The Other 50% - a herstory of hollywood

This episode is very special and very bittersweet. You may remember when I spoke with Jaret Martino and Pat Branch when they made the short called Stronger than Pretty. Well, they are back because the feature film version, Donna: Stronger than Pretty is about to have its worldwide release on February 23rd, after a great festival run. I also had the honor to talk to Donna Martino herself, Jaret's mom, who's story the film tells. We recorded this last February on the weekend of its festival premiere, where it won basically all the awards. It was impossible to know at the time that Donna would be diagnosed with cancer very shortly afterward, and she passed away on September 3rd of 2020. As you will hear, Donna was a remarkable woman and mother and Jaret's tribute to her in the form of this film will inspire you, as it has inspired me. Pat and Jaret co-wrote the script, and Jaret directed it. I start out talking with Jaret and Donna, and Pat joins later on, fresh from an awards ceremony where she was collecting all the trophies. I'm so happy for them for the success of this film and what a beautiful tribute it is to Donna and her story of strength and perseverance.

For this episode, I got to meet the brilliant hosts of the Sista Brunch podcast. Sista Brunch is a podcast about black women+ thriving in entertainment & media careers. My two guests are Fanshen Cox and Anya Adams. Fanshen is an Award-winning playwright, actor, producer & educator She just wrapped up seven years of touring her one-woman show: One Drop of Love and she is also a Producer and Development Executive at Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Pearl Street Films. She serves on the board of The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and on the Kennedy Center's Turnaround Arts Equity Advisory Committee. And Fanshen is also a co-author of the Inclusion Rider which was announced at the 2018 Oscar awards by Frances McDormand. Anya Adams is an award-winning director, most recently taking home the NAACP Image Award for Best Director in Comedy for 2020. Anya's career skyrocketed after directing an episode of Blackish in 2017. Since then she has gone on to direct the Netflix pilot Ginny and Georgia, episodes of The Good Place, Single Parents, G.L.O.W., Charmed, Fresh off the Boat, Speechless and many more. This is juicy, and it is real talk. The f-bombs fly. You've been warned. And go subscribe to Sista Brunch. Although I don't even need to tell you that. You are about to fall in love.

Today I got to speak with Sienna Beckman from all the way across the pond. Sienna is the Co-founder & Creative Director of Emergence Films (based in London & LA). Living and working in Los Angeles for 10 years, Sienna has produced for NBC Universal, Scott Free Productions, Verizon go90, Fullscreen Media, Esquire TV, Refinery29, Prettybird Entertainment, and Disney's Maker Studios, among others. Emergence Films is a film and television development and production company dedicated to championing female filmmakers and committed to creating more opportunities for underrepresented voices in storytelling around the world. In addition to producing, Sienna is an active member of Women in Film & TV UK and Times Up UK, and she hosts a speed-networking event series with WFTV to promote the hiring of more female crew members, creatives, and technicians. We talked all about her finding her place in London and growing her company.

Today, I got to catch up with previous guest, Sujata Day. With her infectious personality and unique sense of humor, Pittsburgh native Sujata Day has firmly established herself in Hollywood as a performer, creator, writer, and director. She regularly performs in Upright Citizen Brigade's hit Asian AF show. Sujata is known for her starring role as CeCe in Issa Rae's The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. She's recurred for three seasons on HBO's Insecure. Sujata is a Sundance Lab fellow, Sundance Film Festival influencer, and Sundance Collab advisor. Her short film, Cowboy and Indian, sold to a major studio for series development with Sujata writing, producing and starring. She served as HBO Visionaries Ambassador in 2019. She directs This Is My Story, a series in which beloved storyteller LeVar Burton narrates real life personal experiences of everyday racism. Sujata's debut feature film, Definition Please, is currently screening on the virtual film festival circuit, starting with its World Premiere at Bentonville Film Festival in August 2020.

For this episode, I sat with Cecilia Escobar, Founder and President of Smart Accounting Solutions. With more than 30 years of Entertainment Payroll and Accounting Expertise Cecilia has held executive and senior management roles for multiple entertainment payroll companies like Media Services and Axium, and most recently, she was the Vice President of Payroll Operations at Entertainment Partners.  In between these positions, she freelanced as a payroll and production accountant on major motion pictures and studios for over 18 years. Cecilia is a Multi-Cultural Client Business Partner, leading efforts for Multi-Cultural Diversity in the Industry. She has hosted many Diversity Client events as well as sponsorships to Diversity Production Summits and Trade Shows. One of her latest pet-projects is bridging Latin American Film Productions with their US counterparts.  Cecilia is currently a member of multiple entertainment industry associations including N.A.L.I.P., Women In Film, and Hispanic Professionals. She has just started a non-profit called Sandbar Sanctuary – a Horse Rescue and Equine Therapy for Abused Women. With her love of horses, she hopes to help women bond and find a way to heal through therapeutic equine experiences. 

For this episode I got to catch up with my friend Kim Gruenenfelder. You may remember her from the podcast when her book, Hangovers and Hotflashes came out. Well she has a brand-new book that I have bought and will be reading over Thanksgiving called, My Ex's Wedding. I was a fan of Kim's long before I ever met her, so this is a real treat for me. And also, she's hilarious. Some of her other titles include A Total Waste of Makeup, Misery Loves Cabernet, There's Cake in My Future, Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink, and Love the Wine You're With. I mean, come on. Give yourself a treat. Heads up, our kids went to high school together so we may refer to them a bit as they are both navigating college online.

