Tag Archives: bechdel test

The FPI Files: Female Playwright in Space

When we heard that LA’s Fierce Backbone, home of some amazing women playwrights, was collaborating with the femme-friendly Drive Theatre on a new production, our ears perked up. And after learning the project was Amy Tofte’s murder mystery on a mission to Mars, WOMEN OF 4G, we felt we had to find out a bit more about what went on behind the scenes before this collaboration blasted off.

LA FPI: Love that a female writer is venturing into what’s often thought of as a male territory – space, the final frontier. What draws you to science fiction?

Playwright Amy Tofte

AMY TOFTE: I’ve always been into Star Wars and read tons of sci-fi. Even my plays/stories that aren’t sci-fi usually have an element of the fantastical or the famous “what if” being asked. I think I’m drawn to it because classic sci-fi is often related to allegory and challenging ideology. I’ve read somewhere that all sci-fi examines religion. I’d go further and say it questions what we know now by offering up an alternative of what could be. I was also raised and educated on truly magical theater experiences and I’m inspired to create moments that will be fun for an audience to experience together. I love seeing the impossible staged when I go to the theater.

LA FPI: Tell us a bit about the role the Bechdel Test played in the creation of this work, which has all an female cast.  

AMY: I think The Bechdel Test is important to all story telling and I think every writer should think about it. Novels, films, plays…it doesn’t matter. It’s important because I think we are brain-damaged as a society. All of us. It’s not just a divide that puts men on one side and women on the other. When you don’t have a society that represents true equality, the dominant (which is currently white male) becomes the default. It’s a real problem in stories and scripts. You’ll see a character described as “African-American” or “Chinese”…but then everyone else is given personality traits because the default is white.

Janlyn Williams, Jane Kim – Heidi Marie Photography

I give a lot of feedback on scripts and you still see really good writers who are very much about empowering women but their story somehow doesn’t give their female characters all the things a “default character” might get: the women in the stories will be denied making decisions and choices, denied making mistakes and having moments to learn, driving the action. I say we’re brain-damaged because that’s ingrained in us as children. I’m not saying anything new here. That’s why diversity is important in story-telling. If we don’t see women playing super heroes or leaders in our stories, we don’t expect them in our lives.

I’m also pissed off. I’m pissed off about the election. I’m tired of knowing that women are over 50% of the population and we still write less than a third of all produced plays and have so few reps in congress or as CEO’s of major corporations. It’s ridiculous we’re still even talking in these terms. But the best thing I know to do with that anger is to write a play with all women. And make them all complicated, interesting characters who get to kick a little ass when they feel like it.

LA FPI: Let’s talk about Fierce Backbone, a development lab that seems to be very supportive of women’s voices onstage. 

AMY:  Fierce has been the single most important artistic home I’ve ever had. The focus is on development and we produce when we have the resources and a script we want to produce. We’re now in our 10th year! Fierce has consistently boasted over 50% female playwrights in our Writers Unit. So it’s easy to also say the majority of our productions, workshop productions and readings have featured female playwrights. We’re very proud of that. I also have so much respect and gratitude for our actors. They are an incredible resource.

LA FPI: How did Fierce Backbone connect with Drive Theatre for this project?

AMY: Drive has been a friend of Fierce for a few years now. We’ve supported each other’s work and they did a workshop production late last year of one of our other writer’s plays (Defenders by Cailin Harrison). We’ve also shared development ideas and were always looking for projects that make sense to partner on.

I shared the first draft of 4G with Doug and Kat [Drive Theatre Artistic Director Doug Oliphant and Kat Reinbold, Curatorial Producer] in late 2015 and they got involved in the development process.  That was really energizing as we had a lot of new voices joining the conversation. Like any playwright getting produced, I feel very, very lucky! And I’m particularly lucky to see this through with people who have given so much to help the script grow.

[NOTE: This is Drive Theatre’s is a longtime friend of LA FPI and WOMEN OF 4G is its seventh straight production by a female playwright!]

LA FPI: What was it like in rehearsals, with such a femme presence… and and a male director?

AMY: OMG. It’s so amazing. And so noticeable. It also felt like the cast bonded immediately. It was like a room full of passionate, unruly schoolgirls one minute and then intense intellectual conversations about life and being a woman in this post-election world. It reminded me so much of all the great female friendships I’ve had over the years, where you can bond so quickly.

During our table work we all shared stories prompted by events in the play…times we were afraid, things we have to do as women that men don’t have to think about. It was also great having Doug there as our director because he was like a reality check that men are clueless about certain things in the lives of women. It made me realize that the making of this particular play could be just as important as the story and performance. I think we’re all taking away something special. These women feel like sisters to me, like we’ve all been through something together.

WOMEN OF 4G opened May 19, and plays through June 17 at the Zephyr Theatre in Hollywood. For more info visit the production’s Facebook Event  or http://www.drivetheatre.org/women-of-4g.html 

 

Jane Kim, Janlyn Williams, Samantha Barrios, Lily Rains, Cady Zuckerman, Jully Lee – Heidi Marie Photography.

