodwill or sometimes like from the production.
00;03;07;22 - 00;03;34;10
Nina Noble
Sometimes they had extra bits of set dressing or, you know, folding chairs and tables. And so we were sort of like always had kind of temporary stuff. I remember one of my memories is when I went to high school, we kind of settled down. By the time I got to high school and I lived in New York and one of my first boyfriends, what really impressed me about him is that he had a whole matching set of, of, of China.
00;03;34;21 - 00;03;52;00
Nina Noble
Like, I've never seen that. And I came home and I was like, Mom, the pattern on the plate is the same as the cup. Like, you can't believe this. And I had never seen that before because we just had these odds and ends everywhere we went and we never knew any about it. We just thought that's how it was, you know?
00;03;52;08 - 00;04;06;00
Nina Noble
So, so I went to college and I studied biology because it was like the furthest that was my rebellion to study marine biology because it was the furthest thing away from film that I could think of. Oh.
00;04;06;15 - 00;04;26;21
Rob Lee
That's great, that's great. Yeah. Like, it's funny when people are like, Yeah, I have no interest in doing this. I'm going to do something very, very left and then suddenly it's still a way to get back into it still that you find yourself back in there despite the tensions. So what was your what was one of the first jobs you had in the industry?
00;04;27;09 - 00;04;55;10
Nina Noble
Well, I was a production assistant, actually. You know, during the summer when I was a kid, when I was a teenager, I would sometimes help out my mom, my mom, mom and dad divorced when I was about ten. And mom sort of reinvented herself as a commercial assistant director. And so she and doing mostly commercials. So she was working in New York and in the summer some time they needed some extra kid to help out or whatever.
00;04;55;10 - 00;05;14;22
Nina Noble
And so that's that's kind of what I used to do. That was that was my first job. And even after I graduated college, what happened after college was that I couldn't really couldn't find a job like this was the only job I could get. And I always being a production assistant and I always thought, I'll just do this for now, you know?
00;05;15;03 - 00;05;35;07
Nina Noble
I also didn't know what I wanted to do. Yeah. You know, and so it was sort of like, I'll just do this till I figure it out. And so that's that's what it was, you know, it was I think when I graduated college, I think the pay rate at the time was like $200 a week. If you were lucky, maybe 250.
00;05;35;26 - 00;05;57;14
Nina Noble
And so I just did that. Like, really you're just working and sleeping with those types of jobs with 14 hours a day sleep. And, you know, I wasn't always on the staff staff job, so I'd get a day here or there sometimes made the mistake of booking myself for a night shoot, not realizing. And then the next day would be a day shoots.
00;05;57;14 - 00;06;23;16
Nina Noble
I'd get home at six in the morning shower and go back to work on a different production. Oh no. Because I hadn't thought thought to ask. But the schedule, I was like, you know, I just wanted to, you know, work. And so then I had eventually I've got my 600 days as a production assistant and people were like, you know, you're eligible to join the Directors Guild as a assistant director.
00;06;23;16 - 00;06;41;26
Nina Noble
Like, you know, why don't you just do it? And at least, you know, you've been making no money all this time. It'll be a decent wage and you'll get, you know, insurance and all this kind of stuff. And I thought about it and that really wasn't the direction I saw myself going in. But, you know, there were there were things about the film business that I liked.
00;06;41;26 - 00;07;04;15
Nina Noble
I liked going to work at a different place and a different time every day. Like for some people, that might just cause a lot of anxiety. But, you know, I thought that was great. I like traveling and I had already had the opportunity. I'd been on a few shows where they, you know, flew me this some other location and put me up in a hotel to work.
00;07;04;15 - 00;07;26;12
Nina Noble
And yeah, and I and I had, you know, sort of figured out I was good at like, you know, just details and being organized and people found me to be useful. I mean, that's the thing about film is that you only get your next job based on your your previous job. It's all about networking and people recommending you.
00;07;26;18 - 00;07;27;02
Nina Noble
You know.
00;07;27;12 - 00;07;50;25
Rob Lee
That makes sense. Makes a lot of sense. And I've been hearing that as and seeing that actually with some of the opportunities that I've gotten since, you know, we met in person during the the panel a few few months ago at this point last month, actually. And yeah, I've been asked to do different debate, different panels, different conversations, moderating, different things.
