April is Earth Month and WIFSFBA would like to celebrate by highlighting women filmmakers working to tell stories and documentaries about the environment and the ever growing dangers of climate change.

Five Female Environmental Documentary Filmmakers

from Earthday.org

Joanna Natasegara

Producer of the Academy Award and BAFTA nominated VIRUNGA, Natasegara is a British filmmaker dedicated to generating social change through her films. In 2013, she founded Violet Films, a production company devoted to projects with social justice at their heart.  She is also an ethical consultant, working to maximize the impact film projects can have on the public. 

Leila Conners

Founder and director of Tree Media, a group that works on creating projects addressing the various social and environmental issues plaguing society, Conners is a director committed to educating and informing viewers about what matters. She believes that media is a way to collaborate and share stories, and that is the focal point of her work and company. Her projects include documentaries such as Ice on Fire, We the People 2.0, and the 11th Hour, in addition to short film series such as Green World Rising. 

Olivia Ahnemann

Previously nominated for an Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking , Ahnemann is an incredibly talented producer and director, credited for programs for National Geographic, PBS, and Discovery. She also served as a panelist for the 2022 Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital. Her films devoted to the environmental crisis include The Human Element, The Cove, Racing Extinction, and Youth V Gov. 

Elise Pearlstein

Currently Executive Vice President at This Machine, a filmwork company dedicated to nonfiction programming, Pearlstein is most regarded for her work as a producer on the Emmy winning documentary Food, Inc. She is a member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Other films she has produced include Last Call at the Oasis and This is Climate Change.

Rebecca Tickell

Child actress turned director and producer, Tickell is fighting climate change one documentary at a time. She is an award winning filmmaker and a dedicated environmental activist. She co-founded Big Picture Ranch, an avocado farm that doubles as a film studio working to combat the climate crisis, with her husband. She has directed and produced numerous documentaries, including Pump, The Big Fix, and, most recently, Kiss the Ground. 

Member Poll

As we move forward into 2023, we’d like to hear from you! Please help us fill out our member survey to help us get to know each other and our community better as we plan for the new year. A reminder email for the survey was sent last week. And thank you to all our members who have already filled it out! We really appreciate it.

Tamara de Lempicka Documentary Trailer at National Museum, Krakow, Poland

The trailer for WIFSFBA’s President Julie Rubio’s documentary The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka and the Art of Survival is being showcased at the Lempicka exhibit at the National Museum in Kraków, Poland. “We are thrilled to be part of such a monumental exhibition that celebrates such a powerful and amazing female artist as Tamara De Lempicka!” - Julie Rubio

Lempicka Exhibition

Do you have news you'd like to share with fellow members?

We’d love to hear from members on recent accomplishments, awards, or any news you’d like to share with the WIFSFBA community. 

Send your blurbs and any related images to bod-admin@wifsfba.org with Members in the News in the subject line. Submit by April 24th to be included in the next newsletter.

Root of Evil Speaker Event

When: April 20 @7PM PDT

Where: Virtual Zoom

Register here: Root of Evil Event Registration

“The Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia,” is an American investigative crime podcast covering the Black Dahlia murder and suspect George Hodel. The podcast was produced as a partnership between Cadence13 and TNT as a companion to the fictional television series I Am the Night executive produced by Patty Jenkins. 

Set in the 1960s, the TNT series I Am the Night, starring Chris Pine and India Eisley, is based on the life of Fauna Hodel, the daughter of Dr. George Hodel, who was linked to the infamous, unsolved 1947 “Black Dahlia” murder in Hollywood of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short. Executive producer, Patty Jenkins, befriended Fuana Hodel’s daughters, Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro, who were often on set. The sisters created the eight-part docuseries, Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia on Apple Podcasts, as a companion podcast to the show.

We’re excited to have Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro join us for a speaker event through WIFSFBA on April 20th!

