Jacqueline Gault
Producer and CEO of Film and Television Development Company The Gault Shop
Jacqueline Gault, who previously sported magenta locks, adorned a full head of platinum hair - a color we both currently share. Those who wear a crown of multi-colored hair rule creative lives, and that is undeniably true with Mrs. Gault.
Jacqueline Gault is a producer. Well, producer does not describe her well enough. Jacqueline Gault is a promoter, advocate, and voracious producer of innovative stories. Like many in the movie industry, her path started elsewhere. The University of Washington, to be specific. There she majored in PR and advertising, leading to a 15-year career in advertising. She loved the process of storytelling that went into an ad campaign but the advertising industry has its limits, “I worked on the creative side...especially with young creatives, it eats them up and spits them out. It eeks your creative juices out of you and replaces you with a new batch of fresh ideas.”
While six months pregnant, Jacquline took a step back from the advertising industry to think about what she really wanted. As if a new baby didn’t change her life enough, Jacqueline found a new career path and went for it. She saw her niece go to a film set as an extra and thought, “That’s storytelling, I could totally do that.” The background she had in advertising translated really well in development for feature films. Not to say producing is easy. There is a reason why the term “development hell” exists, but Gault lives and thrives there.
Jacqueline went on to establish her own production company, The Gault Shop. The Gault Shop is a Portland, Oregon-based development and production company that specializes in motion picture and television content. She describes Portland as a “Quiet creative hub,” because production companies like Laika, Shadow Machine, and Dark Horse, all work out of Portlandia alongside The Gault Shop. Jacqueline carefully selects new projects, “...works with writers and fine tunes their story,” to create the beautiful media we worship.
She’s passionate about science-fiction. She craves stories that are so unreal you would never even think something like that could exist until a creative writer slaps you in the face with it. She loves scripts that are grounded in reality but twisted with fantastical concepts so you have to sit back and think, “What did I just read?.” Basically, she wants you (the writer) to blow her mind. Is that too much to ask?
When she is not obsessively reading into new projects, she enjoys the outdoors: Hiking, boating in the summer, skiing in the winter. To me, it seems like she never stops. What happened to enjoying a glass of wine as a hobby? But Jacqueline clearly has an appetite for new experiences. What she misses most though is travel for work and pleasure. She used to go location scouting, be on set with her crew, or maintain friendships and relationships by flying out to places like LA. Travel was also a great way to meet new people and understand their roles in the industry. “If you’re going to be a producer that works with a crew on set, you need to have a basic understanding of what everyone’s jobs are...So when you’re giving feedback and working with a team, you’re not derailing the project…”
Traveling is how she found The Creators Society. About five or six years ago she attended the Kidscreen Summit in Miami and met Eric Miller. Since then, they’ve established a tight friend group they like to refer to as, Kickass Kidscreeners. It’s exclusive and no you are not invited. As a producer, Jacqueline could not be a bigger proponent for networking, and The Creators Society is just one more awesome tool to do so.
Jacqueline spoke almost solely in advice and expertise. “If you’re working in story development, read. Read a bunch of stories. Watch a lot in your genre. Be the master of your genre, like if you’re working in teen drama watch Ginny and Georgia (Netflix)...and know everything that’s currently out there in the marketplace, and read the trades. Find out what’s coming into the marketplace...You don’t want to pitch an idea that is already out there.”
At the end of the day, Gault says, “I am a sucker for story.” Her own personal project has chatter to reach mass audiences, a project I will undoubtedly support at the box office and with my eyeballs. In the meantime, I’ll indulge in the previously pink-haired-producer’s Gault Shop films. I’ve got my platinum hair, I’m already halfway there to being as cool as Jacqueline Gault.