00;07;50;25 - 00;08;04;27
Rob Lee
And I was like, Oh, you refer by this person and this is how you got to me. I was like, This is this is great. And kind of being available and doing good work, being to to some degree, I guess available at the end of the day.
00;08;05;01 - 00;08;29;25
Nina Noble
Exactly. Well, available and useful. And you know, and then worked as an assistant director and then, you know, got to work with a lot of really good directors and really kind of I think that's probably when I started to learn the craft in more of a creative way. I still was on the production side, which had to deal with schedules and logistics and just sort of managing people.
00;08;29;25 - 00;09;00;11
Nina Noble
But I saw some, some great directors, you know, Alan Parker and Paul Verhoeven and Paul Mazursky just hone their craft, how they took that script and what their vision overall like big picture, you know, of a project was and how which scenes they spent more time on and which ones they they didn't and feature films, I guess I kind of miss them now because I've been in television for so long.
00;09;00;11 - 00;09;06;19
Nina Noble
But something nice about having the luxury of spending, you know, 3 hours on a scene.
00;09;07;08 - 00;09;07;15
Rob Lee
Yeah.
00;09;07;26 - 00;09;32;15
Nina Noble
And being able to really rehearse and just, you know, light it in a specific way. I really enjoyed watching those directors worked working. One of my first features I worked on was with Barry Levinson movie called A Natural. And yeah, I got a call, it was in New York and I got a call and they said, Can you come to Buffalo tomorrow?
00;09;32;29 - 00;09;55;15
Nina Noble
I'm sure you know. And like they they flew me out there and gave me a hotel room and per diem and that was all pretty nice and a lot of the show is at night. So we were working basically from from like noon until midnight. That was kind of our schedule every day and six days a week, I should say.
00;09;55;15 - 00;09;58;18
Nina Noble
I'm location. In those days it was always six days a week.
00;09;58;24 - 00;10;05;28
Rob Lee
You know, having having one of those that that's an area I'm looking I was like the natural the natural. I was like, Oh, snap, I know this movie Wonderboy and all that good stuff.
00;10;06;25 - 00;10;29;24
Nina Noble
Yeah, it's, you know, and that's where I met Robert Redford, who then and I was I was the production assistant at that time. I wasn't even in the DGA. So then when I had my days as this assistant director, Paul Peter Giuliano called me and he was like, I have a movie with Robert Redford, and I hear he's a little bit difficult.
00;10;29;26 - 00;10;52;19
Nina Noble
You've worked with him before. Are you eligible to join the Guild? Can you do this film with me? And so inadvertently, it was kind of Robert Redford that got me into the guild. So I had to do all my paperwork and apply and everything. And then because I because of that, people there was there were some at the Guild who thought, you know what, she's probably not qualified.
00;10;52;19 - 00;11;20;05
Nina Noble
Robert Redford. Redford's trying to buy her way in, you know, and they held up my application, you know, and then in addition, having two parents who were Directors Guild members, so they were like, she's definitely not qualified. Like they, they really, you know, but this is a silver spoon and, you know, we need to fight this. So they held up my application for quite a while, but I ended up in the end it was fine.
00;11;20;05 - 00;11;29;24
Nina Noble
And, you know, I ended up doing the film, which was Legal Eagles not not one of Ivan Reitman's best films, but but anyway.
00;11;30;06 - 00;11;54;06
Rob Lee
And thank thank you for for walking us through that because that's I mean, it's it's like we could just talk about that for the entire podcast, which is really because I'm sitting here with like bated breath and like we're talking more to more about this, but I want to dove a little bit into it because I hear the the term producer throwing around a lot of a producer here.
00;11;54;06 - 00;12;11;09
Rob Lee
I do this, I do that. From your vantage point, how do you define like what would your role as a producer is on a sort of like day to day on a production? Because like I said, it's a lot of different titles and different ways people go about it. So I'd want to hear your how you view it.
00;12;12;17 - 00;12;38;13
Nina Noble
Yeah, there are a lot of different kinds of producers. You're right. And in feature films it's actually different from television because in the future the executive producer is usually the person that's raise the money, you know, and or maybe found the source material in television. And executive producer is more of someone that takes a leadership role. But, you know, it's definitely present and more hands on.
