There are two things that Deanie Wilcher was born
to do - entertain people and manage money. (Well,
three things if you count eating southern fried chicken
as a vocational skill).
Some of her first memories are of touring with her
family as gospel singers. They'd stand the 4 year-old
Deanie up on a stool and she'd sing her heart out.
She also fondly recalls helping her daddy count the
church's Sunday contributions - penny by penny. In
these memories, we find the seeds of a great television
producer and a brilliant money manager.
As the financial brains (and spine
and guts and various other anatomy) of Advanced Medical
Productions, it's Deanie's responsibility to balance
the creative ideas of the production teams (read: expensive
ideas), with the real world constraints of the budget
(read: what's the most we can do with the least money).
"I like working with budgets
because numbers are black and white (never red please!).
They're very straight forward. And, yet, making a
good budget is as creative an act as directing or
editing."
Over the years (she'd prefer we not
count decades) since graduating with a music degree
from Birmingham Southern College, Deanie has been an
opera singer, performed in musical theater, managed
various professional offices, owned a gift and antique
shop and co-wrote a feature length screenplay. Today,
she's a compulsive runner and exerciser, but, most importantly,
a mother to three wonderful young women and now a grandmother
to one fabulous grandson. As she likes to say, her experience
as a mother is what really prepared her to be a producer.
"Producing is just like
mothering. What do you need to have a happy crew?
Make sure they know their schedule, get them there
on time, always keep them well fed and let them believe
that they're in control!"
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