Jennifer Aurianne DaRe is the founder and CEO of ATN Entertainment, a premiere talent management company in Los Angeles that specializes in the representation of artists in entertainment from film, television, music, literature and more. Since founding ATN in 2015, she has grown the roster to over 100 clients under her leadership, including a strong presence of women and the LGBTQ community. Now in her fifth year of running the company, DaRe's tenure has resulted in tremendous success with previously unknown clients achieving acclaim. Her accomplishments led to the launch of the production and development division of the company, ATN Productions. The debut project for the banner will be a TV adaptation of the YouTube comedy series “PANIC,” which is slated for release in Q2 of 2021. Prior to the founding of ATN Entertainment, DaRe was an executive vice president at a then reputable management company that she transitioned to from her time as an independent music manager for bands, record producers and solo artists. Her music connections developed as the singer and manager of the successful folk-rock band, The Extinct. For 12 years, The Extinct shared stages with artists such as Stone Temple Pilots, No Doubt, Incubus, Maroon 5 (Kara's Flowers), Alien Ant Farm as well as many other successful acts of the 90's. Jennifer was also sole producer and curator of The ATN Showcase from 2005 - 2013 that featured musical artists from all over the globe at the SXSW music festival. It was the largest and longest-running independent showcase in SXSW history at the time. Jennifer's experience, expertise and work ethic make her one of the most respected and sought after talent managers in the business, and after hearing this, you will know why.

For this episode I got to sit with Finnerty Steeves. Now, you know Finnerty as an actor from the shows, Orange is the New Black, Half Life, Louie, House of Cards, Smash, Sopranos – basically everything, including a lot of Broadway credits. What you may not yet know is that she just wrote, produced and starred in her own feature film called Before/During/After. This sharp-witted dramedy studies a middle-aged NYC theatre actress suddenly forced to figure out the kind of person she wants to portray in real life when her marriage comes to an end after she catches her husband cheating. We had a delicious talk about acting, the craft, the journey of making a movie and of going through one of those life experiences that really makes you who you are.

For this episode, I spoke with BAFTA and RTS nominated Chloë Thomas who is in the UK and most recently directed all episodes of the psychological thriller The Deceived, created by Lisa McGee of Derry Girls fame and Tobias Beer. Just before that Chloë directed episodes of Harlots and Victoria and she is attached to direct the feature film Making Babies - a rom-fertility-com by Deborah Frances-White, with Redwave Films.  Previously, Chloë was known for comedy directing; Sharon Horgan's early sitcom Angelo's, followed by being BAFTA nominated for directing the first ever series of Horrible Histories. Chloë also develops her own pilots through her company One Glove Films.  We had a good chat about directing, both as a woman and an introvert, and exploring new models of power.

For this episode, I got to meet Faiza Kracheni and Carrie Cates of Austin School of Film, which for nearly two decades has provided alternative education programs and workshops for all ages interested in the arts & film. Faiza Kracheni is the Programs & Education Director, and Carrie Cates is the Artist & Community Director. These women have taken their passion for filmmaking and created a completely accessible space for a growing community of creators, breaking down barriers inherent in our society.   They launched their newest program Play At Home as a direct response to the ongoing pandemic. Play At Home is an online/offline interactive experience featuring live workshops, events, screenings, and talks by artists and filmmakers from around the globe. Since the launch of Play At Home in April 2020, it has hosted 40 workshops and events with over 900 participants in 14+ countries. 

Kelli is the co-founder of creative studio And/Or, and has worked in motion design and branding for 15 years with brands like MTV, Netflix, and Amazon. She is a graduate of Cranbrook Academy of Art and has taught and lectured at the College for Creative Studies, Pratt, NYU, SVA, Yale, and RISD. Kelli has directed show titles for FX, HBO and Paramount's Lip Sync Battle, as well as designing title sequences for a number of films and documentaries including The Assistant, Certain Women and critically acclaimed drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always.

For this episode, I spoke with a producer and two stars of Jim Cummings' much anticipated new film The Wolf of Snow Hollow, which opens October 9th in theatres around the country and streaming in the comfort of your living room. Natalie Metzger, whom you will remember from an earlier episode of this podcast, Produced this movie under her shingle Vanishing Angle where she also produced Jim Cummings' Thunder Road that won the SXSW Grand Jury Award along with about a million other awards. Riki Lindhome plays Officer Julia Robson in the film. You may also know her from Duncanville, Knives Out, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the comedy musical duo Garfunkel and Oates, just to name a few. And finally, we also have Chloe East who played the role of Jenna Marshall in the film. Chloe made her TV debut in True Blood, playing Sheriff Andy's daughter. Lately, she has been shooting Generation for HBO, Next Level, and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World. Natalie, Riki and Chloe joined me from three different locations in this time of covid, so the audio is what it is, but have a listen to what it takes to actually make a film in tricky conditions, and how it is to work with Jim Cummings, then go out or order in and see this film tomorrow.