00;12;39;18 - 00;13;05;26
Nina Noble
In fact, when I my first executive producer title was On The Wire Season three, and when I got that promotion, I called my dad and I was like, so I got this promotion and he was like, Oh, no, you know, you gave up a produced by credit for that for executive producer. You know, those people are nobody because because in his mind from teachers that was that was the case.
00;13;05;26 - 00;13;36;21
Nina Noble
He thought I was kind of being put out to pasture, but actually that isn't what happened. But in any case, what I do, I have sort of found a niche as somebody who translates, I'm really more of a more of a translator of the writer's vision, sometimes director's vision to everyone else on the show. You know, people have different language, different ways of communicating.
00;13;36;21 - 00;14;07;01
Nina Noble
So I'm in all of the writers meetings, I hear what's important to them about how they're telling the story, how they created the story. And then I have to convey all of that to like, you know, production designers and cinematographers and actors sometimes and directors and and and, you know, sort of I think probably because of my background as an assistant director, I really see myself as a support to a director and part of their team.
00;14;07;01 - 00;14;35;23
Nina Noble
And so we work very closely to align, you know, what the overall vision of the writers are with the vision of the director. I try to allow some space for each director who comes in on episodic television. Often we have a different director for every episode, and so I try to make sure there's space for that person to bring something and put their their individual mark on the show.
00;14;36;13 - 00;14;51;08
Rob Lee
That makes sense. That makes sense. So I think I've been trying to use it right, because I try to look at things through that lens of like, how do we bring this to fruition? That's the way that I've kind of understood it. Or have you, because I had a little interest in film at one point and still so.
00;14;51;17 - 00;15;01;15
Rob Lee
But like, how does this come to fruition, whether it's, you know, working with folks, whether it's like, you know, raising money, basically just making it happen?
00;15;01;21 - 00;15;23;09
Nina Noble
Oh, that's absolutely correct. It's just in my case, the money is already there. Right. You know, like I. I haven't ever sold a show. I am hired after the show is sold or I mean, my partnership with David Simon, like we just went out to L.A. last week and and pitched four different projects. And so those haven't been ordered yet.
00;15;24;02 - 00;15;28;18
Nina Noble
But so I'm involved, you know, at that point. But I'm not raising money.
00;15;29;04 - 00;15;29;17
Rob Lee
Got it.
00;15;30;12 - 00;15;54;15
Nina Noble
But everything else. Yeah, everything you say is true. Like, I just have to, you know, literally l hand me a script and say, okay, make it happen. So that that's like, you know, hiring the right people for the show, which sometimes are people, you know, and you've worked with before and sometimes not, you know, I try to really be open to what that particular show needs.
00;15;55;02 - 00;16;13;17
Nina Noble
Sure. And then, you know, where are you going to film it? You know, and then we get into budgeting. You know, the studio has to approve the budget. It's not ever unlimited. And there's always a little bit of conversations about that. So, you know, what's the most efficient way to do it?
00;16;14;00 - 00;16;33;29
Rob Lee
Make sense? I remember this. I used to watch. I'm probably gonna tap into it soon, but this documentary was this kind of Q&A that Kevin Smith would do. And, you know, he would direct in his and one of his partners, Scott Mosher, was like his like regular, like producer, what have you. And he was he would say, close some money at it, just figure it out.
00;16;33;29 - 00;16;41;17
Rob Lee
You got it. Just you got to figure it out. Do it. And he's like, Meanwhile, Scott's just pulling out his hair and that producer role because it's like, we're going over budget. How do we figure this out?
00;16;41;24 - 00;16;52;20
Nina Noble
Yeah, see that? Yeah. I never think throwing money at it is the right way to do it though. Right? I think actually when you have more money, sometimes it makes you less creative and resourceful.
00;16;53;07 - 00;17;13;01
Rob Lee
So when you're looking at a at a project that something is is being if you're being brought in for a project and what is it about that project that really gets you like jazzed up and gets you interested in it? You know, is it more oriented around the material? Is is it the people that are attached to it?
00;17;13;01 - 00;17;23;10
Rob Lee
Is it the logistics like this could be an easier life or is it a combination of those elements? What is it about a project that really gets you interested in signing on and wanting to work on a project?
00;17;23;24 - 00;18;08;04
Nina Noble
Mm hmm. Probably just good writing, bottom line. Like, you know, it can be any genre, but if it's written well, I mean, I'm sure it's also the people involved. I have the luxury of choosing the people that I want to be involved in my projects at this point. So, um, but, but, but definitely good writing because then you can then, then and by that what I mean is, you know, projects that are written well creatively but also that have an element of truth to them, you know, that writers that care about the details and the authenticity of whatever the subject matter is.
