Holmes Innovation School Leadership Interview

The Piece

I edited this leadership interview with Dr. Lianne Hughes‑Odom, principal of the Holmes Innovation School in Dorchester, for Glenn Romero at Snowcap Productions. It’s a two camera sit‑down, a tight A camera and a wide B camera, plus her first day welcome to the school community, cut into a short piece about who she is, what changed at the Holmes, and what leadership means to her. It played to a live audience at the Alnoba event where she received the Harriet R. Lewis Gutsy Young Leader Award.

Finding the Story

The first ask was nine minutes. That became six, and then a hard stop at 4:30. Getting there meant pulling out the ums, the “I think”s and the repeats without clipping a word, and then reading the whole cut back before it went out.

The harder part was structure. She never says her own name or title on camera, so the opening lets her introduce herself in her own words: she calls herself mom to the 300 young people at the Holmes, the social worker, the educator, the principal. From there the piece runs in beats, a few bites that add up to one point and land on a button line, with room for picture after each. The beats go from her results at the school to what daring leadership means to her, why it matters that her students see what’s possible, and what comes next.

I made her first day welcome the cold open, so you meet her in front of the school before we ever sit down with her. It closes back there too, on a call and response with the crowd and her line, “Strong schools are built on strong communities.”

Notes and Versions

Then came several rounds of notes. School life photos went in on the lines they belong with, like a Fenway photo under her “heart of the city” line. I built word cued graphics for the moments she gives numbers, held a news story about the school on screen, and put a drone shot of the Holmes under the title.

By the last round Snowcap had the full piece and a 60 second cutdown. I also built her daring leadership answer at 80, 65 and 30 seconds for Glenn to work with, plus one more version cut to the exact lines he read me over the phone.

Glenn and I have done a lot of work together, and I’m always glad when he calls. I also cut the 2025 Alnoba Leadership Award package and the PMC Unpaved fireside chat for Snowcap.