Stephanie Sanditz is a writer, director, actress and producer from BROKEN HEART, MO - the name of her feature screenplay that won a Tribeca Film Festival All Access Award for New Voices in Screenwriting. She recently optioned feature film DANCE PARTY, a body-positive dance comedy she co-wrote, with Queen Latifah set to star. Recently, Stephanie wrote, starred and produced her pilot, THE HIGH LIFE pilot, starring opposite Amy Landecker, Linda Purl, Ron Perkins and Jesse Garcia then won BEST PILOT and BEST ACTRESS in the IMDB Independent Shorts festival, and the We Make Movies International and Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festivals and Dances With Films. She has just been hired to adapt an edgy female boxing feature, the PERFECT ADDICTION, with Constantin Films. As an actress she is currently co-starring in 37 PROBLEMS, which you may remember from when I interviewed the writer Lisa Ebersole. It was just bought by Amazon Prime, Xfiniti, and Elizabeth Banks, Whohaha, and was accepted in the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival New Media category. She has her hands in too many things to even list here, but a quick google search will lead you to many articles about her work. Stephanie is prolific and busy, adapting to quarantine, and made some time to talk to me.

As The-Artery's Managing Director and Executive Producer, Deborah Sullivan channels her extensive background in advertising, production, design, and visual effects into each and every project that she brings to life. Formerly at DDB New York, FCB New York, Berlin Cameron & Partners, RadicalMedia, as well as PeepShow Post Productions (to name a few), her global body of work spans throughout feature films, television programs, commercials/branded content, and music videos. Since joining The-Artery and helping to lead their team of artists, Deborah has partnered with some of the world's leading brands including Pepsi, Under Armour, Verizon, Skyworth,  AppGallery, Johnnie Walker, Mercedes-Benz, Stella Artois, and more. She has also garnered an impressive roster of accolades across the Cannes Lions, Effie, Clio, AICE, AICP, D&AD, and The London International Awards.

For this episode, I spoke with Prathi Srinivasan. Prathi is a talented writer and actress, known for “iZombie,” “A Girl's Guide to Her Early 20s,” and “Wasted.” As an immigrant who grew up in the bustling city of Chennai, India, moving to America was a culture shock for Prathi that resulted in her passion for characters who are stuck between where they come from and where they are going. She is the co-creator of “Bollyweird” as both an immigrant story and as a complex and rich LGBTQ story, and, alongside frequent writing partner Joshua Levy, their credits include “Titans” (DCUniverse/Netflix), “iZombie” (CW), and the HBO pilot presentation “F**ked Up” (HBOGO, HBONOW). She graduated with a B.A. in literature from The University of Texas at Dallas, and she now resides in sunny California. Despite that, we still recorded this remotely, because pandemic.  

Michelle Amor is a screenwriter and professor and last year she sold her show called THE HONORABLE to CBS. A one-hour drama about the city's third elected Black mayor, a family woman of integrity, and a novice to politics, who rises from childhood poverty to the most powerful seat in the most politically corrupt city in the nation. Her other credits include PLAYIN' FOR LOVE, OF BOYS & MEN, and TUPAC SHAKUR: BEFORE I WAKE, and this was all before finishing her degree. She is also a passionate Clinical Assistant Professor of screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University, and she was honored in Variety's Entertainment Education Impact Issue as a “top educator around the world”. She is also serving her fourth elected term as co-chair of the Committee of Black Writers in the WGA, whose mission is to empower, increase visibility, and create career and networking opportunities for Black writers in Hollywood. In June 2020, Michelle penned an open letter titled Dear Hollywood addressing systemic racism that went viral. We will talk about that too. We talk all about her decision to move west to pursue her dream, raising a family while doing it, and what it means to be black in Hollywood and how the system needs to change.

For this episode, I spoke with Dr. Nidhi Gupta. Nidhi is a medical doctor with England's NHS service and a filmmaker. After working in the covid unit, she contracted covid herself and she is still recovering. At the same time, she is a filmmaker and is directing a documentary for which she is currently crowdfunding with the backing of funding platform Greenlit, which will examine the history of pandemics in interviews with scholars, activists and political figures. You have a few more days to contribute so go  https://greenlit.fund/project/start-stop-repeat and chip in.

For this episode, sat down with Sonya JF Barnett, Canada's only IPA-Certified Intimacy Coordinator. Sonya has been working in the field of sexuality for over ten years. She founded Toronto's esteemed Keyhole Sessions as a safe and welcoming community for artists to experience the union between sex and art. In early 2011, she co-founded SlutWalk as a way to combat victim-blaming and sexual profiling, for which she was named one of UTNE Reader's Top Visionaries. She recently completed a specialist degree in Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto, and is pursuing her Master's degree in Counselling Psychology, with a focus on sex therapy. She is also a feminist erotic filmmaker, with her short films touring world festivals and each winning multiple awards. A certified sexual health educator, Sonya is also part of the LGBTQIA2S+ community and is kink-friendly. She is currently working as the intimacy coordinator on Guillermo del Toro's upcoming feature film Nightmare Alley and SEE (Season 2) for Apple TV+.  I met Sonya on the live series Catch a Break podcast produced with GreenSlate called The Way Back where we talked about getting back to production in the time of Covid. You can see that series at Catchabreakpodcast.com or gslate.com. It is worth the watch or listen. As you might suspect, we are going to be having a grown up talk about sex and sex education and some porn and you can decide whether or not to listen in your car if your kids are there. But, here's your warning. Also, a pre-emptive correction, I referenced a piece Dan Savage gave talking about porn and the internet, but I called him Fred Savage. To my knowledge, Fred Savage hasn't talked about porn on the internet publicly. Although we might be interested in what he has to say about it, that was a mistake. It was Dan Savage. And in a wonderful full circle moment, Sonya talked about how hearing Amanda Blumenthal on this podcast, led her to seek her out and take her training. I love it when a plan comes together and this world is made a little smaller and more connected.