00;18;08;28 - 00;18;16;14
Rob Lee
So it's a good it's a good answer, actually, because it segues into this next question that I have for you is almost like you have the questions in beforehand.
00;18;18;05 - 00;18;21;12
Nina Noble
So it's just it's just our telepathic bond. Oh, yeah, yeah.
00;18;21;12 - 00;18;42;24
Rob Lee
It's all it's completely contrived. We're just actors here. Is, is all this is. So, you know, the wire, the corner trimming, which I kind of look at, is almost one of those sister shows. Like it feels very much. I know it's in like New Orleans, but it feels very much like a Baltimore show. Like, here's the creative side where that's what I feel upon rewatching it.
00;18;43;05 - 00;19;03;20
Rob Lee
And as a person that really likes New Orleans, like that's probably where I would ultimately end up when I relocate or if I relocate. Rather, I like that the storytelling like captures and reflects like the reality of a place, the trauma of a place, kind of the culture of the place. That's what I feel. And it makes me kind of like, damn, this is this feels like relatable in this way.
00;19;04;08 - 00;19;13;06
Rob Lee
How could you say or some a chair, some of the thinking that went into like these these properties and, you know, they brought that sort of authenticity and that relatability.
00;19;13;25 - 00;19;33;20
Nina Noble
Well, first of all, I mean, Treme was to me was such a gift to us, to those who worked on it. It was a wonderful it was five years of going to New Orleans for, you know, five months a year and being there at the best time of the year and just really embedding ourselves in the culture and the traditions of that place and being so embraced by the people there.
00;19;33;20 - 00;20;00;10
Nina Noble
And it's still a place that I visit. You know, it's not every year, every other year, you know, because I've made good friends there and it's sort of part of my it's just it's very rejuvenate ing for me to go to New Orleans and, and, and the fact that HBO was able to fund it, was willing to fund a show about culture and about the value, the value of preserving culture.
00;20;01;14 - 00;20;39;22
Nina Noble
And in a place where where the arts are valued and artists are valued in different ways from, I think, anywhere else in this country was was really quite amazing. And that show honestly wouldn't have happened without Katrina. I mean, Eric Overmyer and David Simon, who are the co creators of the show, had had a love and affection for New Orleans and both, you know, were frequent visitors and even before the storm and had this idea, this show about these, you know, musicians and artists and chefs in New Orleans couldn't get it sold.
00;20;40;12 - 00;21;05;28
Nina Noble
And then Katrina happened. And the idea of framing the show around the storm and you know what? You know, why does this city deserve to be saved? You know, and the value of culture, that's what made that show happen. Yeah. So sometimes I guess it's just, you know, the timing the timing of of these things.
00;21;05;28 - 00;21;35;13
Rob Lee
So in terms of having that, the sort of like authenticity that repeatability is, it is due to that sort of love of a place in that I want to do justice to it because I think when there's that investment in a place like looking at its many properties that have that that Baltimore as the the star if you will of a of a show is it is that kind of the cases there like there's an investment in the place and wanting to do right by it within the framework of telling whatever the story might be.
00;21;35;21 - 00;21;47;02
Nina Noble
Yeah. Yeah, it's a it's about the place, but it's also about the people. It's about giving dignity to stories that sometimes don't get told, you know, and getting it right.
00;21;47;19 - 00;22;03;15
Rob Lee
Thank you. And like, I like that that's that's what I what I was feeling because like I said, you know, I sit there and watch it. I remember my partner, she was like her. She's like, there's a few. She's like, I hope you don't really like John Goodman. It goes left. I was like, It's fine. It's fine. I was like, Oh, no.
00;22;04;08 - 00;22;36;09
Nina Noble
But like the Clark Peter character, Clark Peters character, you know, Mardi Gras Indians get cheap lamb, bro. Like, you know, you may have gone to New Orleans as a tourist. You may have seen Mardi Gras Indians. You know, and but, you know, the idea of really understanding that tradition and that culture and and and, you know, what that means to a family and what, you know, happens for the storm, like Katrina, you know, like like that's that's the things that people don't know.