Creators & Co-Hosts Bios - 

Sisters Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro are primarily recognized as the co-hosts of the wildly popular podcast “Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia,” a 2020 iHeartRadio ‘True Crime Podcast of the Year’ nominee. The dark story of their mother Fauna Hodel’s life garnered the attention of superstar Chris Pine (Star Trek, Hell or High Water), actress India Eisley (Underworld: Awakening, The Secret Life of the American Teenager) and award-winning director Patty Jenkins (Monster, Wonder Woman) and became a six-episode TNT limited television series I Am The Night, which premiered in January 2019.

Gentile and Pecoraro return to the airwaves with a new weekly podcast from Tenderfoot TV and iHeart radio called “Facing Evil.” In their latest venture, the siblings bring their unique perspective of growing up in a family with a dark history, to true crime with a focus on the victims and individuals at the heart of the stories. 

 “If we can make a difference and teach others how we can be better human beings by doing good in the world, we will have achieved everything our mother stood for,” says the pair. “Our goal for this show is to find a light in the darkness and to bring awareness to those stories that are as deserving of the attention that our family has received. By shining light on these other stories of evil, we strive to foster healing.” 

Outside of podcasting, Gentile is also an actor, model, and sandal designer with her husband Gino. She is an avid yogi who trains for and practices classes specific to individuals confronting distress and long-term grief and pain. She splits her time between her hometown of Hawaii, San Francisco and Italy.

Pecoraro was a fierce competitor on “The Biggest Loser” in 2006. Since then, she’s advocated for beauty at any size as a plus size model and married her wife Vanna in 2010. She is a proud LGBTQ+ advocate and activist, mother, as well as an actor and voiceover artist. She resides near Portland but remains a forever native of Honolulu.

 Gabrielle Carteris Bio - 

Gabrielle Carteris was elected president of the International Federation of Actors, or FIA, in May 2021. She is the immediate past president of SAG-AFTRA, where for more than five years she headed the union of 160,000 actors, recording artists, dancers and broadcasters. Before SAG and AFTRA merged in 2012, Carteris served in leadership positions in both unions, as well as on the merger committee.

Carteris became a household name playing Andrea Zuckerman on Beverly Hills, 90210 and more recently starred in BH90210, a revival of the iconic show. Her extensive resume includes work in television, film and the stage, including guest-starring roles on We Own This City, NCIS and Criminal Minds and voice work for video games. Onstage, she performed a special presentation of The Vagina Monologues to raise money to combat violence against women and child abuse. As a producer, Carteris created Lifestories, a series of specials, and Gabrielle, a talk show that she also hosted.

As SAG-AFTRA president during the first several months of the COVID pandemic, she guided the union’s response to create a set of strict industry wide protocols to ensure that sets and other workplaces were as safe as possible. As the head of the President’s Task Force on Education, Outreach and Engagement, she also led efforts to hold regular remote workshops, panels and seminars to keep members connected during the unprecedented disruption to the industry.

A survivor of a serious on-set injury, safety has been a priority initiative for Carteris. She formed the President’s Blue Ribbon Safety Commission, which has advocated for intimacy coordinators to be present on set during the filming of simulated sex scenes and other hyper exposed work. The Commission has also taken concrete steps to confront harassment, make sets safer for stunt performers and establish the COVID safety protocols.

A fierce advocate for diversity, Carteris has taken on age bias in the industry, championed the unionization of Spanish-speaking performers and broadcasters, worked toward gender and pay equity and led efforts to advance greater inclusion in the industry at all levels.

Carteris is a board member of the Solidarity Center, the largest U.S.-based international worker rights organization. Allied with the AFL-CIO, it strives to attain safe and healthy workplaces, fair wages and greater equity. In August 2016, Carteris was elected a vice

president on the AFL-CIO’s executive council, re-elected in 2017 and co-leads a sexual harassment workgroup. She also is a founding ambassador of ReFrame, an initiative of Women In Film and Sundance Institute to further gender parity in the media industry. In

2017, Carteris was appointed commissioner to the Hollywood Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality. In addition, she serves as a trustee of the American Film Institute and is a board member of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.

