Episode 215: Kim Gruenenfelder, Author

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.

Episode 166: Maria Mealla, Filmmaker

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Maria was born in Bolivia and raised by storytellers that encouraged her to pursue filmmaking, a path which eventually led her San Francisco. She ventured into movie-making in 2010 and learned the craft through work trade by collaborating with other talented filmmakers on their projects. She has since written, produced and directed the feature film Women and Cigarettes, a collection of romantic short films titled Business Affairs, and a handful of shorts on lower-middle class millennials. She is the chapter leader of the SF Cinefemme Director’s Collective as well as an active member of Film Fatales. Her most recent film Bring me an Avocado, premiered in March and took home the audience award at Cinequest. When she’s not working on narrative films, she freelances as a video producer throughout the Bay Area.

We talked about her path to filmmaking, the state of inclusion within commercial advertising, and her film Bring me an Avocado.

Episode 165: Lisa Hammer, Filmmaker, Writer, Musician

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Lisa Hammer is a film director, writer and musician. She is best recognized as the voice of Triana Orpheus on the Adult Swim cartoon The Venture Bros. She has written/directed independent dark comedy feature and short films such as Pox and Pus$bucket, and the CMJ Film Festival winner The Invisible Life of Thomas Lynch which she co-wrote and co-directed with James Merendino (SLC Punk). Lisa's films have won awards from dozens of festivals including: the CMJ Film Festival, Telly Awards, Hugo Awards, It Came From Kuchar Film Festival, the Chicago Underground Film Festival, Canada International Screenplay Festival, Ontario Film Festival, Antimatter, Indieworks and two from New York Press. She has had one-woman shows at the Olympia Film Festival, Perth International Film Festival, and the Duolun Art Museum in Shanghai, China. Her surrealist silent film Empire of Ache was recently acquired by The Getty Museum’s feminist film collection, curated by Miranda July. Her storytelling abilities support not only writing, but her editing, gaining her the reputation for saving shelved films as “The Edit Doctor”.

Hammer’s most recent film The Sisters Plotz, starring Eve Plumb (The Brady Bunch) was recently acquired by Amazon Prime, the Roku Channel and FandangoNow. Hammer co-created and co-writes the original series Maybe Sunshine now on the Seeka TV channel on Roku. Her new "Environmental-Comedy-Sci Fi- Horror" screenplay Ghostapus is winning and placing in dozens of festivals and screenplay contests and is in development. 

We talked about her career and the gritty days in New York where you could have rent control and live as an artist.

Episode 164: Sigrid Gilmer, Writer

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Today I talked with Sigrid Gilmer. Sigrid makes black comedies that are historically bent, totally perverse, joyfully irreverent and concerned with issues of identity, pop culture and contemporary American society. Sigrid burst onto the national theater scene with her play Harry and the Thief, an action film/historical/time travel play about a thief who is blackmailed into traveling back in time to deliver a cache of arms to Harriet Tubman. It has since been produced across the country, including runs at the Pavement Group (Chicago), the Know Theatre (Cincinnati), and the Skylight Theatre (LA).

Additional select works include Slavey (Clubbed Thumb), Seed: A Weird Act of Faith, It’s All Bueno (Cornerstone Theater Company), Frilly, and White 3: Manifestdestinyland. Her television work includes: A Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix) and Claws (TNT).

Sigrid’s play Mama Metal is playing right now at IAMA Theatre Company at the Atwater Village Theatre through June 23rd. You can get tickets here iamatheatre.com.

Episode 163: Angela Cohen, Actress, Writer, Filmmaker

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I spoke with Angela Cohen for episode 163. Angela is a writer and an actress with a degree from Emory University in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. In 2012, Angela founded Charley Bear Productions Inc, with a vision to affect change through art, showcasing the female perspective in front of and behind the camera. Charley Bear produced the dramatic short film, Without Grace, starring Angela alongside award winning actress Ann Dowd. It is wonderful and you should watch it.