00;22;36;09 - 00;22;55;26
Nina Noble
And and it's a terrific tradition. And it was an honor to be able to portray somebody like that. And, you know, the guardians of the flame was a real is a real Mardi Gras Indian tribe. And and that was like the highest honor possible was that they let us use their name.
00;22;56;10 - 00;23;07;04
Rob Lee
That's great. That's great. That's that's that's really cool. Yeah. Now, now I'm going to have to just go back with, with having that, those extra details that I wasn't aware of. Now I have to go back through and we watched the show.
00;23;08;05 - 00;23;30;26
Nina Noble
But I have to say, the reason, you know, the reason we were able to have the degree of authenticity to get those facts right and to, you know, have the the blessing of of people. I mean, really, we're making shows for the people who live there in the places that we portray. Sure. You know, and if they if they like the show and if they feel we got it right, then that's all we really need.
00;23;31;11 - 00;24;01;07
Nina Noble
It doesn't really matter too much about anybody else. But the reason for that, why why we got that, I think was, you know, getting out and meeting people and listening to their stories, which a lot of times doesn't happen. There's more and more writers who just are in L.A. and doing research by computer and Google and and not really so directly in touch with the people they write about.
00;24;01;23 - 00;24;03;14
Rob Lee
Yeah. And, you know, and it.
00;24;03;15 - 00;24;05;09
Nina Noble
Shows that shows.
00;24;05;09 - 00;24;25;06
Rob Lee
Yeah. Like one of the, one of the things that I was looking at and I was, you know, chatting with you a little bit before we got started about going back and forth to Philadelphia. When I do these sort of interviews, I could do them via Zoom, but it is something about kind of capturing it in the person's place, you know, in that that location or what have you.
00;24;25;14 - 00;24;46;17
Rob Lee
And I think it leads for richer conversation. Like, I remember talking with one dude and it was just it felt like comedy to me. He's like, my bad bro. I'm late. I'm stopping over here to get a cheesesteak. You want something that wouldn't have happened if it was the resume, you know what I mean? And yeah. And I just think that that adds to just some of that, some of the culture stuff.
00;24;46;18 - 00;24;50;00
Rob Lee
This it's a throwaway thing, but it is really funny and really interesting, I think.
00;24;50;07 - 00;25;18;05
Nina Noble
Yeah, no, absolutely. You know, and it goes back to my comment about, you know, whatever each show needs something different. You know, this last show we did, we own this city, we shot in Baltimore. And I really was concerned about depicting these horrific events that happened in neighborhoods in Baltimore, because we most often try to film in the place where the thing really happened.
00;25;18;26 - 00;25;30;03
Nina Noble
But that means subjecting neighbors to something that, you know, they just had to go through, you know, four or five years ago, you know, that there's still know some lasting trauma around.
00;25;30;15 - 00;25;30;22
Rob Lee
Yeah.
00;25;31;01 - 00;25;44;21
Nina Noble
That you know, that was that was another, you know, thing that we had to figure out was how how we could do that, you know, with some integrity and access and why, why, why do it, you know.
00;25;46;01 - 00;26;07;23
Rob Lee
I see. I want to talk about I have two real questions left and then I got those Rapidfire questions for you. So we got those so many listeners would know about you for your work on The Wire. And it's, you know, been been 20 years since the premiere. And the show's been a big part of pop culture for for better or for worse.
00;26;07;23 - 00;26;25;23
Rob Lee
And I think the better. Like it's it's a great show. And I don't think even with people talking about it as much as they do and not enough respect is put on a name for it because it's like this was this was done very well. This was great. And and it depicted things in a in a way that made sense.
00;26;25;23 - 00;26;45;24
Rob Lee
Like, you know, being one of those those kids, I was like, oh, I remember this. Like one of my teachers back in the day was because Ed Burns, like at City College, he was my teacher. So it definitely connects in that sort of way. So I'm like, oh, no, no, this is this is legit. What would you say your favorite memory from working on the series is?
00;26;46;14 - 00;27;09;24
Nina Noble
My favorite memory is probably not something that was on screen. It was really more about the family that we the sense of family that we created on that show. You know, I think by the end we had, you know, this was this was a show that people would drop what they were doing to come back to. We were canceled every year of the wire.