For this episode, I got to meet Felischa Marye, a graduate of the MFA screenwriting program at UCLA, who transitioned into the film industry after a successful career in public relations/integrated marketing in Chicago, where she was born and raised. While still in film school, she sold her first comedy pilot to HBO. She most recently created and produced a raunchy friends comedy series, set in Atlanta, called “Bigger,” for BET's new streaming service, BET+, with Will Packer producing. Bigger Season 2 is currently in development. Felischa also wrote on two seasons of the hit Netflix series “13 Reasons Why.” Felischa currently resides in Los Angeles, and is proud to have made LA her home, largely because of Chicago's whether and its indiscriminate cruelty.

For this episode, I was lucky enough to meet Lesli Linka Glatter. Lesli is a director of film, network, and premium cable television drama, with both pilots and episodes to her credit. Lesli's TV work includes Homeland, The Newsroom, The Walking Dead, Justified, Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex, True Blood, Mad Men, The Leftovers, The Good Wife, The West Wing, NYPD Blue, ER, Freaks and Geeks and Twin Peaks. Lesli has also directed numerous pilots including Gilmore Girls, Pretty Little Liars and SIX. Her films include Now and Then, The Proposition and for HBO, State of Emergency. Lesli is currently the Executive Producer/Director of the award winning series Homeland. Lesli has received eight Emmy nominations, seven Directors Guild Award nominations, winning twice for Mad Men and Homeland, as well as a Humanitas Award nomination for HBO's State of Emergency. Lesli is currently developing projects for Netflix, Amazon, Showtime, Epix and her next project is The Bankers Wife , an eight-part mini series for Amazon. Lesli serves as the First Vice President of the Directors Guild of America, is on the DGA's Western Directors Council, serves on the Executive Committee of the Directors Branch of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is also an advisor at the Sundance Institute's Director's Lab. Lesli has been committed to mentoring for many years and most recently help develop the successful NBC program, Female Forward. Lesli has received the Caucus Foundation Award, the Dorothy Arzner Directing Award from Women in Film and the Franklin Schaffner Award from the American Film Institute and most recently, an Honorary Degree from the American Film Institute. Prior to her work as a director, Lesli was a modern dance choreographer who worked throughout Europe, Asia and the U.S.

For this very auspicious episode, I sat down with my friend Saraswathi Balgam, aka Vani. She is a writer, director and creative producer with several award winning shorts and documentaries to her credit.  She is currently developing a slate of animation and live action projects based on her original stories. Under the banner of her production company, Dancing Atoms, Vani is also overseeing several hand picked projects conceived by creatives in the USA and India. Previously, Vani served as the Head of Creative Management for DreamWorks Animation in Shanghai, where she championed Chinese storyboard artists to tell authentic Chinese stories designed for global audiences. Vani was also the Executive Director of Rhythm & Hues India, a multiple Academy Award winning Animation and VFX studio.  She started the studios in Asia, and managed the teams of artists and technicians that created the digital characters in “Life of Pi” “Snow White and the Huntsman” “Night at the Museum”, “The Golden Compass”  “X-Men”, and “The Chronicles of Narnia”.  Vani, along with her husband Prashant Buyyala, who was instrumental in connecting Vani to Rhythm and Hues in 2000, led the Rhythm and Hues Studios International. Prashant worked with Rhythm and Hues for 18 years and Vani worked there for 12. Vani is extremely passionate about supporting the artistic community.  She has volunteered tirelessly and served as the President of ASIFA India and Women In Animation India for 10 years. Through her efforts, she has become an indisputable icon in the history of Indian animation. 

Katica Roy is a gender economist and the CEO and founder of Denver-based Pipeline, an award-winning SaaS company that leverages artificial intelligence to identify and drive economic gains through gender equity. Pipeline launched the first gender equity app on Salesforce's AppExchange.  The Pipeline platform was named one of TIME Magazine's Best Inventions of 2019 and Fast Company's 2020 World's Most Innovative Companies. In 2017 Katica was named a Luminary by the Colorado Technology Association, in 2018 a Colorado Governor's Fellow, and in 2019 a Top 25 Most Powerful Woman in Business and a Stevie Entrepreneur of the Year, Gold Award. She is also an industry entrepreneur, thought-leader, and frequent editorial contributor and speaker.  Katica's articles have been published by World Economic Forum, NBC, Fast Company, Forbes, Bloomberg, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, The Hill, The Advocate, Salesforce, and Morning Consult.  In 2019, her articles garnered over 1B impressions.  If you know me at all, you know how I love talking to someone who is an expert in all things equity. Get ready to dig in.

