I first met cinematographer Valentina Caniglia at the 2019 Girl Power Film + Media Summit in Brooklyn, NY, where she was on a panel about the female gaze. Valentina’s story is truly inspirational, from skating competitively in Italy, to NYU film school, to traveling all over the world shooting films, TV series, and commercials. I
In March, I had the opportunity to interview British filmmaker Anya Camilleri. Camilleri’s award-winning short film “A Girl of No Importance,” made in partnership with agency Stella’s Voice, brings awareness to human trafficking and sex slavery. “A Girl of No Importance” is about a teenage prostitute who escapes from her traffickers but finds herself lost
Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre has written and directed a uniquely evocative and stunning film that reassesses humanity and our need for connection seen through the lens of a hopeless and withdrawn prison inmate who participates in a horse rehabilitation training program. Starring Matthias Schoenaerts and Bruce Dern who give hauntingly emotional performances, Clermont-Tonnerre creates a revelatory
I met Pamela B. Green at a coffee shop/diner prior to her “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché” (2018) film screening for the opening night of the Chicago Feminist Film Festival at Columbia College Chicago. Meeting Pamela, I could feel the force of nature of Alice Guy-Blaché through her passionate words and her
Juliana Roth and I spoke on the phone in February 2019 about her first feature film currently in development, “What We Know.” The film is based on “Middlebrook,” an educational web series Roth wrote that covers the aftermath of sexual assault on a college campus. Her script for “What We Know” was a semifinalist in
When I met assistant editor Erin Wolf back in January in LA, I instantly felt like we were friends. She is so laidback. Our conversation was fluid and organic. I think maybe our styles are similar when it comes to our work, by being curious about people and their stories. Erin has worked on the
Back in January during my trip in Los Angeles, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Caroline Heldman, research director at the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, associate professor of politics at Occidental College, and executive director of The Representation Project. Dr. Heldman also cofounded the New Orleans Women’s Shelter and the Lower
Hollywood appears to be ground zero for #MeToo and #TimesUp which has opened the eyes of all and the doors for women, especially in creating director seats. While we still have a long way to go, one woman, Gillian Greene, who’s been a part of Hollywood her entire life, is seated comfortably in that director’s
I first became aware of Porscha Williams when she generously video called into my “Finding Your Comedic Voice” class at the Harold Ramis Film School. At the time she was the assistant to the senior level motion picture literary agent at CAA. I remember her wisdom, realness, and humor and thought, “Wow, how is this young
Rebecca Stern, director of the much-talked-about SXSW film “Well Groomed,” has married her love of animals and her passion, skills, and knowledge of filmmaking to create a visually entertaining film with a compelling underlying narrative arc. Featuring four women who compete in the arena of creative dog grooming, Stern brings us into this relatively unknown
