I Get Paid To: Write About Awesome People!

Name: Lydia Monin
Age: 35
Employer: Self-employed
Position: Writer and documentary filmmaker

Can you give us a brief job description?
I write books and produce documentary films. There’s a lot of crossover between the two roles; sometimes a book is based on a documentary or vice-versa; sometimes they’re standalone projects. The subjects are diverse.

A couple of years ago I was working on documentaries about war crimes and genocide, but my current book chronicles the life of Tom Heeney, a Kiwi boxer who became New Zealand’s first celebrity.

How did you get this job?
After training as a journalist I got a job working on documentaries. I moved into news, spending a few years as a radio reporter and television producer in Auckland, before taking up a journalism fellowship at Oxford. One of the other Fellows is now my husband, and we’ve been based in Ireland for a decade, working together on several documentary films.

We also co-wrote our first book seven years ago after realising we had a room full of research materials generated for a television documentary series on the history of landmines, much of which would never be used. There’s only so much you can say, even in a four-hour television series. A book to accompany the series seemed like a good idea.

What inspired you to get into this field?
An interest in people, history and the world in general.

A typical week researching a book is spent in a library, talking to people, visiting places that are central to the story and generally following up leads. A typical week writing a book is mostly spent at my computer, although I’ll go to a different environment to think about structures, themes, etc. A typical week during the production of a documentary can involve any or all of the above, and/or travelling to different countries and filming.

Pretty much everything, but travelling the world is high on the list. This job usually involves going to places that are off the tourist trail and meeting a lot of local people. As a tourist you can feel quite detached, but travelling for work allows you to really get to know a place.

Best perks of the job?
Travel (again!) and a very flexible schedule. There aren’t many jobs that would allow me to be based in Dublin but also to spend long stints writing on Waiheke Island!

 

Adaptability, perseverance, a desire to learn, the ability to generate ideas, the ability to process a lot of information quickly, attention to detail.

There have been so many new experiences over the past few years no one moment stands out. Some of the best moments have been in New York, as the city has an energy that seems to seep into your bones. I’ll also never forget filming in war-torn Angola and in several places still recovering from war: Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia. There were many, many sad stories.

If you have a great idea, don’t automatically assume someone’s already done it. Sometimes the best ideas are the most obvious. Turning an idea into a book or a film has a lot to do with opportunity, timing and the support of likeminded people.

More of the same!

Check out Lydia’s book, ‘From Poverty Bay to Broadway: The Story of Tom Heeney’ (RRP $39.99) here now! It’s an absolutely amazing read about one of New Zealand’s most colourful and talented sporting personalities (Tom killed a man with one punch) that you won’t be able to put down!

Ramarea