For this episode, I sat down with filmmaker Eva Doležalová who was riding out the quarantine in Prague. Eva Trained as an actress, filmmaker and writer , but stepped behind the camera as an act of pure will. Her debut film Sound of Sun—starring herself, Suki Waterhouse and Sean Penn­—is a dreamlike telling of what she calls her personal “tale of revelation” beckoning her to film. She purposefully brings a female point of view to filmmaking, creating vibrant experimental works of women's empowerment such as Somino, Samice and Escape. Her campaigns for French fashion brands are lush examples of translating emotions into moving images, while big-screen thrillers Butcher Boy (2019) and the award-winning Carte Blanche (2019) probe the depths of the human psyche.

Lorena is an award-winning writer-director. Hailing from Queens, Lorena began her journey working on sets at the age of eighteen with directors such as: Martin Scorsese, Sam Mendes, and Ben Stiller. The stories Lorena is most passionate about telling are about the human condition and the complicated facets of life. Lorena feels it's her responsibility as someone who is a woman, Latina, and gay to be a voice to the disenfranchised. She has directed and produced short films: including Fallen Hero, The Uninvited, The Cure, Alone, and Times Like These. Most recently, Lorena wrote and directed the short film At Last. Lorena has also combined her love for music by directing several music videos, and commercials

For this episode, I got to catch up with Paige Henderson and Nicole Murray. Together, they have Svelte Dog Productions, under which they wrote, produced, and star in the webseries called Dead Friends. They both are from the Seattle area and graduated from the University of Washington, and by a weird coincidence moved to LA at the same time, and became roommates and collaborators. We had a great time doing this, maybe because we recorded this last January, before the world went completely mad.

I caught up with Naomi McDougall Jones to hear about what she's been up to since we last spoke. She has written a book called THE WRONG KIND OF WOMEN: INSIDE OUR REVOLUTION TO DISMANTLE THE GODS OF HOLLYWOOD, and toured with her movie called BITE ME. She's also teaching online filmmaker classes that you should check out: naomimcdougalljones.com/class  

Courtney Hope Therond is an award-winning director whose films feature an unapologetically female perspective. She has screened short films at several film festivals and her latest short Rehearsal, which tackles the grey areas of consent, premiered online on Short of the Week and received a Vimeo Staff Pick after playing over a dozen festivals internationally. Her film The Dress You Have On won multiple awards including two jury prizes and is distributed by Revry TV and Seed & Spark. Courtney's digital series Comedic Timing was recently acquired by WhoHaHa and the screenplay for her digital series Between Us Girls was a finalist at Austin Film Festival. Courtney is a graduate of NYU and was a Cinereach Film Fellow. After four years in France, she now directs narrative and branded content in Los Angeles and is currently developing her first feature film

Sophie Max is an actress, writer and producer based in London and trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. She is the writer, executive producer and lead actress in the film The Whole Truth and previous film work includes writing and starring in the award-winning Callie. As an actress, Sophie has been seen across theatre and film in New York and the UK. Sophie is also a poet and her book, lost and found, was published in January 2018 and is available on Amazon worldwide. Sophie is a proud advocate for womxn in the film industry and is passionate about elevating womxn's voices and stories in media. In other words, she has come to the right place.

For this episode, I got to speak with Melissa Center, an award-winning filmmaker & actress, and Tanny Jiraprapasuke, a mindful coach, practitioner, & scholar, who met by chance in Los Angeles, at the National Women's Political Caucus Summer Spritz event. As women in support of other women: they discovered a mutual desire to shift the moral paradigm around closing the gender pay-gap, reevaluating hiring practices, and transforming organizations' cultures. Melissa and Tanny decided to combine their talents, aligned values, and full dedication to affecting change for good. They are not trying to dismantle “systems,” but rather to interrupt the status quo “systems” by offering a new kind of system: Whole Self Systems. Through Whole Self Systems, Melissa & Tanny inspire new ways of communicating, empower ethical leaders (many from marginalized communities), and elevate workplaces that prioritize diversity, gender equanimity, & social innovation. We spoke earlier this year, before we were all in isolation, but somehow this work seems even more relevant now, as many people are looking inward toward mindfulness and as the world is changing before our very eyes.

Catch a Break has launched season 2. Here is the first episode of season 2 to get you started, featuring Todd and Earl Richey Jones, who got their start on In Living Color.

Ashley got her start starring in the critically-acclaimed film, Something, Anything. She was also featured on 2015 IndieWire's year end critics poll best lead actress list. Ashley is a graduate inTheatre from the University of Tennessee and is passionate about telling stories from the heart. Her goals include bringing to life stories that give light to social issues and connecting with people through cinema. In 2018 her writing and directorial debut came to life with MAGNOLIA & CLEMENTINE that was featured in Amazon Prime's first ever film festival. We spoke remotely, before social distancing was the new normal.

For this episode, I got to speak with the founders of the production company Poison Pictures: Gabriela Ledesma and Callie Schuttera. The pair met in 2015 and have since written and produced countless projects together including comedy specials, feature films, live events, commercials, and documentaries. ​Their work has been featured and acclaimed by Film Pulse, CherryPicks, Film Threat, Film Inquiry, and more. We talked about their journeys, both before each other and together, and their film Blue, which you can find on Amazon Prime.  

