Fran Hoepfner
Associate Video Director (The Onion), stand-up comedian
Who are you, and what do you do?
I'm Fran Hoepfner, and I'm a bunch of things. Professionally, I'm the Associate Video Director for The Onion. In addition, I work as a freelance culture writer as well as a stand-up comedian.
What hardware do you use?
At the office, I use a new 13" 2017 MacBook Air that is provided for me; at home, I use a still very good 13" 2015 MacBook Air. I have an iPhone 8 that I use even though I think my hands are marginally too small for its size. Despite almost constantly having headphones in, I just buy whatever earbuds are on sale at Target whenever a pair die out. I also wear a Fitbit Alta in black. Though I use Google Calendar at work, I swear by Moleskine Planners for all of my personal appointments and commitments.
And what software?
I use Final Draft 10 to edit scripts at work (revisions mode is wonderful). I use Trello to check in on projects. I use Frame.io to leave notes in post-production. Much to my own dismay and distraction, I use Slack to chat with coworkers and occasionally send assets more quickly. In addition, I use G Suite (Gmail, Google Documents, and Google Calendar) to make some sense of what I'm doing from minute to minute. A lot of this carries over into my freelance and comedy work as well. When I'm writing or drafting essays and articles for publications, I'm always in Google Docs. A lot of my comedy is multimedia-based, and I use Keynote to make presentations. To make my work life --- much of which is starting into screens all day --- more tolerable, I also use f.lux to take some of the blues out of my screen.
Because I often write about movies and occasionally television, I also have subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Go, Hulu, and FilmStruck. I love the New York Times crossword app and I am trying to better my German using Duolingo. In the interest of fun and keeping track of what garbage I listen to, I have a Spotify Premium account.
What would be your dream setup?
My ideal set-up is more or less what I have now, because I'm very lucky to be able to do the kind of work I do with the resources available to me. The only thing I'd add is a newfound interest in good headphones.