The BraveMaker Podcast

Director/writer Sassy Mohen (@sassymohen) of HOW TO  HACK BIRTH CONTROL, which was featured in our 2022 BraveMaker Film  Festival.

https://www.birthcontrolhacks.com/watch

https://www.instagram.com/sassymohen/

Join Kyrstina Wray Jackson and Tony Gapastione in conversation with

Kayla Robinson

Damien D. Smith

Nick Musleh

and Eli Vasquez

https://mamabearsdoc.com/

https://www.instagram.com/mamabearsdoc/

Daresha writes, produces, and directs film and television in Spanish and

English. A graduate of NYU Film School, she recently completed Mama Bears, her second feature documentary about how conservative, Christian mothers are transformed when they decide to accept their LGBTQ children, which premiered at SXSW and won Best Documentary at the Sun Valley Film Festival.

In 2018 she was commissioned by the ACLU to direct Trans In America: Texas Strong, which garnered over 4 million views online, screened at SXSW, and won two Webby Awards and an Emmy for “Outstanding Short Documentary.” In 2017  she co-directed and produced Chavela, a multiple award-winning  documentary about iconic singer Chavela Vargas that was distributed by  Music Box Pictures and screened in over 40 countries, including  Translyvania.

In 2015  she produced Kristina Wong’s How Not to Pick Up Asian Women. In 2014 she  served as EP of Emmy-winning writer Kevin Avery’s satirical take on The  Wiz starring an all-white cast called The Whizz and in 2011 she  produced his short comedy, Thugs, The Musical. In 1992 Daresha won a  full fellowship from Tri-Star Pictures to attend the directors’ program  at the AFI Conservatory based on her short, award-winning narrative Land  Where My Fathers Died, co-starring Isaiah Washington. She produced her first, award winning drama, The Thinnest Line, as a student at NYU. Daresha’s  films have been funded by ITVS, NEA, IDA Enterprise, Creative Capital,  the Jerome Foundation, and many other foundations. She was a fellow in  the Firelight Media Documentary Lab,  Chicken & Egg Eggcelerator Lab, Sundance Institute: Women and  Film Financing Intensive, Breaking Through the Lens, Film Independent  Documentary Lab, Creative Capital, and A Blade of Grass cohorts. Daresha  also has an extensive background in television and has produced  programming for FX, WE, AMC, Telemundo, and FUSE, among other networks.

Tammi  Terrell Morris was born, raised, and currently resides in Southern  California with her fiance, Shadae and 2 sons.She has a degree in  Sociology and a Masters of Leadership and Management. Tammi has spent  her professional life serving the community of individuals with  developmental disabilities in the Inland Empire in multiple capacities,  from Job Coach to Regional Center Case Coordinator. Tammi has recently  transitioned to a full time Caregiver (Stay at home Mom). In her spare  time, she enjoys producing and recording material for her podcast  Confused Reality. She hopes to use her talents of writing poetry,  performing spoken word, motivational speaking, and ability to connect  with people to make the world a more loving and accepting place.

Meet Filmmaker/Author and Slamdance Co-Founder DAN MIRVISH currently on the film festival circuit with his feature film 18 1/2.

https://www.instagram.com/dmirvish/

https://www.instagram.com/slamogram/

Dan  and Tony will discuss the experience of being AT a film fest with your  film, the what to dos and what no to dos and how to maximize your  experience for the best possible outcome.

https://www.instagram.com/tonygapastione/

https://www.instagram.com/bravemakerfilmfest/

https://www.beingmichelle.com/ 

Tickets to see the film: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/347265007987

Saturday July 9th, 3pm Redwood City, Ca. 