00;27;11;01 - 00;27;33;06
Nina Noble
The wire was not the hit that people perceive it to be. Now, we were canceled every year. People's contracts lapsed, you know, actors contracts. And then they would decide they wanted the show for whatever reason, either, you know, because they like the pitch, but sometimes even because of scheduling, because they had a hole in their schedule or some other show wasn't ready in time.
00;27;33;06 - 00;28;02;21
Nina Noble
Often that's how, you know, we snuck in and, you know, the fact that at the end I think we said we had 95% of the original crew from the pilot. This was the show that people dropped what they were doing to come back to. It was a show where we all hung out together on the weekends and there was, you know, we had a softball team and we had different kinds of community activities that we did and charity work that we did all together.
00;28;03;03 - 00;28;10;02
Nina Noble
I've never been on a show like that where people choose to spend time together on the weekend after working a 60 hour week together.
00;28;10;09 - 00;28;11;29
Rob Lee
Oh, wow. That's that's really cool.
00;28;12;16 - 00;28;36;21
Nina Noble
And the other thing is, even since look, the wire, it's been gone for 20 years, right? We still all show up for each other when it counts. You know, there's still this this you know, some of us are closer to each other than others. But, you know, when things happen, we just lost Michael K Williams recently, you know, and and and we're there for each other when it counts.
00;28;37;07 - 00;28;59;13
Rob Lee
It's important. It's important. And hearing about this sort of like connectivity and just people relating league, it it's a lot of emotions that that flow on a on a set I would imagine and the long hours in connecting with folks or what have you and yet it feels natural. And I like hearing about, oh, there's, there's, there's a family component there.
00;28;59;13 - 00;29;12;17
Rob Lee
There's a connection component there. And, you know, seeing it's like I think you touched on earlier almost the sort of referral and kind of like working with people that, you know, they do good stuff or have you. It lends itself naturally to that.
00;29;12;28 - 00;29;36;10
Nina Noble
The other thing is on the long running show, people have the opportunity to move up, you know, within the course of the production, during the course of the production, you know, is five seasons. And so you saw people get promoted and you saw people, you know, buy homes and get married and have kids. And so we all were sort of part of each other's, you know, home life in that way as well.
00;29;36;10 - 00;29;42;25
Nina Noble
That doesn't these days there's more limited series. And so it's really hard to to foster that kind of camaraderie.
00;29;43;02 - 00;30;11;25
Rob Lee
So this is the last real question I have for you, and maybe I'm wrong here, but I feel like the title of the production company, like Blown DEADLINE, feels a little tongue in cheek. Maybe maybe I'm maybe I'm wollen. I don't know. But from your from your vantage point, what sort of what are some of the strategies that you utilize to stay like, you know, on deadline like one time and within budget, all of that good stuff on a project because I thought the name was kind of funny as I kept looking at it and I was like, Nah, that's not what it means.
00;30;12;03 - 00;30;33;04
Nina Noble
Yeah. First of all, that's David's David Simon's company has blown that line and he he coined the name, you know, because he's he's a writer sometimes, you know, late on deadline. And I think he thought it was funny, you know, that somebody would want to go into business with on deadline and you know for 22 years whenever he has a script, it's late to HBO or whatever.
00;30;33;04 - 00;30;55;22
Nina Noble
He's like, look, you hired blown deadline. What do you what do you expect? You know, so so that that that comes from him. I can't really take credit for that. But as far as, you know, staying on task and everything, I think for me it's all about preparation. It's all about like starting early, being prepared, communicating, you know, well so that other people know what to expect.
00;30;56;07 - 00;31;07;09
Rob Lee
So with that, thank you. Thank you for that because that makes a lot of sense to me and with that, I think we're able to move into the rapid fire portion of today's conversation.
00;31;08;04 - 00;31;08;20
Nina Noble
Okay.
00;31;10;03 - 00;31;34;16
Rob Lee
These these questions are ridiculous. Just just to let you know and you already know that because you're a listener. So and thanks for listening. So I want to start off with. So you touched on earlier traveling right? So what's one of the favorite places that you've visited? Like what sticks out like whether it's for work or things that you view, places that you've visited, like afterwards, but what's the place that really sticks out?
00;31;34;16 - 00;31;40;02
Rob Lee
You're like, not really like this place. This is this is a place for me. It's my speed, my type of people, my type of food, things of that nature.
