Women In Film: Cocktails + Conversation
WORKING NOT WORKING
We're bringing Working Not Working's creative community together for cocktails and a conversation to support female filmmakers. We'll discuss the future of women in film with Erika Olde, CEO of Black Bicycle Entertainment, Montea Robinson, Managing Director of Ghetto Film School, and Oscar-nominated director Jessica Sanders. The discussion will be moderated by filmmaker Ondi Timoner, who has the rare distinction of winning Sundance's Grand Jury Prize twice. This positive and inclusive conversation will explore how we can support women in film, lay the foundation for a better future for women in the industry, and celebrate the amazing work being made by female filmmakers right now. After the panel, we'll have an exclusive performance by Bayli, one of this generation's most liberating and redefining voices in contemporary music. Shout-out to our co-sponsors Main & Rose and moviepass.
Scroll down to learn more about each of the panelists.
UPDATE: The event is currently sold out but click here to join the waitlist. We'll be doing a lot more events like this in the future, so make sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at @wnotw.
PANELISTS
Erika Olde is an award-winning producer and founder of Black Bicycle Entertainment, the Los Angeles based production company that produces and finances commercial and prestige feature films. Her recent work includes Hallie Meyers-Shyer’s Home Again, starring Reese Witherspoon, Susanna White’s Woman Walks Ahead, starring Jessica Chastain, and Whitney Cumming’s The Female Brain. Olde is also a passionate global advocate for the advancement of women and gender equality and a TiFF Share Her Journey Ambassador. She created a women’s studies program for the prestigious Ghetto Film School, the LA/NY non-profit that provides educational opportunities to high school and college students passionate about making movies. Olde has been featured in media worldwide including Variety’s “2017 Woman’s Impact Report” and speaks frequently about her work and advocacy.
Montea Robinson hails from New York City, having recently relocated to California as Managing Director of Ghetto Film School Los Angeles. After completing a BFA in Experimental Film from the SUNY Purchase School of Film and Media studies, Montea began her career as in advertising, working in broadcast and post production on major campaigns for clients such as Fox, Coca Cola, and Nike. Currently, she is proud to serve as the Managing Director of Ghetto Film School Los Angeles, actively carrying out organization’s mission to educate, celebrate and develop the next generation of great American storytellers. Additionally, Montea is a member of the Calley Foundation Advisory Council, developed to foster new skills for emerging leaders and to creatively generate ideas to fund worthy causes and people.
Jessica Sanders is an Academy Award-nominated, Sundance and Cannes winning filmmaker and commercial director. Steve Jobs hand picked Jessica to direct Apple's iPad launch spot. Her Sony “Make Believe” film won the prestigious Young Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Jessica directed, produced and wrote AFTER INNOCENCE, a feature documentary film about innocent men wrongfully convicted of crimes, cleared by DNA evidence and their struggle to reenter society after spending decades in prison. The film premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize.
Jessica’s latest VFX-heavy short film “End of the Line” premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Adapted from acclaimed writer Aimee Bender’s surrealist short story exploring power and it’s abuse, about a man who buys a tiny man in a pet store. Staring Simon Helberg (Big Bang Theory), Brett Gelman (Lemon), financed by TNT and Refinery29 for their Shatterbox Anthology film series.
Jessica is next directing PICKING COTTON, a narrative scripted feature based on the best-selling book about the vicious rape of Jennifer Thompson, a white college student by a black man, who she wrongfully identified as Ronald Cotton. Ronald spent 11 years in prison before he was declared innocent after DNA testing and was released from prison. The movie’s story is about forgiveness as Jennifer and Ronald forge a deep friendship and together are activists for criminal justice reform.
MODERATOR
Ondi Timoner has the rare distinction of winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival twice – for her 2004 documentary, DIG!, and her 2009 top prize-winner, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC. Other award-winning features include: THE NATURE OF THE BEAST (1994), JOIN US (2007), COOL IT (2010) and BRAND: A SECOND COMING (2015). Timoner’s most recent career achievement awards include: The Rogue Award (Ashland Film Festival, 2015), The No Limits Award (Sarasota Film Society, 2015), The Auteur Award (Kodak, 2017), and the Maverick Award (The Audience Awards, 2017).
MAPPLETHORPE is Timoner's first scripted feature, starring Matt Smith - which she, wrote, directed, edited and produced through her production company, Interloper Films, over the last 12 years.
Timoner has produced & hosted BYOD (Bring Your Own Doc) for thelip.tv, creating 300 episodes with the top documentary filmmakers over five years. She is also the Founder & CEA of A TOTAL DISRUPTION, an online network dedicated to telling the stories of entrepreneurs & artists who use technology to innovate the way we live.
Current projects include her traveling talk show about the women shaping our culture, WeTalk. WeTalk Tribeca shoots live from NY on April 24th from the Roxy Hotel Cinema; the critically-acclaimed 10-hour series for Viceland, JUNGLETOWN, which is spinning into a new series called SMART CITIES; and two untitled feature documentaries: the first about the Opioid epidemic in America & the second following the founder of the animal rights movement in America taking one last stand to make lasting change. Her next scripted film is also in the works! Timoner is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and has served on the board of the DGA.
MUSICAL PERFORMER
Bayli is one of this generation's most liberating and redefining voices in contemporary music. Since she was 16 years old, Bayli has gone from scribbling on pages to commanding stages and working alongside the likes of Justin Tranto, The Heav, D.R.A.M., Daytri, and Rick Rubi. Bayli’s forward-thinking approach to songwriting as well as her genre defying style, effervescent swagger, and undeniable charisma have garnered her the praise of The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Complex, and The FADER. With a voice that's impossible to ignore and a penchant for substantive, inclusive and empowering songwriting, Bayli is everything we need and deserve from a 21st century artist. “I’m all about liberating fans and empowering my community by evoking a sense of togetherness. It’s that sense of inclusivity that inspires and allows me to express my emotions through my music in their most raw and genuine form.”