https://www.instagram.com/beingmichellefilm/

Atin Mehra (Director/Producer/Director of Photography) is an award winning filmmaker who was born and raised in Varanasi, India and currently resides with his family in Los Angeles, CA. In 1999 Atin picked up his first camera and began taking photographs. Atin's uncanny ability to connect with individuals from behind the lens eventually led him into filmmaking. His own personal struggles with abuse and discrimination in India drew him to stories of underrepresented and marginalized individuals and communities. One of the first films he worked on was about female victims of dowry burnings -- a project he was forced to abandon when he started receiving death threats. In 2002, Atin directed and shot his first short film, MITTI KE JIVAN (THE CYCLE OF CLAY) about a potter from the Kumhar caste. Atin lived and worked in India until 2005, when he moved to the United States with his wife, Mae Thornton Mehra. In 2007 he started his own production company, Orange Kite Productions. Atin and Mae are Co-directing another feature documentary film, HER SONG which has been in production since 2009. Additionally they are in production on SEIZE THE DAY. 

BEING MICHELLE is Atin’s directorial debut which won the Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary at Florida Film Festival. https://www.instagram.com/beingmichellefilm/ Mae Thornton Mehra (Producer) is an oral historian and filmmaker who earned her MA in Islamic Studies at Columbia University in New York City in 2008. Mae has collaborated with her husband and filmmaker, Atin Mehra on documentary film and other media projects at Orange Kite Productions since its inception in 2007. In 2020, Mae and Atin co-founded the nonprofit Thriving Roots Initiative to further their work of social impact documentary filmmaking.

 Dr. Mei Kennedy (Social Impact Advisor) has firsthand experience navigating the justice system supporting her Deaf father, who was incarcerated for seven and half years. Dr. Kennedy obtained her doctorate degree in Instructional Design for Online Learning from Capella University and provides strategic consulting services on integrating technology in support of improving the learning experience for Deaf students In addition to her background in Instructional Design, she fosters enhancement in communication accessibility with years of experience in remote realtime transcription services. Dr. Kennedy also serves on the board of Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc (TDI) and Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD). She currently resides in Austin, Texas with her husband and two boys. She is a parent, and an advocate of a hearing son with autism. Genaere Lowery (ASL Interpreter) Is a nationally certified ASL interpreter, and has been interpreting professionally for over 13 years. Both of her parents are Deaf, making ASL her first language. Along with working in a variety of settings (including mental health, technological, and legal) she is also serving on the board of the Florida Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (FRID).

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/347265007987

Podcast edited by Barnell Amos of Speak Media Services 

https://www.speakmediaservices.com/

https://www.instagram.com/tonygapastione/

https://www.instagram.com/krystinawrayjackson/

https://www.patreon.com/bravemaker

https://twitter.com/niceolecookies

After growing up near China Lake Naval Weapons Center in the middle of the Mojave Desert, Niceole

escaped to the bright lights of Los Angeles. While studying acting at the American Academy of Dramatic

Arts, she realized her true love was writing stories, not playing them out. She worked as a police

dispatcher to pay her way through USC undergrad and then completed the Master of Professional

Writing program, also at USC. An alum of the CBS Writers Mentoring Program, NBC's Writers on the

Verge, and the WGAW Showrunner Training Program, Niceole has written on “Ironside,” “Allegiance,”

“The Mysteries of Laura,” “Shades of Blue,” "Cloak & Dagger," “Fate: the Winx Saga,” “S.W.A.T,” and

“Graymail.” She also co-wrote a feature, "The Banker," with former “Allegiance” showrunner and

director George Nolfi, available on AppleTV+, and is now writing “Spark,” a film inspired by the life of

Claudette Colvin. Niceole is currently a co-executive producer on “Empire of Mali,” which will air on

Netflix, and has several TV and feature projects in development. Her first book, “The Writers’ Room

Survival Guide,” will be released in October of this year.

ARI ROSSEN is an actor, award-winning filmmaker and musician with roots in  Detroit and the SF South Bay. After several years in New York, I just  moved back to my home state of California and am excited to expand my  creative community here.

https://www.instagram.com/instarossen/

Ari  co-produced and played Beelzebub in the film noir LOST + FOUND, written  by Laura Sweeney and directed by Jeremiah Kipp. LOST + FOUND secured  distribution with PBS and IFTNetwork and has screened at Garden State  Film Festival, NYWIFT and other great festivals.

