Fresh Cut: Jenn Mersis

There’s a certain kind of calm that instantly changes the energy in a room. The kind that makes impossible timelines feel manageable, stressed-out teams feel supported, and chaotic projects somehow land exactly where they need to. That’s the energy Jenn Mersis — our new Head of Production — brings to Lucky Day.

Before joining the team as HoP, Jenn spent years bouncing between agency and post worlds, building a deep understanding of both sides of the process. She’s the kind of producer who can talk timelines, codecs, team chemistry, client relationships, and creative instincts all in the same breath — while also somehow making time to discuss interior design, her two military dogs, and the very serious artistry of hobby horsing (jk).

We sat down with Jennifer to talk about leadership, collaboration, post-production realities, and why a successful project is less about perfection and more about getting everyone through the process feeling heard.

Life, Dogs, & Interior Design

What is something that you're always hoping people bring up in conversation?
Jenn: I would say probably interior design. It's my little secret side hobby situation.
Dasha: I love that. Is your house all decked out?
Jenn: Not really, but it's part of the reason that I like having a big house, honestly, because there's always something else to do. Which is silly for two people and two dogs, but we don't let it get in the way. It's Utah. You get a big house in Utah. It’s part of the deal.
Kyle: Who or what is your interior design North Star?
Jenn: There's a designer named Daryl Carter who has this really great ability to be a minimalist with antiques. And I think that takes some real vision. It’s not brutally minimalistic, but it uses a lot of antiques and found pieces in a way that’s unexpected but really works. But Mark Sykes with everything being blue and white is also pretty fantastic.

What's a positive trait that people always compliment you on?
Jenn: Probably that I'm always calm. I'm just one of those calm people. It's pretty hard to get me rocked and rolled anymore.
Kyle: We'll take that as a challenge.
Jenn: Just hearing, “We need 16 flame artists on something,” gets me pretty close.
Dasha: Well, next April Fools, we know what to do.
Kyle: 17 flame artists.

What's one song that makes you feel understood?
Jenn: I'm not really that great of a music person, to be totally honest with you guys. I'm married to a classical musician. How about Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2?

What was the first fandom that you lost yourself in?
Jenn: Horses. I definitely was a horse girl. Once a horse girl, always a horse girl.
Kyle: But not hobby horsing?
Jenn: Oh man, that's my favorite stuff to watch on Instagram. I love it so much. Why didn’t my parents know about this? It would’ve been so much cheaper.
Dasha: So other than hobby horsing and interior design, do you have any other hobbies?
Jenn: Walking my military dogs. I have two shepherds that I don’t even necessarily know how I ended up with, but they’re basically the replacement for horses. They require a mandatory four-mile walk every morning and usually another walk or drive at night.
Dasha: Kyle and I are both dog people, so we get it.
Jenn: Two sherman tanks in the house. Lots of judgmental side eye. They’re very intimidating.

Dasha: What's your go-to snack or drink while working?
Jenn: I’ve become one of the La Croix people. And SkinnyPop.

Any good TV or movies that you watched recently?
Jenn: We are currently watching Mad Men because my husband had never seen it. I watched it like 10 years ago and I mostly only remember a few of the high points. I'm one of those people that likes to give shows I really liked another chance years later.
Dasha: Yeah. Well, you never know what kind of stuff you're going to pick up on the second time around, you know.
Jenn: Yeah, you remember it really differently. This time around, I was like, “Man, the 50s were not great.”
Dasha: A couple years ago I rewatched Breaking Bad in its entirety and it really has stood the test of time. It's a very good show.
Jenn: I think Better Call Saul was even better.
Dasha Snow: YES, I watched that right after and absolutely loved it.

On Producing & Leadership

For those who might not know, what does a Head of Production actually do?
Jenn: It’s a lot of air traffic control. There’s a plan, a budget, a calendar, and a whole lot of personalities — and it’s making all those things work together in a way that hopefully produces a good product that people are excited about.

What drew you to this role at Lucky Day?
Jenn: A recruiter reached out, but I was really interested in getting more involved in the day-to-day with teams and projects again. I enjoy sales, but I missed being involved in the actual process — working with producers, editors, assistants, and figuring things out together.

Dasha: So you were doing sales before this?
Jenn: Yeah, I've never had like a 100% sales role, but I've definitely had roles where half of it is sales. And sales is fun. It's really relating to your clients. I realized I wanted to actually be involved a little bit more in the process that you joined the business for, you know?

What excites you most about stepping into your role at Lucky Day?
Jenn: Well, Lucky Day is a super cool company. You guys are doing things in a way that feels very progressive toward where this industry is heading. I firmly believe we need to move toward being more integrated with our clients creatively, and it’s exciting to see a company fully embracing that.

What’s the first thing you look for when a new project comes in?
Jenn: There’s a sweet spot between having enough time and too much time. It’s also important that projects are funded well enough to properly support the creative and the team. The best projects have both.

