A BRIGHTER LENS

This week, we’re talking about Brie Larson’s inclusive press tour for Captain Marvel. Then, we interview film reporter, film critic, and author, Alicia Malone, about her work and her new book The Female Gaze.

This week, we’re celebrating the women nominated for Academy Awards this year. Then, we interview actress Britt Rentschler about her recent film, Instant Family which just wrapped up a theatrical release and is available to watch on Amazon Prime tomorrow, February 19.

While we were at the Sundance Film Festival, we had the opportunity to talk with two virtual reality artists and one team about their virtual reality projects premiering in the New Frontier program at the festival. First, we interview Melissa Painter about her project, Embody. Then, we talk with the team behind Mechanical Souls: Gaëlle Mourre, L.P. Lee, and Céline Tricart. Lastly, we interview Teek Mach about her project, Grisaille.

While we were at the Sundance Film Festival, we had the opportunity to talk with two virtual reality artists and one team about their virtual reality projects premiering in the New Frontier program at the festival. First, we interview Melissa Painter about her project, Embody. Then, we talk with the team behind Mechanical Souls: Gaëlle Mourre, L.P. Lee, and Céline Tricart. Lastly, we interview Teek Mach about her project, Grisaille.

This week, we’re discussing an essay by Emily Best, the founder of Seed & Spark, a crowdfunding site for films. Then, we interview writer/director Emma Forrest about her new film, Untogether which was released in select theaters on February 8th.

We caught up with film critics Beandrea July and Aramide Tinubu at the Sundance Film Festival to get their take on this year's festival!

In this week's episode, we discuss the ad placed in Variety honoring female directors that were overlooked this year by the DGA and the Acadamy Awards. Then, we interview Amber Sealey who we met at Sundance. Her short film, How Does It Start, premeiered at this year's Festival. We are joined by her main actress, Lola Wayne Villa at the end of the interview. Please enjoy (and forgive our voices-we both have Sundance colds!)

In this week's episode, we discuss women in film in the news at Sundance (since we're at the Sundance Film Festival!) Then, we interview film composer Jesi Nelson.

Jesi Nelson is a Los Angeles based composer for film & media, conductor and orchestrator. She received her BFA in Music Composition and Technology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Master of Fine Arts in Music Composition for the Screen at Columbia College. Upon her move to LA, she interned for Danny Elfman at Studio Della Morte, and soon after started assisting composer Michael Kramer, writing additional music for the Emmy nominated Disney/LucasFilm Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures TV series and Ninjago: The Legend of Spinjitzu, under his lead. She also scored the award winning film JINN, which made its premiere at this year's SXSW to great acclaim, with a theatrical and nationwide release later in the year. Lastly, Jesi also composed the original theme music for A Female Lens!

Tiffany Little Canfield, CSA is a casting director for theatre, film, and television at the prestigious bi-coastal casting office, Telsey + Company. Some notable projects include This Is Us, Mary Poppins Returns, Atypical, Smash, The Intern, Into the Woods, The Intern, Ricki and The Flash, and Masters of Sex. She received the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award for her work on Margin Call in 2012. She was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie, or a Special for her work on Grease Live.

In our first episode we discuss and celebrate some of our favorite accomplishments and strides that women in film made in 2018. Then, we interview writer and director, Elizabeth Chomko. We saw the premiere of Elizabeth's film at the Sundance Film Festival last January and we were absolutely blown away by her film and her work. Happy listening!

**Elizabeth Chomko** is a director and writer best known for What They Had (2018), starring Hilary Swank. Her screenplay for What They Had won an Academy Nicholl Fellowship in 2015 and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. She is also a playwright and theatre actress, and has appeared in television and film roles on Terriers, Common Law, and South Boston Legal,among others. Chomko attended the Sundance Institute Screenwriting Lab in 2015. She was named by Variety a Top 10 Screenwriter to Watch at the 2018 Whistler Film Festival. She is originally from Chicago, Illinois.