WOMEN IN FILM: THEN AND NOW
Hear from today’s prodigious women in film about what it was like when they began: their experiences on their first set and the issues they ran into; who were their mentors or role models in the industry; any techniques that they feel are their signature or define their approach to filmmaking; what films have inspired them, and how the role of female filmmakers has evolved since they started out. As the world has changed over the past year, has COVID impacted their work in terms of managing their time, productivity and creative inspiration?
MODERATOR:
Sarah Johnson is a film producer, an organic farmer, and activist for environmental, educational, and gender issues. Sarah has served as a producer, or executive producer, on notable recent films including BIRDMAN (Academy Award for Best Picture), THE IMMIGRANT, SUBMERGENCE, BLOOD TIES, DEVIL'S KNOT, KEELY AND DU, LOST CHILD, JOE, THE GREEN INFERNO, etc. Her social issue documentaries include THE GREAT HACK (Sundance 2019), the Academy Award-nominated THE SQUARE, CHASING ICE, THE INVISIBLE WAR, THE HUNTING GROUND and LIVING IN EMERGENCY: STORIES OF DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS. Sarah holds a BS in Biology and is on the boards of St. Lawrence University and Conservation South Africa. She also Chairs the board at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. She is currently, amongst other projects, directing a film about campaign finance reform and its effect on our democracy.
PANELISTS:
Julie Taymor’s feature film of Gloria Steinem's "My Life on the Road" titled THE GLORIAS, starring Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Janelle Monáe and Bette Midler premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and will be released September 2020. Other film credits include FOOL'S FIRE, OEDIPUS REX starring Jessye Norman which received an Emmy Award as well as the International Classical Music Award, TITUS, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange; FRIDA starring Salma Hayek which garnered six Academy Award nominations and won two; ACROSS THE UNIVERSE which received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, THE TEMPEST, starring Helen Mirren, and a cinematic version of William Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, filmed during her critically acclaimed stage production at Theatre for a New Audience and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Her Broadway adaptation of THE LION KING debuted in 1997 and received 11 Tony Award nominations, with Julie receiving awards for Best Director and Costume Designer. The show has played over 100 cities in 20 countries on every continent except Antarctica, and its worldwide gross exceeds that of any entertainment title in box office history.
Other theater credits include the play GROUNDED, starring Anne Hathaway, at the Public Theater as well as Broadway’s M. BUTTERFLY starring Clive Owen, SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK, THE GREEN BIRD, and JUAN DARIEN: A CARNIVAL MASS, which earned five Tony Award nominations including one for her direction. Operas include OEDIPUS REX, with Jessye Norman, THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, SALOME, DIE ZAUBERFLOTE (in repertory at the Met), THE MAGIC FLUTE (which inaugurated a PBS series entitled “Great Performances at the Met”); and Elliot Goldenthal’s GRENDEL which premiered at the LA Opera and was also performed at the Lincoln Center Festival.
Taymor is a recipient of the 1991 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, as well as a 2015 inductee into the Theater Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater, the recipient of the 2015 Shakespeare Theatre Company’s William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre, and a 2017 Disney Legends Award honoree.
Amy Ziering is a two-time Emmy-award winning and Academy award-nominated filmmaker behind the most groundbreaking investigatory documentaries today with her creative partner Kirby Dick.
Their Oscar-nominated film, THE INVISIBLE WAR, broke the story of the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military and led to five congressional hearings and the passing of 35 reforms through Congress. Their follow up film, THE HUNTING GROUND, about campus sexual assault, ignited a national discussion and led to sweeping policy changes at hundreds of schools. Their next film, THE BLEEDING EDGE, about the fast-growing medical device industry's corruption and malfeasance, has already compelled industry giant Bayer to remove one harmful device from the market, and is catalyzing a worldwide debate about regulation and patient safety. Currently their latest critically-acclaimed film, ON THE RECORD, now streaming on HBO Max, follows a music executive as she grapples with abuse she faced from men in her industry and her decision to become one of the first women of color to come forward as part of the #MeToo movement.
Throughout their filmography, notable accolades they have amassed include: two Oscar nominations, two Emmy awards, a Peabody, an Independent Spirit Award, a duPont-Columbia Award, the Nestor Almendros Prize for Courage and Filmmaking, an Upton Sinclair Award, the Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize, and the George Polk Award.
