So often in Hollywood we forget about the hundreds of men and women working on films and TV shows behind the camera and focus just on the actors on-screen. Many of them are parents, juggling a life of love for this industry as well as their family life. One of the reasons I wanted to start Motherhood in Hollywood was to highlight these parents as well as the people in front of the camera.

This week I talked to Anna Borden, first AD on the show Castle Rock and countless other shows. Once I completely got over my brain fart of forgetting  JJ Abrams’ name, we actually had a wonderful conversation. Seriously, I worry about my brain sometimes. Anna is filming on location in Massachusetts and amazingly found some time to break away from set to chat with me. Her sister-in-law Darcy Veneziale (@DarcyVenz) is a fan of MIH and sent a message to me singing her SIL’s praises. And I’m so glad she did! Thanks Darcy!

I enjoyed talking to Anna so much because she has a different perspective on managing breastfeeding on set, on-location filming with her child, and how her career was challenged when she became a mom.  She describes what it was like looking for, not just female mentors in her position, but mothers in her position who could lead by example. She admits there aren’t many women AD’s and she hopes to be a mentor someday to other women in her position.

She was 9 months pregnant while working on Better Call Saul and says some colleagues questioned her ability to do her job. Of course, no one ever asks a man if he’ll be able to finish his show or work on set when his wife is having a baby. It’s a double standard in Hollywood that pregnant women are treated differently on set. In this episode we discuss the possible reasons for that and why Hollywood treats new fathers differently that new mothers.

To hear more about what we talked about, download MIH on iTunes and don’t forget to leave a review!