A Conversation With

Theresa Pak-Tsang ’97

Theresa Pak-Tsang and her family

Theresa Pak-Tsang ’97 is a Program Manager for the Content Engineering organization of Disney Streaming Services, which ingests, manages, and delivers all content metadata. Here she shares her experiences of what it has been like working as a woman in a male-dominated field, and what it was like to be on the front lines of the worldwide launch of Disney+.

Congratulations on the launch of the uber successful Disney+! How did you become involved in the project? Thanks! We’re definitely proud of what we were able to accomplish and are working on keeping that momentum going.

I originally joined as part of MLB Advanced Media, working on services for MLB.tv, NHL.tv, WWE, HBO Now, PGA, Eurosport, and others. Our group was called BAMTech. Eventually we spun off from MLBAM, and The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) purchased a majority stake in BAMTech, changing our name to Disney Streaming Services (DSS) and focused on ESPN+ and Disney+. Can you share any inside stories? I can share that everyone at Disney Streaming Services and other parts of the Disney company all worked really hard to make the Disney+ launch a success. The power and influence of Disney is remarkable on so many different levels. We launched in Europe on March 24 th .

The project seems like it was pretty intensive. What’s your secret to striking balance at work and home? There’s no secret because I still feel like I’m not balancing work and home well, but I try to have a routine to provide some consistency for my family. I avoid working when I’m not in the office, but if I have to, I do what can be done from my phone in minutes via email or Slack. Otherwise, it can wait until I’m back at work. Any exceptions need to be emergencies that might be reported on via news outlets.

It would appear from the outside looking in that women are still the minority in this field. Is that true? If so, do you see that changing? In tech, this is an unfortunate reality, but there are LOTS of people working to change that, including myself. I take part in recruiting efforts specifically focused on hiring more women at conferences like the Grace Hopper Conference and have helped hire a number of talented women whom I continue to try and mentor even after they join. Around me, I see women teaching and leading through different organizations like Girls Who Code and coding bootcamps. I’m also encouraged by the men who are checking their gender biases at the door and advocating for the women they work with on a daily basis. What would be your advice to a current NDP senior getting ready to graduate and go out into the world who may want to go into the same field? What college studies are best suited for your line of work? NDP helped teach me to shed myself of my selfish entitlement, never stop learning, and servant leadership. Don’t forget these lessons/skills and, instead, sharpen them. I use these daily, in both my work and personal life, and I’m confident they are some of the key contributors to any success that I’ve had.

I majored in Information Systems and minored in Computer Science. The classes provided important foundations in things like data structures, technical architecture, and business processes. But in tech, as I’m sure with other fields as well, academics are just the start of your learning. I spent hours with friends tinkering with computer hardware, writing scripts to automate random things, setting up networks in my dorm and at my part time job, and learning new coding languages because each language had efficiencies and deficiencies in different ways.

Can you recall any NDP teachers that left a big impression on you? What would you like to say to them today? Mrs. [Elaine] Gottschalk—In her class, I learned that I enjoyed logic questions and the importance of operational order. Both of these are used in every coding language I can think of.

Mrs. [Barbara] Barr—She taught Pascal (which probably isn’t taught anymore),

but it set me up to learn C and then C++ and then Java and then…well, I think you get the point.

Thanks for all of the above, Mrs. Gottschalk and Mrs. Barr, and for helping me uncover the work I love! I also like to think I contributed something musical to the Math department many years ago.

What’s your favorite NDP memory? Are y’all still teaching the quadratic formula to the tune of Pop-Goes-TheWeasel? I recall Mrs. Gottschalk and Mrs. Barr singing that at our senior send off. Notre Dame Prep Student Council president, majored in American Studies at the University of Virginia. Fast-forward to today, and she is busy capturing all the fun behind-the-scenes at the Tamron Hall Show. Raven tells us what it’s like in the moments before the show starts, and why strong women helping others has helped advance her career in television. Is commercial TV a dinosaur? Are streaming services going to become even more the norm? I feel like progress and change, for better or worse, is inevitable. When I worked at a television network, in Digital Media, we embraced the streaming of content and launched different content and streaming apps but tried to balance appeasing cable providers, which is still evident in the apps themselves. I continue to see balancing acts, albeit different ones, all around in the media world. So no, commercial TV isn’t a dinosaur or extinct… yet.

I think the popularity of streaming services like Disney+ and Apple TV+, and the coming of more services like Peacock and HBO Max, are indications that streaming is already the norm. As consumers, we ingest most of our media already via our mobile devices (directly and indirectly). We want things immediately. We’re sharing content live, not just on demand. We’re interacting with the content as it’s happening. Perhaps a better question is, what’s next for streaming?

What’s next for you? Eventually, helping to answer the question I just posed, by working with the teams that will make whatever that is, happen. But first, I’m going to Walt

Catching up With

Raven Carter ’00

Raven Carter, Class of 2000 and former Disney World. g

I’m a Digital Producer at the Tamron Hall Show in New York City. I am responsible for producing all the behind-the-scenes exclusive videos: everything from capturing Tamron’s fun moments behind the set right before the show begins and she’s about to walk through the “TH” doors, to backstage interviews with celebs and guests of the show, to producing longer pieces with Tamron and staff.

I got the job by reaching out to the Executive Producer, Talia Parkinson-Jones. Talia and I worked together years ago at BET Digital. When I learned that she’d been tapped to lead up the Tamron Hall Show, I reached out and inquired about opportunities. She connected me with the digital team, and the rest is history. I write, film, produce, and edit all the digital video for the show. The science to social media is anything that’s fun and exciting, especially behind the scenes, must be captured. For the most part, we use social media as an outlet to relieve stress, to let our hair down, and unwind and relax. So, my goal is to make sure when you log onto your favorite app, you’re going to see something that entertains you, uplifts you, or just makes you laugh out loud. LOL!

The show is dedicated to telling real, authentic stories that inspire and move the discussion forward. I love this genuine aspect of the show, and I love how every show is deliberate in seeking the truth in hopes that audiences around the globe will be inspired. g