In fact, you should watch it today, as it is in the All Voices Film Festival on Amazon through June 17th. Finalists are based upon the numbers of views in the time period. Angela would love to recoup her angel investor’s generous contribution in making this film and stir your heart with emotion in the process. It's 18 minutes- you have 18 minutes!  

Here's the link to watch Without Grace. Tell your friends! 

Angela is fascinated with the brain and the overlap of art and science. The synergy of this will be actualized in her work in Virtual Reality, which she will tell us all about.

Episode 162: Stavroula Toska and Eleni Yiovas of SWITCH

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I spoke with Stavroula Toska and Eleni Yiovas about their award-winning series SWITCH. Switch is the story based on Stavroula’s experiences of going undercover and working as a dominatrix in New York City. Now before you pre-judge this, as I did, let me tell you, you have never heard anyone describe the BDSM world before in this way. Stavroula is the creator, writer, actor – coming from a long career as a filmmaker, and Eleni is an Executive Producer and actor.

The series features no less than Olympia Dukakis, John Lindstrom, and Cady McClain, and episodes were directed by Cady McClain, Laurie Weltz, Katie Maguire and Stavroula.

Stavroula and Eleni sat down with me and spoke of this work with such empathy, compassion, and respect for humanity, vulnerability, and the ways in which we heal the world. Seriously, we brought up Brene Brown.

More about the series:

www.switchtheseries.com

Based on the true life story of creator Stavroula Toska, SWITCH follows Stella, an immigrant woman with a dark past who begins training as a professional dominatrix in New York City's most exclusive BDSM Establishment while battling PTSD and trying to build a better life for herself. 

SWITCH takes viewers on a journey to the riveting world of BDSM from a deeply benevolent, unorthodox and cerebral POV by following Stella and the main characters as they navigate leading a double life, the struggle for power, identity, ambition, love and family.  We explore the many aspects of human nature and conditioning that most people never discuss openly; the fantasies we have and why, the childhood trauma buried inside each one of us, the various masks we wear in order to survive in this world, the struggle to lead a decent life, the unspoken pain that is desperately looking for an outlet, the duality in us all, and the lengths we go to in order to connect with one another. 

The title refers to the switch we make when we explore our other side, when we go through the darkness in order to find our light, when we start listening to the parts of our self that were shamed to silence, when we hit rock bottom and start rising again.  Switch is also a popular term used in BDSM practice representing the power exchange between two consenting adults of the opposite sex. 

HuffPo story about Stavroula here

The Awards so far…

SWITCH was recently honored with the 2019 BEST STORY AWARD at the prestigious Santa Fe Film Festival, it has received the BEST SUSPENSE/ BEST ACTION AWARD at the New York Women in Film and Television & Go Indie TV / Roku TV competition, and Stavroula Toska received the OUTSTANDING ACTRESS AWARD category in the same competition. The series has also received the BEST PILOT / BEST NEW SERIES AWARD at the 2019 Calcutta International Film Festival and at the 2019 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, the BEST PILOT AWARD at the 2019 Best Shorts Film Festival, the BEST WEB SERIES AWARD at the Global Shorts Film Festival. 

Cast: 

SWITCH features a most inclusive and stellar cast and crew (over 70% female), including Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck, The Infiltrator, Bored to Death, Steel Magnolias, Tales of the City, Look who’s Talking), two-time Emmy winner Cady McClain (All My Children, As the World Turns, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, Law & Order), Emmy-nominee Jon Lindstrom (True Detective, BOSCH, NCIS: Los Angeles, General Hospital) Mark Borkowski (House of Cards, Boardwalk Empire, Blue Bloods), India Ennenga (The Irishman, The Orchard, About Scout, Treme), Bobby Daniel Rodriguez (Narcos, Central Park Five, Bel Canto, Orange in the New Black), Katie Maguire (Billions, Search Party, LI Divas, Blue Bloods), Catherine Chadwick (White Collar, Z: The Beginning of Everything, The Normal Heart).