Jehane Noujaim is an Academy Award nominated filmmaker. She is the co-director of THE GREAT HACK (2019), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, made the Academy Award and Grierson shortlist, was BAFTA-nominated, won a Cinema Eye Honors Award, and is up for an Emmy. She produced the Golden Globe-winning series RAMY (2019) and directed “Cairo Cowboy,” the season one finale. She is also the producer-director of Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated THE SQUARE (2013), Audience Award-winner at the Sundance Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival; RAFEA: SOLAR MAMA (2013); CONTROL ROOM (2004) and STARTUP.COM (2001). She has been nominated three times for the Directors Guild of America Award and was awarded the 2006 TED Prize. She is currently directing and producing THE VOW (2020), a series about the self-improvement group NXIVM. Jehane is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Rebecca Miller has written and directed six feature films: ANGELA (1995) winner of the Sundance Film Festival Filmmakers Trophy and Cinematography Award, as well as the Gotham Award; PERSONAL VELOCITY (2002) starring Parker Posey, Kyra Sedgwick and Fairuza Balk, winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Cinematography Award, as well as the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award; THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE (2005) starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Camilla Belle; THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (2009) starring Robin Wright and Keanu Reaves; MAGGIE’S PLAN (2015) starring Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, and Julianne Moore; and ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER (2017) a documentary for HBO.
Miller is also the screenwriter of the feature film PROOF (2005) adapted from the stage play. Miller is the author of the short story collection PERSONAL VELOCITY (2001) and the novels THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (2009) and JACOB’S FOLLY (2013). She adapted PERSONAL VELOCITY and THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE for the screen.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom is a filmmaker, advocate, and founder of the non-profit organization The Representation Project, which inspires individuals and communities to challenge and overcome limiting gender stereotypes and gender norms. The organization uses film and media as catalysts for cultural transformation, so that everyone, regardless of gender, race, class, age, sexual orientation, or circumstance, can fulfill their human potential.
After graduating with honors from Stanford University and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Jennifer worked in Africa and Latin America, helping women entrepreneurs create their own socially and environmentally responsible businesses. She then moved to Hollywood to pursue acting and producing.
WOMEN IN FILM: THEN AND NOW
Hear from today’s prodigious women in film about what it was like when they began: their experiences on their first set and the issues they ran into; who were their mentors or role models in the industry; any techniques that they feel are their signature or define their approach to filmmaking; what films have inspired them, and how the role of female filmmakers has evolved since they started out. As the world has changed over the past year, has COVID impacted their work in terms of managing their time, productivity and creative inspiration?
MODERATOR:
Sarah Johnson is a film producer, an organic farmer, and activist for environmental, educational, and gender issues. Sarah has served as a producer, or executive producer, on notable recent films including BIRDMAN (Academy Award for Best Picture), THE IMMIGRANT, SUBMERGENCE, BLOOD TIES, DEVIL'S KNOT, KEELY AND DU, LOST CHILD, JOE, THE GREEN INFERNO, etc. Her social issue documentaries include THE GREAT HACK (Sundance 2019), the Academy Award-nominated THE SQUARE, CHASING ICE, THE INVISIBLE WAR, THE HUNTING GROUND and LIVING IN EMERGENCY: STORIES OF DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS. Sarah holds a BS in Biology and is on the boards of St. Lawrence University and Conservation South Africa. She also Chairs the board at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. She is currently, amongst other projects, directing a film about campaign finance reform and its effect on our democracy.
PANELISTS:
Julie Taymor’s feature film of Gloria Steinem's "My Life on the Road" titled THE GLORIAS, starring Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Janelle Monáe and Bette Midler premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and will be released September 2020. Other film credits include FOOL'S FIRE, OEDIPUS REX starring Jessye Norman which received an Emmy Award as well as the International Classical Music Award, TITUS, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange; FRIDA starring Salma Hayek which garnered six Academy Award nominations and won two; ACROSS THE UNIVERSE which received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, THE TEMPEST, starring Helen Mirren, and a cinematic version of William Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, filmed during her critically acclaimed stage production at Theatre for a New Audience and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Her Broadway adaptation of THE LION KING debuted in 1997 and received 11 Tony Award nominations, with Julie receiving awards for Best Director and Costume Designer. The show has played over 100 cities in 20 countries on every continent except Antarctica, and its worldwide gross exceeds that of any entertainment title in box office history.
