On Tuesday evening, June 17th, I had the pleasure of attending The 2015 Women In Film (WIF) Crystal + Lucy Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century City. The event was well worth the hefty ticket price, as it brings together some of Hollywood’s most important female power players to honor and celebrate achievements of women in film and television. Inspirational, hysterical, and empowering, WIF gathered a top notch group with the likes of Nicole Kidman, Jill Soloway, and Ava DuVernay to be honored. Not only were the honorees a notable crowd, but also each table was occupied by an array…
Author: Meredith Kitz
Meredith Kitz
Meredith is an actor, theatrical director, and event coordinator living and working in Los Angeles. She has curated numerous fundraisers, private events, and art dinners, as well as directed opera and theater for the stage. A graduate of the University of Michigan’s Directing Program, she has been an active member of the Panoply Performance Lab of New York for ten years. Since 2009, she has helped raise over $20,000 in funding for pancreatic oncology, hosted the art/dinner series Confluence, and volunteers as the Acting Coach for Notre Dame Academy LA. An actor since childhood, she first appeared professionally as Suzy Hendrix in the thriller Wait Until Dark, and received notable reviews for her performance as Lula in a guerilla style production of Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman. You can read her creative and esoteric musings on her blog at meredithkitz.com
I’ve recently been witness (and a participant) to a number of film projects helmed by women. Some are massive endeavors; two years in the making, fundraising to create high-scale production budgets, large casts and crews, and visual effects. These are absolutely beautiful and inspiring developments for women making their mark in film and the Hollywood machine. But sometimes, there are those smaller blades of grass that are stretching through the cracks in the cement that deserve some attention. Expanding, as creative energy so often wants to, these little blades are reaching for light regardless of any obstacles in their way.…
Following the Pitch to W.I.N. seminar held on May 2nd at Laurel Canyon Stages, I had the utmost pleasure of sitting down with Mara Tasker, Associate Producer with VICE Media. Quick-witted, confident, with a vocabulary that includes such gems as galvanize, caveat, and nebulous, Tasker is immediately recognizable as a woman of vision and action. We discussed her trajectory in film production, her enviable position with the massively popular and innovative media company, VICE, her advice for women who want to make their own content, and how a little boredom is key to living a fulfilling, creative life. MK: What…
“2015 is the year of women.” – John Fithian, President/CEO of National Association of Theater Owners This was the opener shared with me and around fifty other guests at the Pitch to W.I.N. Seminar and Pitch Event, on Saturday, May 2nd, at Laurel Canyon Stages. Hosted by the Producer’s Guild of America Women’s Impact Network (PGA W.I.N.) and Stage 32, the event offered an educational panel discussion followed by one-on-one consultations and pitch meetings for PGA members. The panel was populated with industry executives from such companies as Lifetime Network, Vice Media, Rumble Films, Ramo Law, and Stage 32. Moderator…
“Creativity is about seeing patterns and then finding a way to differentiate from the standard conventions.” – Ted Hope, Hope for Film There is no blueprint for how to make a film. Yes, there are tried and true models that one would be wise to use as instruction, but an individual project will always take on a life of its own, dictating its own needs and presenting its own obstacles on a daily basis for which there is no manual. Much like a ship, that sails from one port to another on stormy seas, a film needs to be helmed…
Monday night, February 9th, saw a packed house at Vaucluse Lounge on Sunset, for the official book launch of Thriving in Hollywood!: Tenacious Tales and Tactics from Ms. In The Biz. Sponsored by FilmBreak and Dog & Pony, the gathering was a perfect mingling of industry professionals and curious newbies in the Hollywood circuit coming together to celebrate the release of the highly lauded book. Part exposé, part industry-field guide, and purely inspirational, it is the brainchild and first publication from the collaborative efforts of Helenna Santos (Founder and CEO of Ms. In The Biz) and Alexandra Boylan (Ms. In…
I set out on my weekend journey to Sundance with three movies slotted per day, a party each night, and my elevator pitches in my pocket. But in the back of my mind, I was looking for that special story that would be an inspiration to the readers of Ms. In the Biz. From documentaries covering such topics as the rise and fall of The Black Panthers and the extinction of the world’s species, to the masturbatory intellectual ramblings of a film on David Foster Wallace, my cinematic appetite was definitely titillated. I was meeting ambitious, creative and friendly people…