The Test

Bette Gordon is a legend. A critically acclaimed Director & a contemporary of Jim Jarmusch, she's been making films in NYC since the late 70's. Join us for this musically inspired talk about art house cinema in New York & Germany, French New Wave inspirations, how she got her complex & nuanced indie films Variety & Handsome Harry with Steve Buscemi made, & the haunting inspiration behind her glorious new feature, The Drowning.

TV & Film Editor Hilary Bolger's candid openness & refreshing sense of humor about her life & work is a big bold breath of clean air. Born in La Canada, in the suburbs of Pasadena, just shy of the biz, her wild ride of a childhood may have had some influence in her decision to pursue a career where she gets to cut out the messy parts of the story. Join us for this intimate discussion as we wax poetic on everything from mental illness to ghost editing to how Spielberg takes his tea.

Writer / Producer / Director Tamara Federici is one funny lady. Join us for a delightful conversation that weaves us through her North Carolina performance based childhood, her Chicago training with improv gurus Del Close at iO & Mick Napier at the Annoyance, how she infiltrated the comedy boys clubs of Comedy Central, writing and / or producing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Chappelle's Show, & Demetri Martin in New York City, and how all that work for others has expanded into directing & writing her own screenplays & films, most recently her short film Layla featuring Dan Mintz (Tina from Bob’s Burgers on FOX).

Director & Line Producer Lagueria Davis discusses carving out a creative life in Texas while being raised by strict religious working class parents, being a person of color in a very white Oklahoma, how volunteering in a domestic abuse shelter led her back to filmmaking, & where she's now headed as a Line Producer & Narrative Director. Join us for this intimate discussion that explores, activism, working class expectations, religion, race, and gender in America.

All around nice gal & TV writer Grainne Godfree who's currently a writer for LEGENDS OF TOMORROW and THE FLASH shares her thoughts on breaking into TV writing and being a working female writer. Learn about how a dreamy California childhood of books, athletics, & Westerns with her father led to a DC Comics dream job. Tune in for this informative chat & learn how YOU can land in the Writer's Room too.

Producer Sarah E. Mason is a woman of the world. Born in South Africa, raised in Northern Ireland, educated in Canada and England, and with stints in Colombia & Russia before living in Abu Dhabi and now Los Angeles, she is committed to bringing strong & truthful stories about the Middle East to Hollywood. Join us for this valuable & insightful discussion on her experience of being a non-Muslim white woman working in the Middle East, her desire for a more truthful portrayal of the Muslim community on film, & how a life reared amidst an Apartheid transitioning South Africa & a tumultuous Northern Ireland shaped her advocacy for the underdog in marketing, television, film.

Jazz Smollett started acting & modeling in NYC alongside her 5 other siblings as a child. By the time she was a teenager, her entire family had its own sitcom that ran on the TGIF Block of ABC. Listen in as we discuss feminism, intersectionality, & what it was like for her growing up bi-racial in both NYC & Los Angeles in the 80's & 90's, as well as her current life as a Producer, Mother, Film Fest Curator & Life Style Host.

In our inaugural episode, Michelle Kantor, founder of Cinefemme, discusses her storied upbringing in Colorado raised by Communist defector parents from Czechoslovakia, motherhood, epilepsy, what it takes to run a successful non-profit, and filmmaking with an activist heart.