Mindy Kaling
One of the reasons I picked Mindy Kaling for the subject of my case study is that she is truly a well rounded artist. She started as an actress and playwright, with her off broadway play Matt and Ben, then she worked her way to writing for television, acting on screen and in movies, and eventually directing and producing. She has been active in the film and TV industry since 2005, and already has projects planned through 2022. She is multi talented and will have no problem sustaining her career.
What makes you and your work unique?
Mindy Kaling’s work pokes fun at traditional comedy sitcoms. As a producer, writer, director, and actor, she has full control over her work, and the final product is completely her voice.
Do you have career goals laid out for the next 5-10 years?
Mindy just had a baby so she’s going to be really focused on that for a bit, but later she plans on transitioning away from acting, and focusing on writing and producing. She wrote the movie Late Night and is producing the film. That will probably keep her busy for a year. Afterward, she’ll be writing and producing for two unnamed NBC sitcoms.
What do you do and what are you doing?
Mindy Kaling is a writer, producer, actress, and director. She is currently producing the movie Late Night.
How are you connecting and building audiences and how do you market to them?
Mindy Kaling has a very active social media presence. She constantly connects to her fans this way, often connecting them to other female independent artists and encouraging them to pursue their own dreams. She has written two autobiographies that give insight to a lot of her career and personal life and as a result, make fans feel that they have a real friendship with her (her books are what made me become a huge Mindy Kaling fan). Her main platform to connect with and market to her audience is Instagram. She posts several times a day.
What opportunities are you on the lookout for?
Mindy is at the point in her career where she can pretty much make any opportunity for herself. I feel like she has enough credibility in the industry to be able to make a project happen.
Did you look at someone else’s career to make a path for your own and if so, what was it? Mindy was always really inspired by Conan O’Brien. She had a brief stint as an intern on his late night show and while there, she realized that she didn’t see people like herself represented on television or in the TV industry. She used that feeling to inspire a lot of the types of characters writes into her work.
