The success of Wonder Woman and the live action Beauty and the Beast has generated a great deal of discussion about women in cinema and woman-centric narrative. A Variety article pointed out, though, that despite record box office, women, “made up only 7 percent of all directors working on the 250 highest-grossing domestic releases in 2016. That represented a decline of two percentage points from the year before.” Without getting too heady or too political, I need to point out that women’s narratological problems start off long before a screenplay gets optioned by the studios and directors are hired. It starts in high school, with the ways we are taught narrative structure.
Hollywood
Reeling in Our Focus
There are so many distractions. Sometimes, in our hectic lives, we have competing priorities, which can make focusing even harder. This past week on What Women Want Talk Radio, Judy Goss and I had guests Christine Hassler and Nancy Ganzekaufer, who coached us on how to make our lives more reflective of our deeply held priorities. If you’ve been overwhelmed by your to-do list or suffering from a bad case of analysis paralysis, you’ll find the candor of Christine and Nancy refreshing.
Behind the Scenes of The Litch
This week, I got to have a fun part in The Litch, directed by James Balsalmo of Acid Bath Productions. It was a high-spirited, improvisational shoot. Coming out later this year, the film also stars Tom Sizemore, the legendary Lloyd Kaufman and fellow scream queen Genoveva Rossi. James is creative, collaborative and fun and I told our manager Matt Chassin that he was like the “Christopher Guest of horror”. This is sure to be a fun horror comedy.
Armin Nasseri of Seeking Valentina fame was also on-hand helping with our scene. It was great to have his positive energy there. I can’t wait to see it debut on the big screen later this year!
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A #DayintheLife of an Indie Film Producer & Actress
I was recently invited by Mogul to give their readership an insight on what life is like being an indie filmmaker in Los Angeles. It was such an honor to share some of the highlights of my experiences.
Dorkilicious Times on The Dorkening
It’s always a pleasure to talk to the guys of The Dorkening. They are true cinephiles and die-hard horror and genre film fans. Check out this recent conversation I had!
Confessions of a Film Festival Juror
There are thousands of film festivals and thousands of short films. I have judged film competitions in the past and recently had “jury duty” for a film festival. Much of film festival submissions and judging is conducted electronically these days. I want to give you a very human perspective on what goes on when someone is watching your film. I am just one person. All festivals and festival judges are different, but I hope this helps the filmmakers out there have a little perspective.
Update on Petition for Marcia Nasatir
After several weeks of campaigning, the petition by San Antonio Film Festival to The Board of Governors for the Academy Awards to honor Marcia Nasatir closed with 455 signatures. Thank you to everyone who took the time to sign this important petition.
Being Plus-Sized in Hollywood
I have been every size from a size 6 to a size 18. The scale has gone up and down and I have had my ups and downs with the movements of the scale. I recently opened up about my weight and the challenges it poses being a plus size woman in Hollywood with Serena Spates and Chris De Rosa of the 100 Percent Show.
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San Antonio Film Festival honors Hollywood Glass Ceiling-Breaker Marcia Nasatir; Petitions Oscars Board of Governors
Marcia Nasatir, Hollywood glass ceiling-breaker, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 22nd Annual San Antonio Film Festival.
The 22nd Annual San Antonio Film Festival put women in film front and center this year. The festival gave its Lifetime Achievement Award to Marcia Nasatir, San Antonio native. Marcia achieved success as a producer and as the first woman to serve as vice-president of production at a major Hollywood studio, United Artists.
Kristin West 