Flourish Klink is a writer, producer and self-proclaimed fangirl who is now working as a transmedia producer and writer for the Hulu original series “East Los High.” On Thursday, she spoke with students at the School of Communication about her work in the transmedia field, which she described as storytelling “across multiple delivery channels” where, ideally, “each medium makes its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story.”
“East Los High” was created with the motive of exploring the range of possible Latino characters stepping away from the traditional housemaid, gardener and gangster roles.
Klink graduated from Reed College with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion, then from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a master’s degree in Comparative Media Studies.
She now invests most of her time in “East Los High,” but she spends some of her free time giving lectures at MIT in transmedia, storytelling, fan culture and media studies. In an interview with The Miami Hurricane, Klink described how she started working in transmedia. She offered advice for students looking to go into the field.
The Miami Hurricane (TMH): How did you get started as a transmedia producer?
Flourish Klink: I had no idea what this was, and I didn’t have any intention of going into the media industry. I ended up in grad school at MIT through weird connections and coincidences. I had no idea what I was doing. It sort of fell into my lap, and there I was in comparative media studies. That’s where I met my business partners, and they were working in transmedia and they needed a fan specialist who knew about fan culture, and so I was like, ‘great, I can be a professional fan.’ And so that sort of turned into transmedia producing.
TMH: What is your favorite aspect of your career?
FK: I get to do basically everything. And because I’m not working for, like, ABC or whatever, I don’t have to go into an office everyday. I have work that I have to complete and it’s very project-based and it’s always different. So, like sometimes there’s the social media and sometimes there’s the website and sometimes I’m on set directing someone. It’s sort of a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none thing. It’s really fun.
TMH: What advice do you have for students who want to get into this field?
Flourish Klink: I think my major advice is to work. Work. Work. Work. Work. It’s really important that you get a good educational foundation, but fundamentally, for working in television, it’s jobs. You really have to hustle, and you have to take anything that’s offered and you have to work your way up there. So if you’re not already producing something right now, then produce it. Make some student films. Create a reel that you can show someone. Create some writing. Get a portfolio going, and as soon as you can, get staffed on anything that will take you at any job and work your way up as best you can.
This article orginally appeared in The Miami Hurricane by Andrea Cespedes. Video produced by Daniela Raggioli.