00;31;40;16 - 00;31;48;27
Nina Noble
Well, absolutely. New Orleans. But I can only eat the food for three days after that. It's a little much, but yeah. Yeah, no New Orleans for sure.
00;31;49;22 - 00;32;02;19
Rob Lee
That's great. That's great. We're at the same page. I feel like simpatico. I love this. If your life was a story, what would the title of the story be like if it was a book or something?
00;32;03;23 - 00;32;19;14
Nina Noble
Oh my gosh. I have no idea. I would you know, I'm not I wouldn't be the one writing the story. So someone else would create the title. And then I would tell them what's wrong with it.
00;32;20;19 - 00;32;24;14
Rob Lee
It's like, you got it all wrong. I don't. I can see that being.
00;32;24;23 - 00;32;26;18
Nina Noble
I'm a good editor. I'm not a writer.
00;32;27;07 - 00;32;51;10
Rob Lee
I dig it. Yeah, it would it would be something I think for me, it would be something that's a meme or dad joke or something like that. Yeah, I think, I think that's the lane of it and usually when it's someone's name like it's taking from that. So I remember doing an interview with, with this composer, Ian Power, and I was like, I feel like the name of your bio is With Great Power.
00;32;51;10 - 00;32;59;20
Rob Lee
He's like, That's really bad, dude. I was like, I know. I know what what is the most powerful word in the English language?
00;33;00;27 - 00;33;02;01
Nina Noble
Powerful in what way?
00;33;03;23 - 00;33;24;20
Rob Lee
That elicits a response like, you know, what is a word? When someone uses that, it's like, oh, get your attention. Or have you like I've heard. Yes. Is is having a really powerful word being a very powerful word, the same way as know is or love is things of that nature. And it's interesting when someone defines why they pick that word.
00;33;24;20 - 00;33;27;25
Rob Lee
So whatever word you might be interested in, whatever word you think is powerful.
00;33;28;18 - 00;33;29;15
Nina Noble
Probably respects.
00;33;30;18 - 00;33;49;06
Rob Lee
Uh, the C So you mentioned some of that, some of the food has been really good. You talked about that earlier. What's a some food that sticks out to you? Like I know it's been many a sets many a craft services, what have you but like what do you what do you usually looking for a crafty.
00;33;49;25 - 00;33;52;05
Nina Noble
Oh I'm usually looking to stay away from crafty.
00;33;53;27 - 00;33;56;04
Rob Lee
That's a good looking to avoid okay.
00;33;58;03 - 00;34;00;26
Nina Noble
Yes.
00;34;00;26 - 00;34;18;03
Rob Lee
And so this is the last one I got for you. This is one I have recently been using. And yeah, if people have interesting responses to it. If so, tomorrow we're starting days and no longer 24 hours. They're now 25 hours. What do you do with the extra hour?
00;34;18;15 - 00;34;21;02
Nina Noble
Oh, probably hang out with my pets.
00;34;22;01 - 00;34;25;16
Rob Lee
Well, quality time action. A lot of people are saying sleep. Just just want to sleep.
00;34;25;27 - 00;34;26;11
Nina Noble
Now.
00;34;28;01 - 00;34;49;17
Rob Lee
I dig it. So that's pretty much it for me with the real with the questions and all in the interview. And I want to thank you for coming on and in chopping it out with me and talking with me. And if there's anything that that you want to plug in these final moments here, I want to like invite, encourage you to share, plug away and anything you have in the final moments.
00;34;50;00 - 00;34;53;16
Nina Noble
No, it's just been it's been great talking to you. I'm glad we got to catch up.
00;34;54;03 - 00;35;00;17
Rob Lee
Absolutely. So thank you so much. Is there a social media or a website or anything that you want to put out there before we wrap now?
00;35;00;29 - 00;35;05;26
Nina Noble
I am I'm pleasantly incognito.
00;35;06;16 - 00;35;09;26
Rob Lee
I love it. I'm behind the scenes. I producer.
00;35;11;03 - 00;35;14;01
Nina Noble
No, you'll know you'll see me when you see me.
00;35;15;11 - 00;35;38;16
Rob Lee
I like it. And there you have it, folks. I want to again thank Nina Noble for coming on to the podcast and sharing some of her wisdom with us and walking through her career with us. And I'm broadly saying that there's art in and around Baltimore, there's film in and around Baltimore, there's culture in and around Baltimore. You've just got to look for it.