His  queer dark comedy series BEHIND THE CEREAL is all about the rise, fall  and occasional redemption of America’s breakfast cereal mascots (Colonel  Munch, Fortune The Fairy, Count Cacao and more). BEHIND THE CEREAL was  selected for FilmShop’s 2021 Breakthrough Pitchfest, which included  panelists from WarnerMedia and indie crowdfunding platform Seed &  Spark.

Ari  is also playing himself in the upcoming narrative documentary feature  ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE from Emmy Award-winning production company The  Clowder Group. This timely film explores the epidemic of loneliness  faced by a handful of global citizens, and how they are seeking  solutions toward authentic social connection.

During  what he half-jokingly calls “The Covid Era,” Ari has channeling his own  social isolation with music videos and ridiculous covers, including  “Vaccine” (Dir. Laura Sweeney, a queer homage to Dolly Parton’s iconic  “Jolene”) and “Significant Otter,” an original song about a sea otter  seeking love in an ocean of possibilities.

Ari  holds a BS in Theatre and Musical Theatre Concentration from  Northwestern University. When not creating, Ari enjoys the great  outdoors and attempts to provide an adequate kingdom for his feline  overlord, Batman. He’s a proud member of FilmShop, SAG-AFTRA and AEA.

You can find him on the socials, though he admittedly has a complicated relationship with all of it —don’t we all?

Learn more: https://bebezaharabenet.net/

 “BEING BEBE follows BeBe’s unique experiences as an artist and as an immigrant – a surprising and emotional journey that takes us back to Cameroon and raises timely concerns at the intersection of LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and immigrant lives. The documentary provides a chance to meet and get to know the artist. The concert provides a chance to experience the artist performing live. 

 Learn more: https://beingbebemovie.com/ ABOUT BEBE ZAHARA BENET: BeBe Zahara Benet is a Cameroonian-American drag performer, television personality, and musician best known for winning the first season of the reality-television drag competition RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE in 2009. In 2018, she returned as a surprise contestant for the third season of RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE: ALL STARS, placing in the top four. In 2019, she starred in the TLC transformational makeover series DRAGNIFICENT. Her first EP, FACE, was released in 2014, followed by her second EP, KISSES & FEATHERS, in 2017. Her third EP, BROKEN ENGLISH, was released in 2020 featuring the breakout hit “Banjo,” and in December 2021, she released her first EP of holiday songs, THE CHRISTMAS CHANTEUSE.

Luticha André Doucette is the author of the groundbreaking book: Cultivating An  Intersectional Mindset. She graduated from the Rochester Institute of  Technology with a degree in Bioinformatics where she developed protein  surface prediction algorithms. After graduating, she was a Fellow at the  University of Rochester where she worked in a genomics lab that focused  on analyzing the venom of parasitoid wasps to develop new drug  therapies for various diseases. In 2017 she authored a report on wage  disparities across race, gender, and disability in Rochester and Monroe  County in conjunction with the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative  and in 2018 authored a follow-up report on employment barriers for  disabled people in Rochester and Monroe County. She is a graduate of the  Leadership and Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND)  Fellowship program and an AUCD Emerging Leader an inductee into the  Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame established by the  National Disability Mentoring Coalition and the 2020 – 2021  Distinguished Alumni Awardee from the Rochester Institute of Technology.  Luticha’s research and writing has been featured in various  publications such as Insect Molecular Biology, Toxicon, The New York  Times, and Yes! Magazine. . She is the owner of Catalyst Consulting,  which helps organizations, leaders, and advocates examine equity across  race, gender identity, and disability in policies, practices,  procedures, and relationships.

Social media links:

Website: www.catalystconsultingassociates.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luticha-andre-doucette/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catalystconsultingroc/

https://www.instagram.com/freedomofmovement35/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/catalystroc/

TikTok: freedomofmovement