Advanced TV Herstory

Chicago-based director and cinematographer Sanicole Young joins Advanced TV Herstory host Cynthia Bemis Abrams and guest co-host Ashley Pacini of The Reel Women, to discuss her journey in filmmaking, education, and rising through the entertainment industry outside the typical Hollywood path. In this intimate conversation, Sanicole reflects on her creative process, the importance of representation, and the inspiration behind her short film Training Wheels.

• Exploring career choices beyond LA & NY
• Chicago's indie film scene and Sanicole’s creative roots
• Insights on her education at Columbia College
• Inspiration from Eve’s Bayou and Black storytelling
• Collaboration with The Reel Women and their impact

This episode is part of Advanced TV Herstory’s ongoing collaboration with The Reel Women to spotlight emerging women creatives shaping the industry from behind the camera.

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Every year host Cynthia Bemis Abrams provides an annual report of her experience producing Advanced TV Herstory. This year, she shares observations about the timeliness and relevance of the Broadcast 41 series and a conversation with Univ. of North Carolina professor and author Dr. Charlene Regester. Cynthia offers up an item from the podcast bucket list (which may become an episode of its own soon) which has to do with a talented showrunner who was driven from the industry 30 years ago. There's a book update and forecast about how collaboration with other like-missioned people and organizations will drive the coming year.

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Music by Jahzzar - https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/

Danielle Earle is a filmmaker, educator, and founder of PLEntertainment. In this episode, she joins Cynthia and Reel Women collaborator Ashley Pacini to discuss how she balances a career in production with her role as a digital media teacher at Orange High School in New Jersey.

Key topics include:

• Danielle’s career path from animator to live-action filmmaker
• The mission behind her web series Brooklyn Is in Love
• Creating opportunities for students through internships and mentorship
• Shonda Rhimes’ influence on Danielle's career
• Building a sustainable career through networking and resilience

This episode is part of a series profiling rising women in TV, film, and digital media.

As streaming service Sundance Now unveils the Australian psychological thriller The Secrets She Keeps, co-star Jessica de Gouw talks with Advanced TV Herstory host Cynthia Bemis Abrams about the series. Also in COVID lockdown, Jessica discusses her past roles in historical and fantasy dramas and the increasingly diverse world of international TV. Jessica's recent prominent roles in series produced in the US, UK and Australia include that of Elizabeth Hawkes in (2016) Underground , Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray in Dracula from 2013-14, in 2019's The Hunting and as Lucy Lindsay-Hogg in The Crown (2019).

Sundance Now is AMC Networks' premiere streaming service for engrossing true crime, heart-stopping dramas and fiercely intelligent thrillers from around the world. The Secrets She Keeps is based on a novel of the same name by Michael Robotham. Early in the episode, Jessica mentioned she has just finished viewing (and highly recommends) HBO's I May Destroy You.

Advanced TV Herstory host Cynthia Bemis Abrams thinks it's important to discuss children's programming and animated storytelling as the cultural influencers. "A story is a story is a story," says veteran TV writer Nina Bargiel who's been spinning live-action and animated yarns for years. Nina is an LA-based TV writer and producer who currently writes on Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon Network) and has other projects percolating.

Nina describes her writing philosophy and goals, which focus on crafting stories in which kids see themselves, as well as are entertained. She and her brother co-wrote the coming-of-age bra episode for Lizzie McGuire, a 2001 Disney Channel classic. Earlier this month (during COVID lockdown), Hilary Duff led the the cast for a Zoom table read of this fan-favorite episode as a fundraiser.

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Music by Jahzzar - https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/

TV writer and producer April Smith returns to chat with host Cynthia Bemis Abrams about layered storytelling, the politics of representation, and what it means to write truthfully in different eras of feminism.

They discuss Smith's work on the 2020 Hulu series Mrs. America, which dramatized the women's movement of the 1970s and the political resistance to the Equal Rights Amendment. Together, they also explore Smith's legacy with shows like Lou Grant and Cagney & Lacey, where she wrote from within the male-dominated writers' rooms.

This episode explores:

• Writing sexual harassment and power dynamics into scripts long before #MeToo;
• How producers and writers shaped the tone of early feminist TV;
• April Smith's shift from television into award-winning historical fiction.
• The reality of being the only woman in the room—and what has (or hasn't) changed; and
• Insight into how Mrs. America created multi-dimensional portrayals of iconic feminists.

