Episode 76: Allison Rhone, Tribeca Film Festival

Allison is the Director of Audience and Social Media at Tribeca Enterprises which runs the Tribeca Film Festival. She came up through social media marketing and communications before landing this, her dream job.

Consuming content is part of her job and she is passionate about it. We are living in these times of a constant national conversation, which is unprecedented, and which we should use for good. She is doing her part for diversity, inclusion, and representation while sometimes being the only person of color in the room.

We spoke during the same week as the tragedy in Charlottesville, so that definitely impacted our conversation.

Episode 74: I Clown You, Sasha Kapustina and Inbal-Rotem Sagiv

Sasha and Inbal are filmmakers who have made a documentary called I Clown You. It’s a film about clowns that work in hospitals in Israel. Clowning is a beautiful art that is taken quite seriously and is respected as a legitimate occupation in the medical system.

Sasha had a long and winding road from law school in Russia to filmmaking in the United States. Inbal also had a long journey from production in Israel to living in Hollywood. We talk about their lives and careers, immigration and diverse families, and the art of clowning.

This is more than a film, it’s a mission - to explore and to bring awareness to healing and liberating powers of professional medical clowning and to spread the clown spirit of kindness and mischief.

To that end, they are celebrating I CLOWN YOU WEEK in Los Angeles – November 6-14, 2017. Two Israeli professional medical clowns, David Barashi and Rotem Goldenberg, are coming to Los Angeles for a series of events, lectures, hospital visits, workshops, and seminars. The program aims to grow awareness around the profession of medical clowning and its value both in the hospital and in the day to day life.

You can find out more here:  http://www.iclownyoudoc.com/

You can see video of this interview here.

Episode 67: Ramaa Mosley, Director, Activist, Entrepreneur

Ramaa is an accomplished Commercial, Music Video and Film Director, an Activist and an Entrepreneur. Her career as a Director started around age 16, and she now has a company she founded called Adolescent Content which represents young content creators and Directors to national brands and distributes professional content by very young creators.

She wrote and directed the film The Brass Teapot and also worked on a beautiful film called Girl Rising that speaks to the vital importance of educating girls around the word.

As an activist, she was vital in creating worldwide awareness with the #BringBackOurGirls campaign about the Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping in Nigeria. She learned many things with that campaign, not the least of which was about unintended consequences even with the purest of intentions.

Find out more about Ramaa Mosley and Adolescent Content here:

www.adolescentcontent.com
www.splendidandco.com
www.ramaamosley.com

Episode 62: Sophia Kruz, Documentary Filmmaker

Sophia is an Emmy award winning documentary filmmaker. We spoke about her current project, which is a gorgeous film called Little Stones. The film follows four women whose lives are dedicated to empowering survivors of gender based violence and eradicating the atrocities of domestic violence, human trafficking, extreme poverty and female genital mutilation. These women are therapists, activists, missionaries, and entrepreneurs. Their tools – art.

Sophia started realizing success while still in college, and quickly became an effective professional. Hers is a story of courage, initiative, and purpose.

As for the title….

"I always feel the movement is a sort of mosaic. Each of us puts in one little stone.” —Alice Paul, Women’s Rights Activist

You can find out more about the project here:  littlestones.org.  There will also be an academic program around this project.  I am introducing it to my kids’ school.  Go ahead and be a copycat.

And here is her Ted talk.  Watch that too.

Episode 56: Anabella Casanova, Producer, Director

Anabella is a Producer and Director and she owns a production company with her husband called Vacation Theory.  Her eyes were opened young to socio-economic differences and social justice issues.  She realized early that real change happens with the people and what shapes people is the stories we tell and the art we consume. She wanted to be a part of the storytelling.

Here is some great advice: develop an artisan skill to leverage against the thing you want to do. That means learn a craft to get into the room to gain the influence to get the job you want. In other words, your day job should be on set, not at a coffee shop.

Serious, smart and curious goes a long way. Soak up everything you can from that first job.  You are getting way more out of it than what are you being paid.

And Anabella’s driving priority – be a good human first and create a life.

As for feminism, let’s bring femininity back to feminism – we’ll unpack that.

And my cat makes a cameo. Welcome to my home studio.

You can see some of Anabella's work here:  That's What She Said and That's What He Said. And her company is here:  www.vacationtheory.com.

Episode 53: Charlie Gelbart, Actor, Writer, Producer, Director

Charlie is an actor, writer, producer and director. She recently created, produced, directed and starred in a web series called The Charlie Orange Show. You can watch it here.  She plays three different characters in her woman-on-the-street hidden camera series.  She likes to push the envelope as far as she can and capture people’s honest reactions. This is all in service of seeking human connection and creating deeper empathy. 

Charlie just won Best Director at the London Independent Film Awards. Pretty rad.

And she majored in finance because it was easy. Go figure.