 

Know a female or FPI-friendly theater, company or artist? Contact us at [email protected] & check out The FPI Files for more stories.

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Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non‐profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of LA FPI must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax‐deductible to the extent permitted by law.

The Suits

Whenever I need to refer to those on high with the money and power to make business decisions in a creative industry, they are THE SUITS.

I’m sure you can think of a few.

Last week for my monthly Bechdel Test Talk (which originated on this blog), we took the SAG Award nominees, the Independent Spirit Awards nominees for Best Picture, and the IAWTV (International Academy of Web TV) Winners to see how they stacked up against the Bechdel Test.

When I have more energy, I’ll update this with the score for the SAG Winners.

Normally, we don’t ‘score’ based on the Bechdel Test; we use it as a starting point for deeper discussions on how it affects our audiences and thus society.

For this Broadcast, however, scores seemed appropriate:

YES – MAYBE/DUBIOUS – NO

SAG AWARDS

SCORE: 2-7-5

 

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS (Best Picture Nominees only)

SCORE: 1-2-2

 

IAWTV Winners

SCORE: # of shows 7-1-4
# of awards 12-2-6

See full lists below.

Shocker, as Co-Host Etta Devine stated. When there’s a lower barrier to entry (Whether The Suits, or the numerous people in -between, or society itself), Where most entertainment (web TV) is self-produced, The Bechdel Test flies high above the rest.

Methinks it’s time to show The Suits why creativity breeds quality.

There is far more diversity in the Web Series World as well, and not just in neat little boxes easily consumed by any audience. Some suggestions: My Gimpy LifeOut With DadThe Unwritten RulesBreaking Point and there are so many more but I can’t think of them past midnight. Follow Web Series Watch’s blog for news and recommendations (yes, that is my own web series and I’m too tired to disguise self-promotion either – besides, frick it. I’m proud of it.).

Watch our nifty 30-minute Broadcast to hear why some of the movies are dubious. Silver Lining Playbook, anyone? Full list and links we mention after the video.

Special special I love you forever thanks to Etta Devine & Caroline Sharp who join me on this adventure every month.

 

LA Times Story: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-sundance-2013-women-lag-men-even-in-independent-film-study-finds-20130120,0,712589.story
Ted Hope’s Blog: http://hopeforfilm.com/?p=8838

SAG AWARDS

SCORE: 2-7-5
yes:
The Paperboy
Les Miserables

dubious:
Flight
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Zero Dark Thirty
Skyfall

trouble seeing film:
Rust and Bone
The Impossible

no:
Lincoln
Hitchcock
Silver Linings Playbook
The Master
The Sessions

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

SCORE: 1-2-2
yes
Moonrise Kingdom

dubious
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Keep the Lights On

no
Bernie
Silver Linings Playbook

IAWTV Winners

SCORE: # of shows 7-1-4
# of awards 12-2-6

yes
Best Comedy Series – Squaresville
Best Ensemble Performance – Squaresville

Best Drama Series – Leap Year
Best Writing (Comedy) – Squaresville – Matt Enlow
Best Costume Design – The League of S.T.E.A.M. – The League of S.T.E.A.M.
Best Makeup/Special Effects – The League of S.T.E.A.M. – The League of S.T.E.A.M.
Best Design (Art Direction/Production) – Continuum – Eric Whitney – computer voice
Best Editing – Continuum – Blake Calhoun
Best Directing (Comedy) – My Gimpy Life – Sean Becker
Best Female Performance (Comedy) – My Gimpy Life – Teal Sherer Teal
Best Directing (Drama) – Anyone But Me – Tina Cesa Ward (but it’s complicated in a good way)
Best Interactive/Social Media Experience – The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

maybe
Best Original Music – Cost of Capital – Rob Gokee
Best Male Performance (Comedy) – The Jeff Lewis 5-Minute Comedy Hour – Jeff Lewis – Poker Episode ?
Best Visual Effects (Digital) – H+ The Digital Series – Faction Creative and The Sequence Group: VFX Supervisor Ian Kirby; Digital Effects Supervisor Chris van Dyck; VFX Producer Caleb Bouchard

no
Best Animated Series – Red vs. Blue
Best Cinematography – H+ The Digital Series – Brett Pawlak – up to Episode 12. silent conversation probably about work between two women in Episode 13.
Best Female Performance (Drama) – Blue – Julia Stiles – Blue
Best Male Performance (Drama) – The Booth at the End, Season 2 – Xander Berkeley – Lead
Best Writing (Drama) – The Booth at the End, Season 2 – Christopher Kubasik
Best Supplemental Content – Red vs. Blue

“The Bitch Pack & LAFPI Hollywood New Year Event: To Bring Focus to Women Writers”

by Laura Shamas

What happens when two groups who promote female entertainment writers in Los Angeles get together to start the New Year? On Saturday, January 12, 2013, 2 – 5 p.m. at Samuel French Bookshop in Hollywood, the Bitch Pack and the Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative are co-sponsoring a networking mixer for women writers who work in film, television and stage. The event is free and open to all.