Episode 161: Lee Broda, Actor, Producer

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Lee is an Israeli-born poet who writes about the beauties – and uncertainties – of life from a distinctly observant perspective. Her first book of poetry; Whispers From the Moon is available now and she reads some of it for us.

Lee is also a celebrated actor and producer, and is the founder of LB Entertainment, which develops, finances, and produces major independent films, where she has shepherded over thirty films to success.

Additionally, Lee is the founder of the group Women Creating Change, an organization that bridges, empowers, and creates opportunities for female writers, directors, producers, and actors from the Middle East.

We talked about all it. Like it’s no big deal.

Episode 160: Lorraine Devon Wilke, Author

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.Lorraine is a writer, an actor, a musician, and activist = but today we talked mostly about the writing. In 2010 she launched her “arts & politics” blog, Rock+Paper+Music, and from 2011 to 2018 she was a popular contributor at HuffPost typically focused on politics and social issues.

A produced and awarded screenwriter, she’s spent more recent years working in longform fiction as well. Both her award-winning novels, After the Sucker Punch and Hysterical Love, are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Her latest, The Alchemy of Noise, contemporary literary fiction that digs deep into issues of privilege, profiling, and prejudice in contemporary Chicago, is published by She Writes Press, and was released in April 2019.

 We talked mostly about her book and we got very deep into race and politics and the work that white people need to do. Buckle in, cause we went there.

You can buy the book here (click)

You can Lorraine in all of these places:

Website: www.lorrainedevonwilke.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lorrainedevonwilke

Facebook Writer's page: www.facebook.com/lorrainedevonwilke.fans/

Twitter: twitter.com/LorraineDWilke

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lorrainedevonwilke/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8185626.Lorraine_Devon_Wilke

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lorraine-devon-wilke

Amazon author page: www.amazon.com/-/e/B00K2ZOLSA

Rock+Paper+Music blog: www.rockpapermusic.com

Episode 159: Pamela Douglas, Writer

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Pamela is an award-winning writer with numerous credits in television drama. She consults internationally with professional TV writers and producers, and has lectured in Africa, Europe, and throughout the US. She was awarded the Humanitas Prize for Between Mother and Daughter on CBS, and she has garnered multiple Emmy nominations and American Women in Radio and Television Awards for her other dramas. Her book “Writing the TV Drama Series” just came out in it’s 4th edition, and we talked about what is in the book and how to make it as a TV writer.

She is also an amazing visual artist. Her house is filled with her art, and I became quite emotional looking at a couple of pieces, which really never happens to me with art. I thought it was stunning. You can see more here: http://pamdouglasart.com/

You can buy the book here:

{click}

Episode 151: Judy Jean Kwon, Creative

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Judy calls herself a Creative. She’s an actress, a comic, a writer, producer, podcaster, creator…she does all the things. Her webseries, MILFriend will be screened on March 22nd at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres at the Golden State Festival. She tells us all about it on the show, along with her very interesting personal story, and being perfectly poised to have great success during the United Colors of Benetton advertising era.

And this: it’s not enough to just have representation. She wants to hear narratives of the other point of view. She calls it “the other point of views.”

You can find more about Judy here.

Episode 149: Jenny Buccos, Director, Producer, Explorer

This episode generously sponsored by:

Jenny is a multi-award winning director and producer of the long running program called Project Explorer, and the founder of Project Explorer.org. which is a free multimedia website designed to educate kids about global cultures and histories. She has explored six continents, in over 500 episodes, and has met incredible people and seen amazing places.

She is currently working on a television show to bring this programming to an even wider audience. Jenny is incredibly purpose driven, an explorer, an entrepreneur, and is living her mission every day. I am very inspired by her and I’m sure you will be too.

