AWD Shoot ‘Em Up Female Filmmaker Series

CHARISSA WAS SELECTED AS 1 OF 6 DIRECTORS FROM THE AWD MEMBERSHIP TO SHOOT A SHORT FILM OF A FELLOW AWD MEMBER’S LIFE STORY. FILMMAKERS WERE AWARDED A $1,000 GRANT AND GIVEN A MONTH TO COMPLETE THE FILM WITH LIMITED TIME & RESOURCES.

LA HUSTLE screened at WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS THEATRE on OCTOBER 24, 2018

WOMEN HELPING WOMEN

My directing sisters in arms and I spent a HARDCORE month directing short films of adapted scripts and stories of fellow AWD members. This AWD Shoot 'Em Up Female Filmmaker Series challenged us to develop and produce our assigned short films with limited time, funds and resources. Filmmakers know that you can't make a movie by yourself and while we were all rallying individually and crewing up to get our films off the ground, something unexpected and beautiful happened.

The 6 of us formed a filmmaking collective by simply banding together and sharing our resources. We pooled our acquired knowledge, hard won experience and moral support when we needed it the most. The bonds formed from making a film together run deep but few directors have the rare opportunity of sharing in that experience with other directors simultaneously! As women, we all inherently tapped into the nurturing side of our nature, and as members of The Alliance Of Women Directors, we advocated for each other every step of the way.

There's no shortage of girl power here and the filmmaking collective that was forged from this amazing experience of women helping other women has me forever changed. I’m so grateful to my sister directors for embarking on this filmmaking journey with me and keeping me inspired on the daily!

DIRECTOR, JENN PAGE

#FemaleFilmmakerFriday Post, 10/19/18

On this #FemaleFilmmakerFriday, I want to kill the myth that women can't work together and that women don't support other women. The 6 women in this photo (I'm in there!) have done nothing but support each other through this entire crazy Shoot ‘Em Up process. We were all handed scripts a little over a month ago. We had to rewrite, develop, pre-pro, shoot and finish all post by this morning.

If one of us felt like something wasn't working another director stepped in with, "How can I help?" WHILE MAKING THEIR OWN FILM directors asked each other, "How can I help?"

We helped each other get locations, free gear, free post-production services, etc.

Never once did one of us worry that the other woman might take our job. Never once did we put one of the other women down. Matter of fact, it's been the opposite: we've built each other up through the process and asked what can we do to make sure this helps us get work?

There were things outside of our films we couldn't control (and often things inside of our films like not having enough time), but anything we could do for one another . . . we did.

Today I celebrate these 5 women who went through this process with me. I celebrate my STELLAR team of cast & crew that was 90% women who put their hearts and souls into our film. I celebrate every woman out there still pushing through the muck to earn a living doing what they are truly great at and what is their one and only career passion: Making Movies.

See you all Wednesday at Walt Disney Animation Studios!!!!!!!!!