Other theater credits include the play GROUNDED, starring Anne Hathaway, at the Public Theater as well as Broadway’s M. BUTTERFLY starring Clive Owen, SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK, THE GREEN BIRD, and JUAN DARIEN: A CARNIVAL MASS, which earned five Tony Award nominations including one for her direction. Operas include OEDIPUS REX, with Jessye Norman, THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, SALOME, DIE ZAUBERFLOTE (in repertory at the Met), THE MAGIC FLUTE (which inaugurated a PBS series entitled “Great Performances at the Met”); and Elliot Goldenthal’s GRENDEL which premiered at the LA Opera and was also performed at the Lincoln Center Festival.
Taymor is a recipient of the 1991 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, as well as a 2015 inductee into the Theater Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater, the recipient of the 2015 Shakespeare Theatre Company’s William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre, and a 2017 Disney Legends Award honoree.
Amy Ziering is a two-time Emmy-award winning and Academy award-nominated filmmaker behind the most groundbreaking investigatory documentaries today with her creative partner Kirby Dick.
Their Oscar-nominated film, THE INVISIBLE WAR, broke the story of the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military and led to five congressional hearings and the passing of 35 reforms through Congress. Their follow up film, THE HUNTING GROUND, about campus sexual assault, ignited a national discussion and led to sweeping policy changes at hundreds of schools. Their next film, THE BLEEDING EDGE, about the fast-growing medical device industry's corruption and malfeasance, has already compelled industry giant Bayer to remove one harmful device from the market, and is catalyzing a worldwide debate about regulation and patient safety. Currently their latest critically-acclaimed film, ON THE RECORD, now streaming on HBO Max, follows a music executive as she grapples with abuse she faced from men in her industry and her decision to become one of the first women of color to come forward as part of the #MeToo movement.
Throughout their filmography, notable accolades they have amassed include: two Oscar nominations, two Emmy awards, a Peabody, an Independent Spirit Award, a duPont-Columbia Award, the Nestor Almendros Prize for Courage and Filmmaking, an Upton Sinclair Award, the Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize, and the George Polk Award.
Jehane Noujaim is an Academy Award nominated filmmaker. She is the co-director of THE GREAT HACK (2019), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, made the Academy Award and Grierson shortlist, was BAFTA-nominated, won a Cinema Eye Honors Award, and is up for an Emmy. She produced the Golden Globe-winning series RAMY (2019) and directed “Cairo Cowboy,” the season one finale. She is also the producer-director of Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated THE SQUARE (2013), Audience Award-winner at the Sundance Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival; RAFEA: SOLAR MAMA (2013); CONTROL ROOM (2004) and STARTUP.COM (2001). She has been nominated three times for the Directors Guild of America Award and was awarded the 2006 TED Prize. She is currently directing and producing THE VOW (2020), a series about the self-improvement group NXIVM. Jehane is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Rebecca Miller has written and directed six feature films: ANGELA (1995) winner of the Sundance Film Festival Filmmakers Trophy and Cinematography Award, as well as the Gotham Award; PERSONAL VELOCITY (2002) starring Parker Posey, Kyra Sedgwick and Fairuza Balk, winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Cinematography Award, as well as the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award; THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE (2005) starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Camilla Belle; THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (2009) starring Robin Wright and Keanu Reaves; MAGGIE’S PLAN (2015) starring Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, and Julianne Moore; and ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER (2017) a documentary for HBO.
Miller is also the screenwriter of the feature film PROOF (2005) adapted from the stage play. Miller is the author of the short story collection PERSONAL VELOCITY (2001) and the novels THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (2009) and JACOB’S FOLLY (2013). She adapted PERSONAL VELOCITY and THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE for the screen.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom is a filmmaker, advocate, and founder of the non-profit organization The Representation Project, which inspires individuals and communities to challenge and overcome limiting gender stereotypes and gender norms. The organization uses film and media as catalysts for cultural transformation, so that everyone, regardless of gender, race, class, age, sexual orientation, or circumstance, can fulfill their human potential.
After graduating with honors from Stanford University and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Jennifer worked in Africa and Latin America, helping women entrepreneurs create their own socially and environmentally responsible businesses. She then moved to Hollywood to pursue acting and producing.
