About
Magdalena O’Neal is a California native who was born and raised in the Bay Area and now resides in New York. As a full-time freelancer, she focuses on combining her background in the editorial and culinary world through written and video content.
After interning at Chez Panisse for a summer in the pastry deparment, she became set on using her editorial skills to nurture her community’s relationship with food; going on to study media and professional writing at the University of Illinois Chicago.
In 2020, she joined the team at Sunset Magazine, one of the oldest print publications still in distibution in the United States, as assistant editor. Throughout her year and a half on staff, she spearheaded the writing and production of Sunset’s weekly food and drink newsletter, Voices of the West print feature, and digital stories spanning multiple verticals.
Now she is focusing on freelancing as a food stylist, culinary assistant, and consultant. She continues her editorial practice still, gaining bylines at popular media outlets across the country.
After interning at Chez Panisse for a summer in the pastry deparment, she became set on using her editorial skills to nurture her community’s relationship with food; going on to study media and professional writing at the University of Illinois Chicago.
In 2020, she joined the team at Sunset Magazine, one of the oldest print publications still in distibution in the United States, as assistant editor. Throughout her year and a half on staff, she spearheaded the writing and production of Sunset’s weekly food and drink newsletter, Voices of the West print feature, and digital stories spanning multiple verticals.
Now she is focusing on freelancing as a food stylist, culinary assistant, and consultant. She continues her editorial practice still, gaining bylines at popular media outlets across the country.
Bylines
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Video Content
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As a freelance food stylist for Buzzfeed Tasty, she works with producers and recipe developers on in-house videos.
These are often done over the span of two days, one of on-site prep and the other spent shooting at Buzzfeed offices.
Magdalena works as a culinary assistant on talent-based video content for other Buzzfeed brands, as well as Tastemade. With experience as a culinary consultant for Tasty.
Videos
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Editorial Work
As a journalist, Magdalena has bylines at a handful of digital outlets, though she also gained print bylines during her time at Sunset.
She is well versed in various versions of Wordpress, Photoshop, Getty Images, Trello, Sailthru, and many other project management applications.
As a freelancer for Office Magazine, she has begun publishing a series of personal lifesetyle articles about her travels and day-to-day interests. The first story followed her along a week in Miami as she indulged in the culture, culinary scene, and what it means to really relax as a modern day freelancer.
Read it here: My Week in Pink by Magdalena O’Neal
Newsletters
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As the assistant editor at Sunset, Magdalena spearheaded the writing and production of the publications weekly food and drink newsletter.
Lifestyle
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Personal interests often make their way into Magdalena’s pitches, such as growing interest in podcasts, culture, travel, and self-care, as shown in a handful of stories published on Greatist and beyond.