The Designer & the Entertainer
Active Spotlights featuring Jill Tiutan & Haley Williams
We are beginning a series of casual active spotlights leading up to our Winter Rush in January! These quick interviews are structured with the intent to learn more behind the academic, professional, and social lives of some of our actives.
Last week, I caught up with Jill and Haley after class to see what they have been up to since the summer!
Tell me a little about yourself!
Jill: Hey! I’m a 3rd year Cognitive Science major minoring in Film. I’ve been doing design for the last 6 years. My design work has ranged from product/user experience design, marketing and branding, to more visual disciplines like graphic and typography. I love the work and I believe I’ll be working with design for the next few years!
Haley: Hey, I’m Haley! I’m a 4th year History major and I’ve been working in entertainment for the last four years. I started in writing and actor management, and soon transitioned to feature film development at Working Title Films, then to scripted TV at Lionsgate, and finally to where I am now, reality TV and daytime syndication at Sony. I’ve been at Sony for the last ten months and I’ve honestly loved every minute of it. It’s also where I get the chance to develop some of my own original programming!
Awesome, and it seems you touched a bit on it, but what else are you two working on outside of school?
Jill: There are three main things I’m doing outside of class. The first is doing freelance work with my startup called Last-Minute Designs. Our mission is to create and provide design resources for clients in need of … well, last-minute designs! I’m also working with an SEP alumni, Annie Yu, on a gaming application. She’s working a lot on the 3D modeling and I’m working on the game design and development side of things. And finally, I reached out to StartupUCLA to see if I could collaborate and paint a mural in their workspace. If it goes well, they’ll refer me to UCLA Residential Life and other organizations on campus!
Haley: Outside of Sony, I work on my own original content for Unscripted, which I typically pitch to them. I also currently have three shows that I have completed in terms of development, and I also continue to screen write on the side!
Even though both of you are focused in different industries, tell me about how your friendship/work dynamic came to be!
Haley: I think it began around our common interest in film, and I think when we first talked, a lot of the conversation revolved around that. I also knew Jill was terrific in design and we sort of just became friends naturally. One day, we casually started working on a pitch deck together for a few different shows and I just enjoyed how well we bounced ideas off of each other. I remember there was this moment where we couldn’t figure out how this one thing should go and I kind of just blabbered Take on Me by a-ha and Jill was like, “OH MY GOSH WAIT I GET IT GET IT, ONE SECOND” and designed the idea just how I pictured it!
Jill: Yea, I totally remember that, haha! There was also this time Haley was trying to communicate some concept/direction she wanted for a show but couldn’t really describe it in words. So she tried making these sound effects like “zazzinggh!” and I instantly knew EXACTLY what she meant by it visually. For instance, that “zazzinggh” was for a shiny logo and I knew exactly how to design it. I think it’s super rare to find someone who you can work with that communicates with utter sounds, so I guess having that dynamic is really unique and hilarious.
What’s next for y’all/any last words?
Haley: I hope Jill and I can continue to collaborate on new projects as they come in. We really work well together, and honestly, how many people can you meet who can communicate effectively through utter noise?
Jill: We’re definitely working on some cool new projects in the future. Can’t say too much about them now, but definitely stay tuned!
Thanks for reading! If you want to learn more about our other actives, check us out on our website: uclasep.com.
Also be sure to follow Jill @jilltiutan and Haley @itshaleytimeagain on Insta!
