Today I speak with film producer, Michelle Raimo Kouyate, about her approach to keeping calm in an industry where chaos is the norm. As a producer, problem-solving and “putting out fires” is a large part of the job. She used to believe that “wrestling” these problems and aggressively charging ahead was required in order to get things done. She didn’t, at the time, realize how much of her suffering was self-inflicted. Michelle shares what has changed since looking in the direction of thought, including one very important lesson we can all benefit from: sometimes the way to find our natural momentum is by taking a step back.

Michelle Raimo Kouyate is an Academy Award-nominated producer whose credits include Silver Linings Playbook, Chocolat, The Shipping News, Puss In Boots and An Unfinished Life.  She has vast and varied experience, working in both live action and animation as both an executive and a producer.  She is the principal of MRK Productions, which is based at Sony Pictures. Prior to having her own production company, Michelle was President for Sony Pictures Animation and SVP of Development and Production at Miramax Films.