Episode 48: Kate Hearst, Film Historian, Professor, Writer

Kate is a filmmaker, historian, writer and professor.  After earning her Ph.D. in History and M.F.A. in film, both at Columbia University, she has been teaching film history at Sarah Lawrence College, the Fierstein Graduate School of Cinema, and at Brooklyn College.  Currently, she is working on several projects about women: a book on the cinema of Barbara Kopple, and a history of Phoebe Hearst and the Coming of Age of San Francisco, 1860-1919. She also writes reviews for Film International, and serves as a juror and moderator at the Middlebury Film Festival.

We talked a lot about how women are left out of the canon in film schools.  And for young people in school, they need to start questioning why there aren’t any women on the syllabus.  It’s probably not conscious exclusion, it’s just the way it’s always been.  Let’s change that.

You can find out more about Kate on her website here: www.khearst.com.

Episode 47: Ayser Salman, Writer/Editor/Producer

Ayser is an Editor/Producer/Writer. She is also a Muslim, Arab, immigrant woman living in America.  Apparently, all of those things together add up to an interesting set of experiences. So much so, she is writing her memoir.  After hearing her interview, you will want to read her book, The Wrong End of the Table: an Immigrant Love Story.

She told me lots of stories, such as when her sister was born in America and was nearly named Amanda, except Ayser was NOT HAVING THAT. In recent years, she has discovered that saying your real name to the barista is actually a radical political act that, though risky, is worth it. It is important to be seen and not hide in the shadows.

And no matter what, even at her own party, she always seems to find herself at the wrong end of the table.  Who doesn’t?

You can learn more about Ayser and read some of her work here:  www.aysersalman.com.

Episode 43: Taj Paxton, Filmmaker, Executive

Taj is the VP of Documentary Films at Logo. She is an award-winning producer, writer and filmmaker. As one of few Black and openly LGBT film executives, Taj proudly stands on the front lines of diversity and representation.

She started on Wall Street and became a filmmaker and executive.  Along the way she produced films, ran Forrest Whittaker’s company, wrote and sold a pilot, traveled, worked as a production executive, served on the Board for Outfest, and became a yoga teacher. As you do.

And from her bio, which I cannot state better: Taj interests lie at the intersections of art and social change. Her journey is filled with life lessons that cannot be confined to the boxes of gender, race and sexual orientation. She hopes her work will continue to shape the conversation around the kinds of stories we tell and that those stories become a tool for greater cultural understanding and cohesion.

We talked about loaves and fishes, redefining masculinity, and your gut perception of a woman as competent. And can we replace "minority" with "underrepresented?"

Episode 41: Cady McClain, Director/Producer/Artist

Cady is an actor/producer/director/writer/musician….maybe it’s just easiest to call her an artist.  I know her best from playing Dixie Martin on All My Children.  If I couldn’t marry Tad, I’m glad it was she.

More recently, she directed Seeing is Believing: Women Direct – a documentary series that profiles female directors.  It premiers a week from today at the Newport Beach Film Festival.  You can get tickets here.  She is also directing and acting in Venice: The Series.

We talked about her journey as an artist, the heroine’s journey in life, and how women can uplift and support each other.  It was the very juicy talk of an artist.

You shouldn’t have to go deep into the woods, wearing a floral maxi skirt and smelling of patchouli in order to see and celebrate women’s contribution in storytelling. Although that's fun too.

Episode 39: Beatriz Mascaro, Co-Executive Producer

Beatriz is a Co-Executive Producer on Teen Mom OG.  What’s OG?  She’ll tell us.  Her other credits include Say Yes to the Dress, Teen Mom, What Not to Wear, and A Wedding Story. She is producing Teen Mom while being knee deep in raising two tiny humans – one of them is less than a year old. She is a big team player, both at work and at home. 

We talked about raising the next generation of workers – and seriously, why is there so much parenting required at work? Here is the advice:  work hard every time.

I will warn you, the audio on this episode is not awesome.  I think her interview is worth it though, so try to stick with it.

Episode 37: Erin Dooley, Writer/Producer "A Way to Forgiveness"

Erin is a screenwriter and producer. Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, she is now living and working in Los Angeles. She has written, directed, and produced two feature films, a number of shorts, and two web series as well as a feature documentary called "A Way to Forgiveness". 

We talked about her journey walking across Spain on the Camino de Santiago as a way to heal and find forgiveness as she dealt with the end of her 12-year marriage. She discusses forgiveness, the impact the film is having on people, and being an indie producer.

And as it turns out, forgiveness is not a one-time thing.  It’s a daily practice.

After listening to this, you will want to know more about Erin, buy her film and/or introduce her to Roma Downey.  You can reach her here:

"A Way to Forgiveness" website: http://awaytoforgiveness.weebly.com/

D.A.S.H. Entertainment website: www.dashentertainmentllc.com