August 2018

FEMILIST: AUGUST 2018

*FEMALE CREATORS*

*Young Jean Lee/ Straight White Men

As of this month, Young Jean Lee is the FIRST Asian American female playwright to have a show on Broadway. 

Her play, “Straight White Men” which stars Armie Hammer, Josh Charles, and Paul Schneider, was inspired by a societal shift Lee saw where straight white men went from just the default human to having an identity category.  It’s a satirical, somewhat surreal, yet genuine look into a family of men struggling with their identity…just like everyone else. 

New York Times Article: Young Jean Lee's Unsafe Spaces

*Ann Lupo/ In Reality

Ann Lupo’s film In Reality was just announced as part of the line up for the 2018 LA Film Festival.  This girl has an incredible ability to put the audience inside the mind of her protagonist by using the structure of the mind itself—bouncing from reality to fantasy, to pure emotions, and back again.  In Reality is Ann’s first narrative feature, although she already co-directed and produced the feature documentary, Documented, about an undocumented immigrant growing up in America. 

Logline: Part documentary, part magical realism narrative, In Reality is an autobiographical rollercoaster ride through the mind of a young woman falling in and out of love.

In Reality Website: In Reality website

The first 5 minutes of her film (not the final version*): In Reality part 1 (unfinished)

*Emily Ann Hoffman/ Nevada

Emily Ann Hoffman is an animator and filmmaker whose short stop-motion film, Nevada, recently won awards at both the Edinburgh Film Festival AND the 2018 Palm Springs International Shortfest for Best Animated Short.  She used an extensive animation process that involved first recording her actors whose heads were kept steady with a rig, then used rotoscoping to trace their actual movements and THEN 2D animated the character’s eyes and mouths based on the actors actual expressions.  She’s currently in post-production on a mixed media film called Bug Bite—a buddy film about a bed bug and a millennial.

Logline: A young couple's romantic weekend getaway is interrupted by a birth control mishap. 

Nevada trailer: Nevada trailer

Her film, Ok, Call Me Back: https://vimeo.com/187920432

*ARTICLES*

Secret Life of an Autistic Stripper by Reese Piper

Narrative.ly | July 2018

Link: Article

An interesting step into the mind of an autistic woman who learns to make money as a stripper without having the innate ability to read people.

I Grew Up in the Handmaid’s Tale by Mary Theresa Lowndes

Medium | July 2018

Link: Article

A woman looks back at the Handmaid’s Tale-like repression she experienced growing up in rural Ireland in the 60’s.

A Tale of Two Female Outcasts in the American West by Elaine Showalter

The New Yorker | July 2018

Link: Article

A nomadic woman who was exiled from her fundamentalist Mormon cult for speaking out against its abuse, and a drug addict with some uncanny similarities become the subjects of photographer Tanyth Berkeley’s new photo book, “The Walking Woman”.

When A Stranger Tries to Destroy Your Life by Kashmir Hill

Gizmodo | July 2018

Link: Article

A woman’s career and social life are ruined by a stranger she once responded to and apparently offended online… and it only gets weirder from there. 

*PODCASTS*

*Employee of the Month by Catie Lazarus

Catie Lazarus’ podcast and live show Employee of the Month has now been running for 9 years, which makes it the longest running talk show EVER hosted by a woman.   It’s also the only late night talk show about work, jobs and labor.  Her next show will take place Sunday, August 5^th and will feature Tig Notaro, Fred Amisen and Patton Oswald. Unfortunately for all of us, it’s already sold out.  But the good news is that this prolific writer/comedian/ host is not going away anytime soon. 

Employee of the Month Website: Employee of the Month Website

*The Girls based on the book Sadie by Courtney Summers

Courtney Summer’s upcoming book Sadie tells the story of a missing girl on a journey of revenge for the death of her sister and a Serial-like podcast following the clues she’s left behind. Half of the book is told from Sadie’s perspective, while the other half is told through podcast transcripts.  The Girls is the real life podcast based on podcast transcript within the book. 

Bustle Magazine Article: 'The Girls' Is A Fictional "True Crime" Podcast Based On The New YA Novel 'Sadie' & It's Unlike Anything You've Heard Before

Episode 1: The Girls: Find Sadie

*BOOK SPOTLIGHT*

*Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott

Published July 17, 2018

Logline: A life-changing secret destroys an unlikely friendship in this "magnetic" psychological thriller from the Edgar Award-winning author of Dare Me.

*Check out this review of the book within the larger context of “Dead Girl” narratives by Katy Waldman: Dead Girls, Female Murderers, and Meghan Abbot's Novel "Give Me Your Hand"