Episode 148: Ayser Salman, Author

This episode generously sponsored by:

Today I interviewed my friend, Ayser Salman, for the second time, because her book, The Wrong End of the Table: A Mostly Comic Memoir of a Muslim Arab American Woman Just Trying to Fit in is coming out on March 5th, so I wanted to have her on to talk about it. She was previously on episode 47, so that was awhile ago and if I am remembering correctly, it was hilarious, and maybe because we were having wine and cheese. So, if you want to hear her entire story, go listen to that episode, or more relevantly, buy her book. Which you can order here.

Get the book

Episode 143: Lisa Ebersole, Talented Multi

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For today’s episode I sat down with creator Lisa Ebersole. Lisa created and stars in the webseries called “37 Problems,” which you can find on Amazon Prime and Who Ha Ha. The series is a comedy about a woman facing the end of her fertility and what she is going to do about it.

She is also a playwright, whose plays have been produced off-broadway and regionally, and a screenwriters coach. We talked about what it takes to raise the money and produce a webseries and get distribution. It’s a whole thing.

check out the BRIC Foundation Summit here: https://bricfoundation.org/2019summit/

Episode 142: Laura Maria Censabella, Playwright

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This is my month for playwrights, and today I have another very special episode with playwright Laura Maria Censabella. She wrote the play, Paradise which was commissioned by Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and was a runner-up for the 2016 Saroyan/Paul Playwriting Prize for Human Rights. And lucky for us in LA, the West Coast premiere of Paradise, presented by Viola Davis’ and Julius Tennon’s  JuVee Productions and American Oasis,  is opening at the Odyssey Theatre, January 26th at 8pm and running through February 17th. You can get tickets at www.plays411.com/paradise.

Laura is an award winning playwright, a daytime Emmy winning screenwriter and teaches
playwriting and new play development at the New School for Drama, where she has been honored with the Distinguished University-Wide Teaching Award. She graduated from Yale University and is currently writing the screenplay for Paradise.

check out the BRIC Foundation Summit here: https://bricfoundation.org/2019summit/

Episode 141: Kim Gruenenfelder, Author

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For episode 141 I sat down with Kim Gruenenfelder. Kim is a bestselling author known for writing romantic comedy fiction novels. I have read most of her books and had so much fun talking with her. Her debut novel, "A Total Waste of Makeup", has been published in six languages and eight international editions to date, and is followed by a sequel, "Misery Loves Cabernet". "Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink" is a sequel to 2010's "There's Cake in My Future." Her fifth published novel, "Love The Wine You're With", which details the adventures of a group of friends who open a wine bar, was released in 2017. Her current novel "Hangovers and Hot Flashes", available now, follows the lives of protagonists in their forties. Who knew that writing a book about women in their 40’s would be controversial, but turns out it is. She will tell us all about it.

Apologies in advance to fur parents of fur babies.

check out the BRIC Foundation Summit here: https://bricfoundation.org/2019summit/

Episode 140: Jill Gilbert, Head of Creative Affairs

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I sat down with Jill Gilbert, who is Head of Creative Affairs at Luma Pictures, a visual effects and original content company. Jill has had an amazingly interesting career coming up through development, animation, theme park development, and producing. She has credits that range from Disney animated titles to Grandma’s Cats Are Trying to Kill Her and a Spongebob movie. This episode is full of good advice, interesting stories, and a career well built.

Her career is an example of take the opportunity – you never know where it will lead.

Check out the BRIC Foundation Summit here: https://bricfoundation.org/2019summit/

Episode 139: Anne Kenney and Lane Allison, Writer and Director, Last Call

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Anne Kenney, a television writer known for Outlander and Switched at Birth among many others has written a play. It’s called Last Call and it’s being put up at the Open Fist Theatre company, directed by Lane Allison, who you will remember from this podcast, episode 52. I was lucky enough to have them both in studio to talk about it. And by in studio, I mean at my dining room table. We talked all about the play, and Anne’s career as a tv writer. This is a goodie.