Mary Montiforte is the Vice President of Physical Production at Endeavor Content. She originally came up through production accounting and producing as a freelancer, then moved into staff positions in production finance and physical production. Her longest stint was as a staff production controller for NBCUniversal before moving on to Lionsgate and now Endeavor Content. Some of her credits include 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Santa Clause 2, Thirteen Days, Air Force One and a crowd favorite The Commitments - just to barely scratch the surface. Amongst everything else, we talked about the tenacity it takes to have longevity in this career.

Carolina is a Brazilian born Emmy nominated producer living in Los Angeles. She produced the award winning and 2017 Emmy nominated documentary AUTISM IN LOVE, which explores how adults with autism find and navigate romantic relationships. Her narrative feature films include MISS VIRGINIA, starring Uzo Aduba, the Netflix Originals GIRLFRIEND'S DAY and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. She co-produced THE FEMALE BRAIN, Whitney Cummings' directing debut feature film, and also produced SYLVIE'S LOVE which had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.  She also has her own podcast that you should check out – it's called Life with Caca – It's a podcast of intimate and honest conversations with producers from all corners of the entertainment industry. It shines a light on the many career paths that exist under the umbrella of producing, the messy, unglamorous realities behind the title, and why we love it so much.  

The production process when it comes to film, television, and advertising has lately been seen as outdated and needs to be simplified to be able to adhere to society's needs for more diverse creators and stories. When Becky Morrison founded The Light, a production studio in Brooklyn, NY, she did it with a simple mission: change the culture of production, overhauling an outdated model in favor of one founded on values of equality, transparency and inclusion. She aims to create a system that prioritizes people, profit and the environment, responding to the ever-evolving economic landscape of the advertising industry. With that set model, Becky and The Light team have been able to secure work for brands like Lexus, JCPenney, and A&E. We spoke in her Brooklyn studio on a snowy day in NY.

Edith is a composer and music producer. To date, her music has been placed in 790 episodes of 259 series.  Due to her rigorous 3-year training at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions and Bleeding Fingers, and 2 years of full-time composing at Jingle Punks, Edith has acquired a comprehensive set of musical, technical, and collaborative skills.  Her composing credits include YouTube Premium series Step Up: High Water, Saturday Night Live, and Showtime's The Circus, as well as a plethora of reality TV series, including Queer Eye, Project Runway, and The Real Housewives franchise. She currently composes for TV, film, podcasts, live theater and more, with a specialty in electronic drama, synth pop, and choral music. She told me all about being one of few women in this space, and you can listen to her music right now.

Kate Chamuris is a producer and director who recently won a Gold, Student Academy Award and a BAFTA student award for producing the American Film Institute short film MILLER and SON. She also produced the AFI thesis films, BALLOON and IF THIS IS WRONG. For the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, Kate produced UNSPEAKABLE and BLOCKS. Her directing work includes the comedic short A SARI FOR PALLAVI (winner, Best Comedy Short at Rhode Island International Film Festival).  Prior to narrative filmmaking, Kate worked as an advertising account manager for ROLEX Global at J. Walter Thompson. While there she produced the branded feature documentary “Deepest Dive: The Story of the Trieste,” directed by Fisher Stevens that aired on National Geographic and BBC Worldwide. Kate resides in Los Angeles, CA and produces feature films for dir/writer Jeremy Merrifield and his production company, Dream Three Films. You can watch her two Oscar Qualified Live Action Shorts at the links below: BALLOON - http://bit.ly/Balloon_SOTW MILLER & SON - http://bit.ly/MillerSon_SOTW  

Therese is an actor and award-winning audiobook narrator working in New York City. She has recorded over 400 audio books for various publishers. She won the 2019 Audie Award for her work on the multicast, Sadie by Courtney Summers for Macmillan Audio,  and was nominated for the Multicast, Any Man, by Amber Tamblyn for Harper Audio and her solo narration for The Rogue: Planets Shaken by Lee W. Brainard for Podium Publishing.  The American Library Association (ALA) awarded her work on Sourdough by Robin Sloan as part of the 2018 Listen List: Outstanding Audiobook Narration for Adult Listeners. Thérèse has been nominated for 5 Audie Awards in 2018. She was named AudioFile's Best Voices of the Year in 2015 for her work on Robyn Carr's A New Hope. Thérèse is the voice of Maya Hansen in the Marvel Graphic Motion Comic Ironman Extremis, Dr. Fennel in Pokemon and for various Yu-Gi-Oh characters. Television Guest Star Roles on The Good Wife,Law and Order SVU and Virgin River for Netflix.  You can imagine how intimidating this was. She told me how she broke in – it was a series of preparation meeting miracles, and she spoke about what everyone wants to know – how do you voice those sex scenes?