The Bitch Pack is a group of active female and male entertainment writers who have joined forces in order to foster more work that passes the Bechdel Test, and to ensure that diverse women’s voices are represented in television and film. Their goal: “Changing Women’s Representation on Screen, Starting with the Written Page.” They look for screenplays that pass the Bechdel Test, and feature these on “The Bitch List,” which stands for “Brilliant, Intriguing, Creative, Tenacious Heroines.”  One of their ongoing projects includes an Award they give at Shriekfest for a horror screenplay that passes the Bechdel Test.  Their mentors include: Carole Dean, Bob Engels, Ari Posner, Dan Vining, Terry George and Susan Cartsonis. They are also affiliated with Pop Change.

The Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative is comprised of female and male theatre writers working toward fair representation of women playwrights on stage. LA FPI projects include a 2011 study of women playwrights produced in the SoCal area, which concluded that only about 20% of plays produced locally are female-authored and “Tactical Reads,” a partnership with The Vagrancy to present readings of female-authored plays, directed by female directors. The next Tactical Reads presentation is January 27, 2013.

Screenwriter Thuc Nguyen, founder of The Bitch Pack, says that the newest 2013 “Bitch List” will be ready for distribution by January 12, so there will be a lot to discuss at the Samuel French/Hollywood event. “We need this event to bring to light the fact that this town/our industries still don’t pay enough attention to women’s dialogue and women’s representation on stage or film. Our afternoon will have writers mingling together and hopefully new connections to bring our goals and missions to fruition!”

Lynne Moses, a founding partner of Appleseed Entertainment who writes, directs and produces for the screen and stage, feels the event is a vital one. Moses, the Communication Director for LA FPI, explains: “Women’s historic exclusion from theatre deprived the world of female voices for centuries.  Now that women are free to write for the stage and screen, there’s a lot of catching up to do!  The January 12th Hollywood event is a great opportunity to highlight the extraordinary work of women on L.A.’s stages and screens.”

Playwright Jennie Webb, a co-Founder of LA FPI, and Editor of the group’s website, feels the synergy between the two groups is a natural fit. “One of the things that we told ourselves when we started LA FPI is  ‘Let’s not say no.’ We wanted to focus on the positive and the possibilities while staying true to our goals: helping put women’s voices onstage.  So when we heard a cry in the wilderness from the Bitch Pack, of course we jumped at the chance to help one another by joining forces whenever possible. Playwrights work in film and TV, and vice versa: screenwriters want to play in theaters. Hopefully, by corralling our energies, there’ll be more women working in both fields, and more collective energy feeding us all as we move forward. Here’s a big ‘YES’ to connecting like-minded women in the new year.”

A future collaboration between the Bitch Pack and LA FPI may include a 2013 livestreamed reading event to feature L.A. women writers who work on stage and screen. Other possibilities: Finding new collaborators, exploring new creative ventures…and finding innovative ways to change the representation of women on stage and screen, by encouraging more women’s voices in the mix.

Bitch Pack & LA FPI Hollywood Event: Saturday, January 12, 2:00 – 5:00 p.m., Samuel French Bookshop, 7623 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. Free. Open to all. For more details about the event: [email protected]

The Bechdel Test Talks continued

The Bechdel Test Talks began HERE, on LA FPI, in June.

Now a monthly series where my co-hosts and I look at various types of entertainment through the lens of The Bechdel Test. Etta Devine & Caroline Sharp join me every month!

The Bechdel Test asks 3 basic questions for every story (originally applied to film):

1. Is there more than 1 female character (with a name)?

2. Do they talk to each other?

3. About anything besides men?

These perimeters are not meant to be judgement calls, but simply starting points for discussion.

Today at 4pm PT, we’ll discuss Fantasy & Science Fiction!

[Video link available at 3:55pmPT]

Watch Bechdel Test Talk Ep3: Children’s Stories

Watch Bechdel Test Talk Ep4: Who’s Breaking the Gender Glass Ceiling?

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See the full schedule

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Don’t miss a segment @CindyMarieJ

The Bechdel Test for the Stage

Today I invited Etta Devine and Caroline Sharp to talk with me about the Bechdel test, how it affects their film viewing and careers, then see how it can be modified for plays.  This topic came up when I was trying to codify my reactions to some of the female characters I’ve seen on stage recently. We’ll talk starting at 1pm, and you can watch here (a video will be embedded before the start time) or on You Tube. Updates will be sent via @LA_FPI as well. Please join us and ask questions!

 

Here is a great introduction to the Bechdel Test:

Beyond the Bechdel Test: how do LGBT characters fare?

“The ‘Bechdel Rule,’ Defining Pop-Culture Character”All Things Considered (National Public Radio).