WOMEN

I love men, but it's about the women!

Portland, Oregon is the first stop for our HANCOCK PARK tour and it was so wonderful to screen at the historic Hollywood Theatre. I was pleasantly surprised to see our name front and center on the marquee and the staff could not have been kinder. Chole at the box office, Melinda the projectionist and local filmmaker Tara Johnson-Medinger, film director/producer and the executive director of POW Film Fest, the Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival and the POWGirls Education Program showed up to moderate the Q&A. We had a lovely audience and I’m so grateful to have been able to screen this film.

It’s not lost on my how many amazing women show up for each other and that’s how this film started. Beth Dewey and I were shooting footage for this project and then producer, and co-founder of FFC, Female Filmmaking Collective, Kim Adelman asked to read the script I wrote. A few months later we were crowd funding, casting and shooting HANCOCK PARK in my apartment. More incredible women showed up, Cynthia Jamin, Lizzie Peet, Avery Hunter, Morgan Gardiner finished our principle photography and Julie Antepli cut the film.

My friend, Deborah Sweet lives in Portland kindly hosted and introduced me to some great women on this trip. Professionals, mothers, artists and grandmothers, all smart, funny, wise and encouraging. There’s a certain magic with women that fills my heart. My most healing moments have been trusting other women while having real, raw and connected conversation that have changed me for the better. The universe truly course corrected with the relationships I get to have with women. Sadly, my late mother was tricky. She loved me and yet, there were a lot of thorns with that love. I feel very fortunate to have not held my childhood experience with women rob me of the abundance of love and support I get to have in my life today.

Making films for me is not about ambition, it’s for connection. To have the opportunity to travel and meet not only other filmmakers but interesting women who are paving the way for generations to come is inspiring. It’s a cliche to say women are nurturing as there are many wonderful men who can be supportive and yet, at the end of the day, it’s always been the women I can consistently depend on.

When Kim Adelman and I met many years ago we discussed how important it is to lift each other up and to do what we can to support female stories and vision. I’m thrilled to say, this is what’s happening!

I’m sorry my mom grew up in a generation where she didn’t believe in herself outside of her external beauty and it was hard for her to not compete with other women. It’s taken me a while to fully love myself enough to attract healthy relationships that are creative, loving, and supportive. Success for me is no longer measured by how my career is progressing but how I can connect with others, especially women.

There are real statistics about the lack of opportunities for female filmmakers. Richard Rushfield recently wrote about it here…

Female Directors and Hollywood’s Grim Post-#MeToo Reality

Forever the optimist, I believe making films is bigger than Hollywood, it’s about community and connection that cannot be measured by box office or reviews and the so-called gatekeepers who pick and choose who gets to be in the club.

When I was writing, directing and acting in theatre productions back in the 90’s we’d sometimes have tiny houses but I was taught that you play for that one person in the audience. They get the same performance as if it were a sold out show. Building an audience in film today feels just as daunting but it’s my job is to connect however I can to whoever shows up.

While there’s so much horrific stuff happening in our world and especially in our country, if there is one small act of kindness, one phone call asking how are you? What do you need? Maybe it’s just a text saying I’m here for you can change someone’s day.

Our next screening of HANCOCK PARK is in NYC December 4th at The Walker Hotel Greenwich Village. My friend Vanessa Hope hooked me up with the venue and once again, the ladies come through…

Feel free to spread the word.

xo