- Caleb Ewing
Ask a Former Assistant (Mara Huberman, Citizen)
Social Media Manager, Citizen App
Interviewed by: Caleb Ewing, Finishing Coordinator at Framework Studio
Hi Mara– I’m thrilled to be speaking with you today!
Before we get into the exciting work you’re doing as the Social Media Manager at Citizen, let’s go back to your time at USC as a business & comedy performance student. You took advantage of some amazing internship opportunities, including one at Comedy Central. As a comedy performance student, how was your experience as an intern and what did you take away?
Working at Comedy Central was a really cool experience because I’d be in the office one day and the other two days I was on the lot, going on set for “Lights Out with David Spade.” Weirdly, the writer's assistant was a good friend of mine from Jewish sleepaway camp, so it was just like, “small world!” It kind of proves how in entertainment, everybody knows each other, so always be nice to everyone because you never know who you're gonna work with or work for someday.
On my last day of the internship, I actually had a performance at the Hollywood Improv. I looked a little bit nicer because I had to go straight from the lot to the Improv. People kept asking, “Why do you look like that, what's going on?” When I explained, my friend the writer’s assistant said “Oh my gosh, we should tell Spade.” I was like, “Okay…” so we walk right up to David Spade and my friend tells him. Spade responds, “No way, I’m performing at the Improv tonight, too.” I said, “Should we carpool?” which made him laugh, the highlight of my day. We were performing in different rooms, but he said,“Depending on what time you go on, I'd love to see your set.” And so literally, I'm sitting at the bar at the Improv, waiting to get called up, and David Spade walks into the room, coming to watch me! I said, “I'll be on in five,” and he said “I'll come after mine, I'm about to be on.” To this day, I have no idea if he saw me or not, but I totally, totally flopped, I was so nervous. Still, it was just such a funny and cool story! I obviously wish I had performed a little bit better that night, but you know what, so it goes. He was a really nice guy.
What a great story! Guess you truly never know who you’ll be working for (or performing with??).
After graduating from USC, you got a Masters Degree from NYU in Integrated Marketing while working in a few roles in Marketing for Cakeworks, all during the pandemic. How did you manage your time and what advice would you give someone who finds themselves balancing a full-time job in entertainment while going through school?
I think it's just about being really transparent with your capabilities and flexibilities. For instance, I had to fly out for work at one point to go to a conference and wouldn't be able to attend class, which I obviously had to communicate to my teacher. They were really understanding and it was the same at work. If there was an exam, I could just say to my manager and my CEO, who I reported to, “Hey, I have to take off work a little bit early today because I need to study.” I was a contracted employee, which also helped in my situation.
I think what was great about being in grad school and having a job was– I could apply everything I was learning directly to my job and vice versa. Whenever there were examples needed in class, I could pull from real-life scenarios and it actually made class more interesting.
But they were definitely long days! Some days I'd start work at 8 AM and get back from the classroom at like 10:30 PM, but I managed through the help of a lot of cold brew.
Post-grad school, you worked as a Digital Marketing Manager for Showtime (on shows like Yellowjackets and Billions) and you now work as a Social Media Manager for Citizen. How did you handle the transition from marketing scripted shows to managing marketing for a company that primarily deals in real-life events, as they happen?
When you’re marketing a scripted show, you're in “PR” not “ER.” Each television show had its own tone of voice, so it was a lot of fun to be able to go back and forth between different tones. For instance, I was writing copy for “Billions” and that was very much frat boy, hedge fund, edgy while Yellowjackets is really witty and dark but you're talking like the smartest teenage girl in the room.
At Citizen, although I’m still only in marketing, it feels very much like a pressure cooker. You need to get the information out as fast as possible and beat out other news sources, so we can get the most views, the most engagement, and really get people interested in why they need to download Citizen for their real-time updates, rather than just getting their news from any other platform. In a way, it feels like I’ve transitioned from Scripted to News.
What’s a typical day look like for you at Citizen?
Citizen is a personal safety app, but it gets over a thousand pieces of video content daily from people going live within the app reporting safety incidents. That’s a TON of content to sift through.
My day is usually four parts. One part is analytical, making sure I do a daily sweep of all our social metrics. We’re a startup, so we’re very numbers and goal-based. I’m constantly making sure we’re tracking our goals. The next part, I put my producer cap on and sift through all that content, finding the best breaking news to flag for our social coordinators to post. If they aren’t available, the next part is the creative side, where I’ll edit videos and do the social media get up where you look for trending audio and the right hashtags that fit your post. And then the last part is strategy, in which I dedicate a block of my calendar every day to take a step back and review the strategy we’re implementing and seeing what works and what doesn’t– whether it’s how we could better focus on getting more downloads, how we’re finding our influencers and other types of partners, and everything in between.
I imagine working in such a busy, fast-paced, news-like environment can be taxing. What other interests do you have to help take your mind off work?
Skiing is by far my favorite thing to do in the world. It sucks that it’s a seasonal sport but I really do find that I can never be mad when my skis are touching snow!
More year-round, I have a true passion for wine! It’s funny, a lot of my hobbies stem from my dad and we just got our level three sommelier certification this past year. Wine truly tells a story in terms of history, nature, biodiversity, nationality. Each bottle holds an ecosystem and a history within itself and when you open it, you’re talking about that history and I love the educational aspect. I have such joy in picking a bottle for the table and seeing someone enjoy or even dislike a wine that I choose.
I also love to write. I wrote a comedic book of haikus called 575 Haiku Book when I was in college. In 2022, I had an opportunity to write and submit short stories to be published. Also, my fiancé’s grandfather is a really well known Argentinian author, and he wrote this book I adore called The Passion According to Carmela which I’m hoping to turn into a screenplay. Giving myself 10 years for that one. The next big writing project for me though will be my vows!
Aw, congratulations! Speaking of future celebrations, when you think about Mara Huberman 5 or 10 years down the road, where do you see yourself?
Career-wise, I have no idea! I am very much riding the wave of Citizen. Startup life is crazy, it's fun, it's inspiring. There's a lot of room for growth, which is really exciting. I also definitely want to get back into the more traditional entertainment industry at some point within the next 5 to 10 years, whether that be at a large streaming company or another startup.
Then, of course, in the next 5 or 10 years, I’ll be a mom, trying to find a good work-life balance. When I interned at NBC, the marketing department was mostly women. I remember watching our VP leave her office saying, “Okay, I’m going to go see my kids play right now, but I’ll be back online around 8PM.” It was so awesome seeing that people can take the time and actually be there for their families and still also be there for the job as well. I think that balance is truly an art and it’s inspiring.
Oh, and I will have written that screenplay!
Before you go, you’ve been successful and found your way through the pandemic, at downsizing companies, and even industry-wide contractions like the one we face now. What has kept you going and what advice would you give to assistants or other professionals in entertainment trying to have similar success?
Honestly, I have a really helpful support system at home that’s helped me. Also, I think taking the reminders of putting your phone down and taking a second to stop thinking about work, even just for a moment, has been really helpful for me.
Like I mentioned before, you never know who you’re going to work with or for, so it’s best to leave a positive lasting impression on the people you touch. There’s really no set path in the entertainment industry. I was really inspired by a woman at Comedy Central who had started as an intern then moved to the marketing team working socials for “Key and Peele.” Because she did such a good job and kept close relationships with people in development, she was able to sort of circumnavigate the traditional ladder to become a development exec by keeping her head down and working really hard while maintaining those relationships and she was a development exec for many years. If you have an assistant background or an agency or coordinator background, you can use that to build relationships and move towards the areas you’re most interested in anywhere in the industry.