Mary Rachel Gardner graduated from USC in 2013 with major studies in Acting, Business and Film Production; she also spent a semester abroad studying at a theatre conservatory in London. Mary Rachel gained hands on experience and knowledge working at production companies, such as Steve Carell's Carousel Productions and agencies such as William Morris Endeavor. She also worked as a PA on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she learned about the production and operation elements of running a live television show. Since graduating from USC, Mary Rachel founded her own film company Kalliste Zoe Productions to explore, create and share original content through visual art and storytelling. Kalliste Zoe "Όμορφη Ζωή" means "A Beautiful Life" in Greek. She has developed many of her own independent projects including music videos, parodies, comedic sketches and short films. Mary Rachel has received honorary awards at film festivals, such as Audience Favorite and Best Screenplay, and successfully licensed some of her films overseas. Under the Kalliste Zoe umbrella, she founded the Independent Cinema Showcase (ICS): to discover and share independent filmmakers' visions from around the world as well as provide an opportunity for them to join a cinema family that connects and supports talented creators.

For today's episode, there was a happy miscommunication. I was meant to interview Elizabeth Blake Thomas, a director, via the internet, as I assumed she was in England. Well, she also assumed I was in England. Once we were on the phone, we realized we were actually down the street from each other. So, I jumped in my car and ran down to the Hollywood film festival, where I got to interview both Elizabeth, and her daughter Isabella Blake-Thomas. A very lucky two-fer! Together, Elizabeth (Director) and Isabella (Actor, Singer) have the production company Mother & Daughter Entertainment, whose film Unseen I caught while I was at the festival. It was an unnerving film about child trafficking. We walked out of the screening, and into an outdoor bungalow for this interview. Forgive the background noise, but try to soak up the ambiance.

Heidi previously served as the head of The Raben Group's Impact Entertainment division where she provided pro‐social consultation to leaders in media, entertainment, and philanthropy. Clients included the American Film Institute, The Fledgling Fund, One Community, PBS, Sony Pictures TV, and YouTube, as well as independent filmmakers, artists, and change makers. With nearly two decades working in entertainment, advocacy, strategic communications, and public engagement, Heidi is a leader in the social impact field, with unique insight and expertise in advancing cultural and policy change through stories and film. Her issue‐area expertise includes criminal justice reform, immigration, sexual assault, and gender and racial equity. Prior to The Raben Group, Heidi was a Partner at Picture Motion where she led the Washington, D.C. office. She began her career at Ghost House Pictures where she co‐produced an original web and TV mini‐series for Comcast, and managed marketing at Lionsgate for Grindstone Entertainment films. In addition to her work on Just Mercy through the development of the Represent Justice campaign, she has led impact strategy and successful engagement campaigns tied to award‐winning films, such as Batkid Begins, The Best of Enemies, Food Chains, Happening, The Human Experiment, The Hunting Ground, The Invisible War, The Return, Racing Extinction, and The Rape of Recy Taylor. Heidi has guest lectured at Boston University and the George Washington University, and was an adjunct instructor at Duke University in the Sanford School of Public Policy. She has been featured in Variety, Real Screen, Screen Daily, Washington Life Magazine, and HuffPost; has been recognized by the Case Foundation as a “Millennial Leader to Follow”; and received the Media Impact Award from the PVBLIC Foundation and the United Nations Office for Partnerships. Originally from South Africa, Heidi grew up in Colorado and attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she majored in modern dance. She is currently completing an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, and lives in Alexandria, VA with her husband and dog. 

Kathleen has enjoyed working in the film and television industry for over 30 years. She has worked “on location” most of that time, shooting across this country as well as internationally. Over her career, she has served as Producer, Production Executive, Production Manager and Production Coordinator on feature films and most recently on TV. She is currently working on the Netflix hit 13 Reasons Why. Previous credits include Chance, Steve Jobs, San Andreas, The boy Next Door, and Because of Winn-Dixie. At one point, she was the head of production at a company called The Film Department. We talked all about her career, how she helped organize Production Coordinators, start the Frog & Frigate, and continue her career, even after moving out of Los Angeles. It takes effort, but it's possible.

Jessie Levandov and Nina Reyes, the Co-Founders & Directors of Mala Forever. Mala Forever is an award-winning, women-run film and digital studio based in LA and NYC. They develop and produce films, new media, and commissioned work that centers unheard voices. They are redefining the future of filmmaking through equitable production practices, and their growing community-based platform is a cultural hub for the radical femme revolution.  Jessie is an award-winning community-based filmmaker, creative director, and educator. Her queer documentary series Signified was presented by the Guggenheim Lab, and her short film The Greggs won the Spirit Award at Slamdance. Her work has been featured in publications such as Teen Vogue, Huffington Post and Them. Jessie is committed to storytelling as a tool for social justice, and served as the longtime program director of Youth Documentary Workshop at New York's Educational Video Center. Nina is a countercultural filmmaker and creative director whose work is grounded in her point of view as a mixed-race first-generation Mexican-American and Jewish woman. Her feature-length screenplay La Paz was a finalist for the 2017 Latino Screenwriting Project; her short films, Organism and Invisible Men, have won press and played at festivals around the world including Outfest, Frameline, and HBO: New York Latino Film Festival. They both are fellow NYU alums with BFA's from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts – go violets.

