A BRIGHTER LENS

This week, we’re discussing the streamlined “French Hours” shooting schedule Marielle Heller used on A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which made it feasible for cast and crew to see their children while in production. Then, we interview actress and producer Yvonne Huff Lee, who is Co-CEO of Lagralane Group. This year, Yvonne has executive produced The Body Remembers When The World Broken Open, as well as Sundance darling The Infiltrators through Lagralane Group. Yvonne currently serves as president of the board at Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble and is also a board member of Array Alliance, an initiative founded by Ava Duvernay.

This week, we're discussing the Hollywood assistants' revolt and #PayUpHollywood and the implications this has for the rest of the industry. Then, we interview costume designer Gersha Phillips.

Gersha is a costume designer who has designed for more than 30 films and numerous TV series. She currently designs for CBS’s Emmy-nominated Star Trek: Discovery, now in its second season. Her work on Season 1 earned her a Costume Designers Guild Award nomination. She has also worked on House of Cards, Black Panther, and American Psycho.

This week is our second installment of our collaborative series in partnership with Free the Work, which is a curated talent-discovery service of underrepresented creators. Free the Work is a non-profit founded by Alma Ha’rel, whom we recently interviewed. Check out their new platform at freethework.com

For our second episode of this series, we interviewed Minhal Baig, writer/director of Hala. Hala is her debut feature film, about a Muslim teenager coping with the unraveling of her family as she comes into her own. It premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Hala is out in theaters today, and on Apple TV+ on December 6. Enjoy!

HALA

Seventeen-year-old Pakistani American teenager Hala struggles to balance desire with her familial, cultural and religious obligations. As she comes into her own, she grapples with a secret that threatens to unravel her family.

On this week's episode, we discuss The Academy's recent announcement that their "Best Foreign Language Film" award is now titled the "Best International Feature Film" award, and the controversy surrounding the disqualification of the entry films from Nigeria and Austria. Then, we interview film and television composer Sherri Chung. Sherri currently composes the scores for Riverdale (CW) and Blindspot (NBC). Her most recent show, The Red Line, produced by Greg Berlanti and Ava DuVernay, is a limited series which premiered on CBS and currently airs on CBS All Access. Her latest Warner Bros. film, Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase was released March 2019 in theaters nationwide.

On this week's episode we discuss recent controversy over the censorship of same-sex love scenes in Olivia Wilde's film "Booksmart" for in-flight entertainment. Then, we interview cinematographer Alison Kelly. Alison is the cinematographer behind the ABC drama Grand Hotel, which is executive produced by and stars Eva Longoria. Alison has worked on other notable projects including AMC’s Dietland, MTV’s Finding Carter, Who's Afraid of Vagina Wolf?, and STARZ’s Counterpart. Enjoy!

This week, we discuss Geena Davis, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and their new tool "GD-IQ: Spellcheck for Bias." Then, we interview Nena Erb, ACE, an Emmy-winning editor based in Los Angeles. Nena has been the editor on productions for HBO, Universal, CBS, ABC, and others. In 2016, she received an Emmy award for her work on HBO’s documentary series Project Greenlight, and in 2019, she received an ACE Eddie nomination for her work on HBO's Peabody award-winning series Insecure. Currently, she is editing Little America, an anthology series on America's immigrants, produced by Kumail Najiani, Emily V. Gordon, Alan Yang, and Lee Eisenberg.

This week we're discussing the Big Little Lies S2 director debacle, and the writer pay disparity on the Crazy Rich Asians sequel. Then, we interview Amey René, an Artios Award nominated Casting Director. Many of her films have premiered at Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Cannes and Toronto International Film Festivals. She had three films premiere at the Sundance 2019 Film Festival, including Greener Grass, which is currently in theaters.

We are back for Season 2! We have an exciting slate of interviews this season and we're so thrilled to announce our new associate producer, Elise Welch! To start the season off, we're talking about the number of top films directed by women (so far) in 2019, which has already exceeded the number directed by women in 2018. Then, we interview writer and director Christina Choe, who's feature film debut NANCY premiered at Sundance in the 2018 US Dramatic Competition, where it won the Waldo Salt Best Screenplay Award. Enjoy!

We are back for Season 2! We have an exciting slate of interviews this season and we're so thrilled to announce our new associate producer, Elise Welch! To start the season off, we're talking about the number of top films directed by women (so far) in 2019, which has already exceeded the number directed by women in 2018. Then, we interview writer and director Christina Choe, who's feature film debut NANCY premiered at Sundance in the 2018 US Dramatic Competition, where it won the Waldo Salt Best Screenplay Award. Enjoy!

This week, we’re introducing our new monthly collaborative series in partnership with FREE THE WORK, a 501c3 non-profit founded by Alma Ha’rel (whom we recently interviewed). This revolutionary talent discovery platform connects women and underrepresented creators to those who hire in film, television, advertising, and media. Check out the launch of the FREE THE WORK website on October 17.

For our first episode of this series, we interviewed Liza Mandelup, director of the new documentary film, Jawline. She talks to us about her process and approach to documentaries, how she stays inspired to keep working, and her experience in the commercial world. Watch Jawline on Hulu now!