Georja Skinner grew up in Hollywood; her mother was a singer/actor/artist and her father was a recording engineer. At the age of 5, her father taught her how to edit reel-to-reel audio tape.

In high school she worked as a “mic girl,” positioning the microphones for recording engineer Wally Heider at Heider’s Los Angeles recording studio, and interned at an independently owned LA television station where she did everything from newscasting to promotions.

A few years later Skinner heard that Norman Lear — creator of “All in the Family” — was looking for sound mixers and went to work for him. She started off setting up the microphones, but when the mixer was fired, Lear gave her the chance to show him what she could do. She became the first female sound mixer in network prime-time television, which garnered her an Emmy nomination.

Skinner made Hawaii her home in 1980. In the years that followed, she worked for a hotel, started a public relations firm, got into artist management and used her mainland contacts to promote Hawaii as good place to do business. In 1993, she helped make Hawaii music history by taking the duo HAPA from local popularity on Maui to statewide stardom. HAPA earned awards in six categories in the 1994 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.

Twenty-six years later, Skinner, 68, is the chief officer of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s Creative Industries Division and the founder of its Creative Lab Hawaii program. Applications are now being accepted for five Weekend Ideation Programs that will be held virtually starting in November. For information, visit 808ne.ws/creativelabhawaii before Oct. 28.

Let’s start with the basics. The 2020-2021 Creative Lab Hawaii program has workshops on acting, directing, indigenous storytellers, theater and virtual reality/augmented reality. Many Hawaii artists have been doing virtual performances online. Where do the workshops fit in?

We want to be able to amp up the financial compensation for all artists that are moving into the digital space. Our Creative Lab programs are designed to really take advantage of the business skills needed to be able to pitch the work that (Hawaii residents) have created at home with buyers outside of Hawaii. The way that we get eyeballs on our artists and our performing arts groups is creating (a platform) almost like an online channel that we then market and they get paid. Artists cannot live off a (virtual) “tip jar.”

Another way to monetize music created here is with a catalog of wonderful music — either original songs or artists’ takes on other songs — and getting those songs in front of music supervisors. That’s another digital initiative that Creative Industries is working on.

One of my favorite Hawaii record industry stories is the launch of HAPA — Barry Flanagan and Keli‘i Kaneali‘i. They were big on Maui, but Honolulu radio hadn’t heard of them. Instead of trying to convince Honolulu radio to play them you took HAPA to the other neighbor islands where the radio stations were more open to new artists. HAPA blew up on Kauai and the Big Island, and so when you brought them to Honolulu radio they were proven hit makers. I know you were a professional PR person, but it was still a great campaign.

I give Barry credit too, because as a business person I think he understood (the strategy).

What keeps what you’re doing professionally fresh for you?

Looking at how I can use my connections that I have made to help these amazing artists and people here, to get to the next level for them.

Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.