What’s your approach to making sure a client’s vision carries all the way through post?
Jenn: I think most importantly it’s about assembling the right team — not just creatively, but personality-wise. People can be brilliant in a vacuum, but if they don’t work well together, it’s hard for the work to land the way it should. Sometimes the sum is greater than the pieces themselves. When you have so many people with different backgrounds and experience levels that just merge together perfectly, it benefits the project from a logistical standpoint, and also helps the client in the end.

How do you define a successful project?
Jenn: Nothing goes perfectly. Hoping for perfection just sets you up for failure. Success is getting to a good place while making people feel heard along the way and navigating the inevitable bumps without too much drama or stress. Like I used to say, if it was just as easy as making a good plan, there would be a lot fewer of us out there, you know?

What’s the most underrated part of post production?
Jenn: The realities of timelines. If approvals can’t happen in two days, then we need to have honest conversations about what something is actually going to take. A lot of stress comes from pretending timelines work perfectly when they very rarely do.

What makes a good collaboration between production and post?
Jenn: Early communication about specs. Making sure people are well-equipped on set and have someone they can call. The more integrated production and post are throughout the process, the smoother things go. Luckily, I think our industry is evolving towards that versus just a handoff.

On Leadership

How would you describe your leadership style?
Jenn: I believe in the philosophy of pull versus push. If you hear people out and understand what works for them, they naturally want to move with you. That’s much more effective and important than leading through rigid rules; a dogmatic approach can sometimes alienate people.

What’s something you prioritize as a leader that people might not expect?
Jenn: It's important to really care about people and what's going on in their lives and how you can support that. This industry can be incredibly demanding, and people do their best work when they feel supported both professionally and personally. People deserve to feel happy and heard at work.

How do you balance supporting the team while making the client’s vision happen?
Jenn: Sometimes it's not a vision, it's just a requirement. I think we all know there are late nights, work on the weekends, and difficult stretches — that’s part of the business. But leadership means paying attention to how much people are carrying and making sure there’s balance and recovery afterward.

How do you set teams up for success before a project begins?
Jenn: Flexibility. Some jobs arrive perfectly organized weeks or months in advance — you have the budget, everyone's on board with it. It's well resourced. There's a great calendar. Sometimes jobs just show up like that. And funny enough, sometimes those jobs go sideways, right? Others show up on a Friday afternoon after shooting yesterday and they lost their editor. The important thing is building a culture where everyone understands we’re doing our best together and adapting as things change. We're all part of the same team.

How do you like to reset after a long job?
Jenn: Well, if it's a real doozy, I probably really need to clean my desk. I don't know about you guys, but that happens to me. I have a big desk. It's basically a kitchen table. I'm also a big walker. So I listen to music and nerdy podcasts about the news, economy, or interior design while I walk. That makes me super happy.

Getting Into Post

How did you get into post production? Was there a specific project or mentor that helped shape your approach early on?
Jenn: I have alternated between agency and post worlds my entire career basically. I always thought it was important to understand both sides of the process. When I first moved into producing, I started as an account person and my boss was a good thoughtful leader and very trusting of his people. He sent me on a post job and slid a flip phone across the table and essentially said, “Here’s a phone. I’m sending you to good people. You'll call me before you screw this up too badly.”
Dasha: That's a pretty badass, empowering start. It sounds like that boss really had a lot of trust in you and knew that you could handle it, and speak up when you needed help. That's great.
Jenn: It's really true and he was right. I’d assess the situation, think through my options, call him with my reasoning, and learn through experience. That’s still how I like to work. It was a pipeline basically.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting out in post, what would it be?
Jenn: Run! Just kidding. Find ways to create value no matter where you are. Early in your career, you don’t really know where you’ll end up or what you’ll be best at yet. So dive in, try different environments, different roles, different teams. Try to add value to everyone and everything and you're going to quickly find your direction within this. Work at agencies, work at production companies. The more well-rounded you are, the better you get.

If you weren’t in post production, what weirdly specific job would you have instead? Would you be an interior designer perhaps?
Jenn: I think I probably would. It's actually not that different if you think about it. It’s basically being a general contractor for the inside of your house instead of for commercials.

What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
Jenn: I really do like going to Costco, you guys.
Dasha: Don’t get me started on Costco. I LOVE Costco.
Jenn: You have got to come out here. We have the world’s biggest Costco out here. I also like being home with the dogs and gardening. I like taking walks wearing a weighted vest, it's very therapeutic. Just boring people stuff. Salt Lake City is not an exciting place, guys. I hate to break this to everybody.

What do you think makes Lucky Day a good partner for clients?
Jenn: I think the heavy integration throughout the whole creative process. It’s not just the client executing ideas — it’s being involved in developing them. That level of trust and collaboration is special, and I definitely think it's where the industry is headed and Lucky Day does it extremely well.

What are you excited to build or refine here as Head of Production?
Jenn: Better systems and plans that make sure our teams get the rest they need.

RAPID FIRE

TV Show: Better Call Saul
Movie: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Music: Classical
Color: Navy blue
Coffee or tea?: Coffee
Dream travel destination: Fiji
Music or silence while working?: Music. “I can’t be alone with the thoughts in my head.”