CLICK THE POSTCARD BELOW TO GET TICKETS:

Episode 133: Ally Iseman, Actor, Writer, Producer

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Ally is an actor, writer, and producer. She has worked on stage in productions like Jekyll & Hyde, as well as on screens big and small including shows like American Housewife, Criminal Minds, and Days of Our Lives. Ally makes an appearance in Nicole Conn's newest feature film Nesting Doll, in Jorge Xolalpa Jr.'s latest feature A Giant Without A Head, and as a lead opposite Ray Wise and Bonnie Bedelia in the feature film Life On The Rocks.

Ally has spoken on numerous panels about gender parity and intersectional, inclusive feminism and does her best to align herself with work that has an eye on advocacy. Her internationally award-winning film Wedlocked, an LGBTQ comedy about gay divorce toured at over 45 film festivals worldwide securing digital, broadcast and theatrical distribution.

Most recently she can be seen in the feature film Solver, hosting the new plant-based food travel show The Road Less Eaten, and in her gender parity comedy series Flip the Script, which is being produced in partnership with Women In Film. 

Ally is driven, fearless, and hilarious. Grab your tea and enjoy some time with us.

You can find out more about Ally here: www.allyiseman.com.

Episode 132: Sasheen R. Artis, Writer/Producer

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Sasheen is a Writer/Producer with over 20 years of experience in live events, documentaries, talk shows and scripted programming, such as “Fight for $15” and its impact on small business, the school-to-prison pipeline, the plight of New Orleans residents on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and a “one-night only” Prince concert at the Conga Room in Los Angeles. Sasheen also produced the late-night talk show, Tavis Smiley.

Currently, she is in development with several TV and film projects and co-chairs the Producers Guild of America Power of Diversity Master Workshop. 

This summer, she was invited by the Royal Film Commission - Jordan to develop a curriculum and teach a 5-day Workshop to their local filmmakers on how to prepare their projects for the marketplace. The Workshop culminated with the filmmakers pitching their projects for feedback to top Hollywood execs from Sony, Fox, Paramount, Media Rights Capital and HBO. 

We talked about her incredible journey from homelessness to producing, and broke down the business case for diversity. This is a good one.

Episode 131: Monique Sorgen, Writer, Director

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Monique is a writer and director of TV and film. After graduating from UCLA, Monique worked as a director’s assistant in television dramas and comedies. She then made a short film, Pants on Fire, which garnered international distribution and led to writing jobs such as “Blind Date,” and for variety and alternative shows on Comedy Central, and VH1; after which she landed a staff position at ABC in a development think tank.

Monique has also written the feature films The Babymaker, a Chinese remake of the film Love Stinks, Rock n’ Roll Princess, and All the Way Down. In 2014, she was selected as a finalist for the ABC TV writing program. During this time, Monique also completed her first novel, How Long You Should Wait to Have Sex.

Her most recent directing work includes several music videos, a web series pilot, and 3 unscripted series for the international network Fashion One, which she produced in the Philippines.  

There is more, but I will let her tell it in the interview. Also, she has many stories about being the only woman in a writer’s room. Let’s just say it wasn’t awesome, but it does seem to be getting better.

Now, a brief disclaimer. We conducted this interview outside in a park. So, there is plenty of ambient noise of children, traffic, and an ill-times roofer across the street. Pretend you are on a nature walk and having this conversation with Monique. It will be worth it, I promise.

You can reach Monique here:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/moniquesorgen 

Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/moniquesorgen

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/moniquesorgenlove/

Website: https://sorgenm.wixsite.com/moniquesorgen

New Short Film website: https://sorgenm.wixsite.com/sorrynotsorry

Short film twitter: https://twitter.com/NotSorryFilm 

Book: "HOW LONG YOU SHOULD WAIT TO HAVE SEX" on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Long-Should-Wait-Have-ebook/dp/B00CCH4VIQ