Meet Gabby

Gabby is a production accountant who has been in the business for just over a decade. She grew up in New York City and attended Boston University. After college, Gabby moved to Los Angeles to try and break into the industry. She applied for and took every opportunity she could to get started, including a lot of production assistant work. Recognizing her abilities with numbers, producers started giving her some light accounting work. She used those skills to get accounting jobs and work her way up to production accountant. Among the projects she has worked on are “Real Housewives of New York,” “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” “Below Deck Adventure” and “Ancient Aliens.”

What was your favorite project and why? Below Deck Adventure. I worked on location in Norway and really enjoyed working internationally. Being in Norway in the summer was terrific and it was a great crew to work with. It was during COVID and there were a lot of challenges and problem-solving that made things particularly interesting.

What is the best part of being a production accountant? My favorite part of being a production accountant is seeing everything come together behind the scenes from a budgeting standpoint. Watching a budget evolve throughout a project and understanding the context for each line item is an exciting part of the process for me. All the financial pieces and paperwork that accompanies this provides an interesting context that not a lot of people get to see. Contracts, agreements, invoices and receipts all tell a story. Production is an exciting environment with a lot going on and I feel like you get a bird’s eye view in accounting. You get a peek into all the departments.

What advice would you give someone starting out in the profession? Building relationships and networking is key to succeeding in this industry. Be humble but know your worth. It’s easier to get jobs through your network than applying online, even if you have a lot of experience. Learn from everyone you can, within your department and beyond. Never turn down an opportunity to learn something new and don’t be afraid to ask questions. It’s important to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it instead of just blindly following instructions. There may also be times when you must roll up your sleeves and figure it out yourself and that’s the quickest way to learn.