Mothering Heights

This week, it’s a true delight and honor to welcome writer, therapist, and host of the Everything’s Relative podcast, Eve Sturges, to Mothering Heights! Eve’s writing has been called “incisive, funny, and deeply sensitive” by no less than the great Jill Filopovic, and her podcast explores what happens after the discovery of surprising DNA results. She also discusses her own experience of a surprise DNA test, with her patented mix of deep wisdom, compassion, and humor. 

Please listen to Everything’s Relative wherever you get your podcasts, and please check out all of Eve’s amazingness here:

https://www.evesturges.la/

As always, thank you for listening!! Please leave a review and a share with everyone you know.

This week, we are thrilled to welcome filmmaker Marta Cunningham to Mothering Heights! Nominated for two News and Documentary Emmy Awards, Marta Cunningham is a queer filmmaker of color. A native of Northern California, she was so moved by the story of Lawrence King’s tragic murder in 2008 that she embedded herself in the beachside city of Oxnard, CA, and soon began filming those whose lives were touched by the tragedy. The result was “Valentine Road”, a feature length documentary that competed in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and sold to HBO for an October 2013 release. “Valentine Road” has traveled to over two hundred festivals, accruing thirteen awards.

Marta recently directed and co-executive produced the pilot and second episode of the AMC limited series 61st STREET. She was nominated for an Image Award in 2023 for her directing. She also executive produced and directed all six episodes of CHIVALRY for Channel 4 in the UK, which was created and starred Sarah Solemani and Steve Coogan. Its recently been sold to the US market and will be available on the new platform The Network in 2024. Additional series directing credits include INSECURE, ROOM 104, DEAR WHITE PEOPLE and TRANSPARENT. She is currently working on the  Amazon hit series WHEEL OF TIME. 

We are so lucky and so thrilled to welcome Alison Bennett to Mothering Heights! Alison is a writer and producer and has written on shows like (Leonora’s fave) You’re the Worst and the Emmy-nominated Doogie Kamealoha, MD. We dive into the real nitty gritty of launching a successful writing career here, as well as how to navigate ooky situations with friends, how we raise siblings  - one of us is an only child and one is not and we discuss how different our experiences are, and so much more. This is a hilarious episode full of lots of laughs and lots of wisdom.

To learn more about Alison, please visit https://www.alisonbennett.com/. Thank you in advance for sharing and loving Mothering Heights! You’re doing a great job.

What a genuine thrill to welcome dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, and educator Nicole Riviere to Mothering Heights! Nicole has danced on shows like America’s Got Talent and for artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Peaches, and Elvis Costello. She has a combined 30 years of experience teaching yoga and dance, and she is a filmmaker who directs music videos and her own piece - Woman, Mother, Sister, Friend, currently in post-production. 

This episode is so special - Leonora and Nicole discuss coming back to your great love after a spell away (in our cases: dance), grief and mourning, and advocating for yourself. It’s a beautiful episode with a beautiful human being. 

Also, everyone’s favorite: Leonora gets regretfully vulnerable in the opening! Whoops!

Please check out Nicole’s work at https://nicole-riviere.com/, don’t forget to review and share this podcast, and remember: you’re doing a great job.

What an absolute thrill to welcome actress, writer, ceramicist, and podcast queen Busy Philipps to Mothering Heights! Busy and Leonora are old old friends (youthful YOUTHFUL old friends) and we are so happy to be celebrating Busy’s many wins this springtime. We talk about this season of Girls 5Eva dropping on Netflix, the re-boot of her wonderful late night talk show (with producer and episode 57 guest) Caissie St. Onge, Busy This Week, coming in May to QVC+, how we raise daughters, how we reset when things are tough, and so much more. This episode is a joy, just like being friends with Busy is a joy.

Please check out Girls 5Eva streaming on Netflix now, keep an eye out for Busy This Week coming soon, and keep up with Busy on her IG at https://www.instagram.com/busyphilipps/?hl=en and subscribe to her and Caissie’s podcast, Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best, at https://www.bpdoingherbest.com/ - you’re doing a great job!!

This week, we are so grateful to welcome actor, writer, director, filmmaker, and Fitzmaurice Voicework professor, Emily Alpren to Mothering Heights! Emily is a super-smarty-pants and creator, and we discuss experimental theater, remaining creative when motherhood is overwhelming, and how her work as a voice professor at USC informs her work as a director. Incredible stuff. 

Please read more about Emily here, and don’t forget to share and leave us a review! You’re doing a great job! 

https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/emily-alpren/

This week, we are thrilled to welcome actress, writer, improviser, and all-around hilarious and silly person Anne Gregory to the podcast! Anne has had a really interesting career, from her and Rebekka Johnson’s triumphant run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to owning the Lyric Hyperion Theater, doing about a thousand commercials, being a cast member of Punk’d (!!) and even teaching host Leonora Pitts’s son Murphy improv! This is a wonderful episode if you love to laugh. And bonus for long-time listeners: Leonora cries!

This week, we thrillingly welcome big shot movie producer Beatriz Sequeira to Mothering Heights! Calling in from the pre-production set of her next film with Blumhouse Productions, Wolfman, Bea gives us the skinny on producing films like Get Out, Us, Five Nights at Freddy’s, and The Invisible Man, how she and her DP husband, Lyn Moncrief, balance their careers with parenthood, and why women and especially mothers make such incredible producers. Bea is a true powerhouse, and this episode is as dynamic and wise as she is. 

Please visit Blumhouse to see all the goodies coming out: https://www.blumhouse.com/ And please remember to like and share this episode! Tell all your friends or one of the villains from a Blumhouse movie will come get you?

This week we are honored and excited to welcome actress and writer and educator Terryn Westbrook to Mothering Heights! Terryn has been working in the biz for twenty-five years, and in our conversation we discuss what it was like to work with David Lynch (again and again) and how she got the gig (great story), what it was like to work with Christopher Guest (again and again), and I bet you can’t even hear the envy in Leonora’s heart. Truly, this episode is rife with great anecdotes and advice and wisdom, and Terryn’s humor and warmth shine through. Thank you to all who’ve tuned in! Please share and rate and review and follow the show! Check out Terryn at the links below:

https://www.terrynwestbrook.com/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1382044/

What a true treat and honor to have the hilarious actor, improvisor, director, and writer Rebekka Johnson on Mothering Heights! On this episode, we talk about how she came to direct her first feature, Step Aside, starring Arden Myrin and Tara Copeland, her brilliant new podcast with the equally funny and warm Anne Gregory, Non Drinking Buddies, her important and long-standing collaborative friendships, and how much Advil it really took to get through those wrestling scenes on G.L.O.W. 

Plus: Leonora promises a return to weekly episodes as soon as she can get her act together with regards to grad school. 

Please be sure to check out all of Rebekka’s amazing work at all the links below!

Rebekka’s website: https://www.rebekkajohnson.com/

Step Aside on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CPSQDM81/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

Non Drinking Buddies: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/non-drinking-buddies/id1721677857