Natalie Metzger is the VP of Development and Production for Vanishing Angle. Natalie is a Spirit Award nominated producer whose credits include Jim Cummings' newest film THE WEREWOLF, GREENER GRASS (Sundance, SXSW), THUNDER ROAD (Grand Jury Award - SXSW), THE ROBBERY (Sundance), MATPAT'S GAME LAB (Streamy Award), Lil Dicky's FREAKY FRIDAY (over 506 million views), HYDRANGEA (Vimeo Staff Pick), THE ARRIVAL (Jury Award - Napa Valley Film Festival), THE STOP (Vimeo Staff Pick), virtual reality miniseries GLOBAL GAMER, among numerous others.  Her directing credits include AT&T original documentary ALONE IN THE GAME (AFI Docs, Frameline, Outfest); healthcare documentary SPECIAL BLOOD (Best Feature Documentary - CWFF); PSA “Topless Women Talk NFL” (featured in Washington Post, Huffington Post, Vice); and numerous award-winning commercials and short films.  Also an accomplished writer, Metzger won the Gold Prize at the Page International Screenwriting Awards for her sci-fi script IMMORTAL. Metzger holds a Master of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts and a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University

Susie Singer Carter's website bio says this: “If you asked five-year-old Susie what she wanted to be when she grew up, she'd have placed her hands defiantly on either side of her pink tutu and said, “Everything. Duh!” And that is what she has done. She's a writer, producer, actor, musician. She sat down, we became immediate friends, and talked about everything – marriage, divorce, parenting, daughtering. She recently made an autobiographical short film about alzheimer's called My Mom and the Girl, which she'll tell us all about, and you can see her dancing hip hop on facebook all the time. She has the media company called Go Girl Media, which I will link to on my website.

Eline is creating a series about women in motocross. She got tired of waiting for someone else to do it, so like a real badass woman, she's doing it herself. Originally from Estonia, Eline is a motocross champion and the first woman in Canada to jump her dirt bike onto an airbag. Passionate about motorcycles and filmmaking, Eline is dedicated to telling stories of badass women. With a background in creating non-fiction content for years, Diaries of Badass Chicks is her directorial scripted series debut. She started a crowd funding for a webseries, and then realized it's much bigger than that when she received videos and encouragement from women all over the world.

For today's episode, I had a bit of serendipity. I went to the Produced By conference this summer and happened to sit down next to today's guest. Marquette Jones is a filmmaker, an attorney, a professor, and she hosts a podcast called Directing Magic, where she interviews female filmmakers. As you can imagine, we had a lot in common, so I invited her to come to my table and have a conversation. Not only did I learn a lot about her and her career, but we also talked about podcasting and what drives us to do this, and it gets to be very inside baseball. We interviewed each other just enough for both of these hosts to be uncomfortable. Enjoy. For her full bio, go to my website, which you can find at: www.theotherfiftypercent.com.

Leslie is a producer, most notably working with John Landis, on all of your favorite things, such as Three Amigos, Beverly Hills Cop III, Coming to America, Trading Places, Thriller, Sliders, Dream on, Blues Brothers 2000, Honey I Shrunk the Kids series, Crazy Heart and the list goes on and on and on, before she transitioned to being a production executive in house.   At the time of this recording, she was at Gaumont, but has since transitioned to the Head of Production for Imagine Entertainment.   She has always worked toward diversity, even and especially when she was the only woman in the room. She has incredible perspective and experience and it was such an honor to get to have this conversation.

Eleanor was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was a lover of film, writing, and storytelling from an early age. She has written and directed several short films, including Feature Presentation, about three lonely people in need of connection who find it at the movies as well as Tales from the Airwaves, a Mercury Theater-esque radio drama. She fell in love with the classics as a teenager, and is especially interested in portraying other eras. She firmly believes storytelling is one of the most powerful tools we have to empathize with and understand the lives of others. She tells us all about her current film, Eagle Rock, which dives deep into the psychology of what might make a young woman join a cult. It's pretty fascinating.

I originally interviewed Jeffery for episode 13, which you probably have to find on the website, since the podcast apps only keep the last 100 or so up. This was before #metoo and TimesUp and we were just exploring unconscious gender bias in the workplace. As a quick bio – Jeffery Tobias Halter is a gender strategist and the President of YWomen, a strategic consulting company focused on engaging men in women's leadership advancement. Jeffery is the former Director of Diversity Strategy for The Coca-Cola Company. He is the author of two books including WHY WOMEN, The Leadership Imperative to Advancing Women and is a two-time TEDx speaker. His clients include dozens of Fortune 500 companies and he serves on the Board of Trustees for Miss America 2.0. Jeffery has been doing his work as a gender strategist for a long time, but I wondered how his work has ramped up and changed focus in recent days. Luckily, I got to ask him.

I sat down with Ana Lake and Jennie NystrÖm about their webseries "Tracy Buckles." A Los Angeles-based actress originally from the Central Coast, Ana Lake has been immersed in a love of film since childhood. She made her public debut in the short film Finding Home, For Now that she wrote and starred in. The film had its world premiere at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival in 2017. She plays the title role in Tracy Buckles. A graduate student of Clinical Psychology at Antioch University, Jennie Nystrom is an accomplished producer who enjoys collaborating with her husband on all aspects of film production. Her artistic capabilities are eclectic, and she has a deep passion for story supervision, set design, hair, make-up and costume. She is a producer, among many other jobs, on Tracy Buckles. I spoke with both of them and we basically solved the problems of the world.