In 2008, Carteris served the Screen Actors Guild as fifth alternate national director, in 2009 as first alternate national director and in 2010 she began a three-year term as a National Board member. Her previous American Federation of Television and Radio

Artists service includes two consecutive terms on the AFTRA Los Angeles Local Board and the AFTRA National Board, three terms as an AFTRA convention delegate in the actor category and, in 2011, she was elected Los Angeles Local president and national second vice president. As part of the Group for One Union, she was instrumental in developing the plan to merge SAG and AFTRA.

She also served SAG-AFTRA during the transition year as national vice president, Los Angeles. In 2019, SAG-AFTRA presented Carteris with the George Heller Memorial Award for her years of union service.

When: April 12-19, 2023

Where: 17575 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

“Come together for great films by talented filmmakers at one of Movie Maker Magazine’s ‘Top Festivals Worth the Entry Fee!” -- film screenings, speaker panels, awards galas, food and fun.”

MORE INFO: PJIFF

WHEN: Thursday, April 6, 2023 --  6-8pm

WHERE: KQED Headquarters, 2600 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

“Learn how to make your podcast a newsworthy story and grow your audience with earned media strategies.”

MORE INFO: Podcast PR Workshop

WHEN: Saturday, April 22, 2023 -- 7-10pm

WHERE: The David Brower Center, Berkeley, CA

“Celebrate EARTH DAY! This on-tour program will include this year’s audience favorites, selected from hundreds of films that inspire environmental activism and a love of nature.”

MORE INFO:   WCFF \ Tickets

Regular Submission Deadline: April 7, 2023

Late Submission Deadline: May 12, 2023

“The WFF showcases work made by and/or about women. It is the only event of its kind in Philadelphia that celebrates and elevates women in film and television. Submit documentary, short, feature, animation or music video films featuring a strong female role in the category of director, writer, producer, editor, director of Photography, or lead actress.”

MORE INFO: The WFF | Tickets

Submission Deadline: June 1, 2023

“This year we are accepting submissions for independently produced TV and episodic web-series pilots in all genres (drama, comedy, thriller, etc). Our celebrated judges and selection committee will select projects that best reflect the spirit of independent storytelling to celebrate at the 2023 North Fork TV Festival. Runtime must be under 44 minutes.”

MORE INFO: Pilots — North Fork TV Festival

Deadline: April 10, 2023

“SF Shorts explores a wide mix of genres and cultures without circumscribing them into niches. We accept all types of short films, which for us includes music videos. Our festival prides itself on its range. It's our mission to present the widest possible scope of content. Go to our website to view the 2022 season’s diverse range of films, many of which continue to screen there.”

MORE INFO: SF Shorts

Submission Deadline: June 30, 2023

The National Lampoon Company presents the NATIONAL LAMPOON’S GIRLZ RULE SCRIPT CONTEST (“NLGR Script Contest”) launched in association with Women in Film & Television US (“WIFT US”). This partnership seeks to provide women scriptwriters - LGBTQ+, women of color (Asian, Black, Indigenous, Latino), all religions, professional or amateur status, any race, ethnicity, country of origin, native language, political orientation, or sexual preference - with an opportunity to submit their scripts and be part of the GIRLZ RULE feature film series to be produced by National Lampoon. (#GirlzRule)

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NLGR Script Contest seeks comedies and parodies of every kind that appeal to a wide audience. The scripts NL GIRLZ RULE seeks are intelligent, with cutting-edge wit, combined with some satire. National Lampoon has an illustrious history in the comedy genre beginning with its first film produced in 1978, National Lampoon’s Animal House, one of the most successful comedies ever.

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Carol Bidault de l’Isle (“Daliland”) and Jerry Daigle ("Love, Wedding, Marriage" and "Odd Thomas") are set to produce the films. They will also participate in the review and determine the finalists.

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National Lampoon and its NL GIRLZ RULE, LLC will sponsor the submissions process. Submissions will be free, at no cost to the writer, and will be accepted from February 24, 2023 through June 30, 2023.

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MORE: National Lampoon's Girlz Rule