Referenced works:

Mrs. America (Hulu, 2020)

Lou Grant episode on harassment https://youtu.be/I5mQzNo-nLM?si=rU6u5Fyre4XLWRA0 Lou Grant: The Making of TV's Top Newspaper Drama by Douglass K. Daniel Previous

April Smith episode of Advanced TV Herstory: Episode 3.25

https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/646f4a94-f444-4ab9-b351-058a23238b0f.mp3

April Smith's official website https://aprilsmith.net/

CONNECT WITH CYNTHIA and ADVANCED TV HERSTORY

Monthly Newsletter - https://cynthiabemisabrams.com/

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Music by Jahzzar - https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/

Dr. Elana Levine and Advanced TV Herstory host Cynthia Bemis Abrams examine the downfall of daytime dramas. They discuss the economic pressures, evolving audience demographics, and shifts in network decision-making that led to the genre's decline.

Topics include advertising revenue challenges, the rise of alternative entertainment platforms, and the lasting impact of soap operas on television storytelling. Dr. Levine, author of Her Stories and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, offers her expert insights into how these shows attempted to adapt and what ultimately replaced the serial drama format.

Resources Mentioned by Her Stories by Elana Levine, 2020 published by Duke University Press https://www.dukeupress.edu/her-stories

CONNECT WITH CYNTHIA and ADVANCED TV HERSTORY

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Daytime dramas reshaped TV herstory, tackling complex societal issues such as adoptions, reproductive rights, and rape. Dr. Elana Levine joins Advanced TV Herstory host Cynthia Bemis Abrams to provide insights into how soap operas mirrored social changes from the 1960s to today. This episode explores the limited roles for actors of color, often sidelined to secondary storylines, and the centrality of white "super couples."

Audio clips from As the World Turns, All My Children, The Young and the Restless, and Ryan's Hope enrich the discussion. Dr. Levine's book Her Stories (Duke Univ. Press) serves as the foundation for this compelling four-part series.

Her Stories (2020) Duke University Press https://www.dukeupress.edu/her-stories

CONNECT WITH CYNTHIA and ADVANCED TV HERSTORY

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In this episode of Advanced TV Herstory, host Cynthia Bemis Abrams continues the conversation with Dr. Elana Levine, author of Her Stories: Daytime Soap Opera and US Television History.

Dr. Levine explains how advances in TV production technology shaped storytelling, leading to increasingly sophisticated visuals and outrageous narratives. Together, they explore how soap operas transitioned to longer arcs, citing memorable examples like General Hospital's "Summer on the Run" and Nola's Hollywood fantasies in The Guiding Light. They discuss how these stories reflected and shaped American culture while drawing audiences into dramatic escapism.

Her Stories (2020) by Elana Levine published by Duke University Press https://www.dukeupress.edu/her-stories

CONNECT WITH CYNTHIA and ADVANCED TV HERSTORY

Monthly Newsletter - https://cynthiabemisabrams.com/

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In this first episode of the Her Stories series, Cynthia Bemis Abrams and Dr. Elana Levine explore the history of soap operas and their cultural significance. They discuss how TV pioneers like Irna Phillips, Agnes Nixon, and William Bell used the genre to address complex social issues, including reproductive rights, family dynamics, and societal taboos.

This episode examines the rise of daytime dramas from radio to television, revealing how women writers and producers shaped the medium and gave voice to women's stories in groundbreaking ways.

Books and Research:

Her Stories: Daytime Soap Operas and US Television History by Dr. Elana Levine Available via Duke University Press https://www.dukeupress.edu/her-stories

Key Figures Discussed:

Irna Phillips, Creator of Guiding Light; Agnes Nixon, Writer and creator of All My Children and One Life to Live and William Bell, Producer of The Young and the Restless

CONNECT WITH CYNTHIA and ADVANCED TV HERSTORY

Monthly Newsletter - https://cynthiabemisabrams.com/

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PRODUCTION

Podcast Editing - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariloumarosz/

Video Editing - https://nivialopez.com/

Music by Jahzzar - https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/