During this episode, you'll hear a part that's normally edited out -- a phone ringing. But given that's one of my guests' school calling, I decided to leave it in. Because that's the life of a parent, right? It doesn't stop for a podcast recording, a film premiere, whatever you have going on in life.

And the point of this episode, with Cinecamp founders Jessica Kivnik and Alexa Coblentz, is that's okay. We'll make it work. I love the way they put this description, so I'll use it here -- Cinecamp is a pop-up daycare center during the Los Angeles Festival of Movies April 10-12th. They have an open house on the 10th that I hope you'll check out.

And if you don't have kids, I hope you stick around for this conversation as well. This isn't about excluding anyone; just the opposite. Cinecamp is about everyone feeling a part of the story.

In this episode, we talk about:

• why Cinecamp matters in the film sector, even if you don't have kids, and how Jessica and Alexa got started;
• the genesis of Cinecamp and how it got started;
• why 4m to 12 years old? why start at the Los Angeles Festival of Movies? the smart decisions that went into Cinecamp's first film festival;
• why starting at film festivals and "being at that hub" is so important;
• whether the rise of female filmmakers has led to programs like Cinecamp;
• what's next for the program?

Alexa's Indie Film Highlight: HARVEST (2024) dir. by Athina Rachel Tsangari

Memorable Quotes:

"I have just always been interested in the way that humans relate to each other, through these kinds of stories or so many possibilities."

"Inclusion matters. Equity matters. Choosing to be a parent in this world is political."

On starting Cinecamp: "The more we would talk about it, [we saw] how much possibility there was there. As collaborators and like partners in it, we were waiting for a chance to do that again, but also because we both really need this. So it spoke to us really personally."

"We are not just providing accessible low cost care. We're providing excellent care at a low rate." 

"There's a lot of conversations in the parenting circle about how being a modern mom is like a full-time job."

"Everybody that's interacting with the kids is gonna be vetted and background checked and safe."

"Across the board, women have lost ground in the past year in terms of equity."

"It's basically building like a pop-up daycare center for children of all different ages."

Links:

Cinecamp's Website

Follow Cinecamp On Instagram