When she was 14, Nancy Beffa would ride the train from her home in Morristown, N.J., 45 miles into New York to spend time at the city`s art museums and movie houses.
”I was the kind of kid that dragged her friends to Bergman films,”
Beffa, now 43, remembers.
That early fascination for film and art, and an independent spirit, never left her. Today, propelled by ample reserves of perseverence and resourcefulness, she`s become one of the premiere filmmakers in her field, and one of its few female executives.
As vice president of New York-based Cappy Productions Inc., Beffa is an award-winning producer and director who`s helped create nearly 60 sports documentaries capturing the drama, emotions and intensity of Olympic competition.
”The athletic portion of our films is usually the least important part,” Beffa says. ”Rather, we look at the human beings-what makes them tick, how do they feel?”
Her career began when, just out of college, Beffa was about to begin working as a production assistant for the Children`s Television Workshop. By chance, she landed an interview with Bud Greenspan, founder of Cappy, a small but respected film production company.
It happened ”through a friend who had sat next to him during a flight,” she says. ”They got to talking and my friend mentioned me.” When Greenspan told Beffa he couldn`t hire her, Beffa told him she`d work for free. ”Bud said `You start tomorrow, but I have to pay you,` ” Beffa recalls. ”That was 16 years ago.”
She started as a receptionist and ”a really horrible typist,” learning about filmmaking from Greenspan, who became her mentor. Four years later she earned the chance to work behind the camera and her first effort as associate producer, ”The Olympiad,” earned a 1976 Emmy.
Since then, Beffa has met continual challenges to rise to success in a profession in which women are vastly outnumbered and often underrated.
She remembers meeting a local film crew in England in 1979 and being baffled when everyone seemed to be waiting around for no reason. When she asked about the delay, ”They said they were waiting for the director. I had to tell them that I was the director.”
The way to dismantle those roadblocks, she says, ”is to do your job extraordinarily well. You have to be extra-doubly prepared.”
Beffa also feels a responsibility to support women behind the camera and highlight their achievements in front of it.
”There is definitely a need (to showcase women) in our films as role models for other women,” she says. ”In this business, males gravitate toward highlighting their own sex. As a director, I make sure we have a good balance of coverage.”
A favorite: ”Sixteen Days of Glory,” featuring Moroccan hurdler Nawal el Moutawakii, who won the 400-meter hurdles in the 1984 Olympics, and was the first Arab woman to win a gold medal in the history of the Games.
”She had to overcome the attitude toward women in her country. Her dad or her brother had to accompany her whenever she went to train. Now, she`s a revered national hero.”
On the docket for Beffa is the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, beginning Feb. 8. Though Cappy was unable to secure film rights for the event, Beffa is attending, and the company is gearing up to document the Summer Olympics later this year in Barcelona. Beffa hopes also to film the Para-Olympics, a two-week competition for disabled athletes staged just after the Summer Games. ”I`m in awe of what they accomplish,” she says.
Beffa`s own accomplishments come from a willingness to take risks, she says.
”I guess it`s a kind of fearless spirit to do things,” she says, ”and many times, to my amazement, they turn out well.”
Her career advice applies to anyone striving to achieve in any arena:
”Always believe in yourself. Have confidence and keep to it. Don`t give up.”
