Posts tagged legendarywomen
Television, pop culture and a healthy dose of snark
Interview with National Women’s History Museum President Joan Wages
Walking around downtown Washington DC is like passing by a kaleidoscope of museums. For lifelong political lobbyist Joan Wages, however, one museum is missing – a museum celebrating the achievements of women and one that can stand toe-to-toe with all the rest in Washington. Since 1996 the National Women’s History Museum has worked to make that dream a reality.
Right now the home of the National Women’s History Museum is a website instead of a physical site. The online home of the project supports online exhibits and information about how to get involved with the museum and its goals. If you do get involved, you’ll certainly be in good company. One of the most ardent supporters lobbying for a permanent home for the historical record of our nation’s women is none other than Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep.
Legendary Women was lucky enough to speak with Joan Wages, the President and CEO of the National Women’s History Museum, about the importance of preserving the history of our nation’s women.
Why do we need a National Women’s History Museum? Why is it important to recognize women in history specifically?
Well we need a National Women’s History Museum because women have been left out of the telling of our national story. If you look at our history textbooks today, only one in ten figures is of a female. If you look at our national parks for example, less than eight percent of the statues are of a woman leader. Soif young girls growing up are looking around and they’re not seeing themselves reflected as our national story is being told, then we need to change that.
Who are some of the women from history that you would honor in the museum?
Well we will certainly honor the women who founded the suffrage movement like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott. We would honor various women in various roles. For instance Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, who in the 1940s was the first woman to get a PHD in mathematics from Yale. But she went on to create the first computer compilers, which are the precursors to today’s computers and then she co-wrote COBOL which is a computer program that is still used by the Defense Department. She is an example that women have succeeded in every field, made significant achievements, and have had a great impact on our society. Yet we don’t know who they are.
Yes, that actually ties into my next question. History is filled with a lot of “legendary” women whose contributions are often overlooked or minimized. Could you tell our readers something about one of your favorite historical women they might not have known?
One of my favorites is Elizabeth Blackwell, who was the first woman to graduate from medical school. She had applied to numerous schools and they kept turning her down because she was female. Yet she had all the same experience that young men would have had in that day and age – the way that they prepared to go to medical school is that they would “practice” with a doctor. So she had spent time practicing with a doctor and had done the reading of the literature and all of those things and she finally got accepted into a medical school. So she showed up to begin attending as a student and they said it was a joke, they really didn’t intend for her to come to the medical school. So she held her feet to the fire and insisted on being accepted because she had the letter of acceptance. So they let her in, but then they would not allow her to go to labs and they wouldn’t allow her to go to some lectures. They ridiculed her and she was ostracized. As time went on she earned their respect and she graduated number one in her class.
Interview with “Chloe Chronicles” Creator Mark Warshaw
“I’m Chloe Sullivan, and I’m here to bring you the truth,” said Allison Mack’s intrepid girl reporter in the first installment of the “Chloe Chronicles”. Mark Warshaw also wanted to bring television viewers something — more content. In the early aughts Warshaw was on the cutting edge of interactive content when he pitched the idea for Chloe Sullivan to visit an even smaller screen: the computer screen.
Before you could tweet along to your favorite TV series or live-stream a baseball game on your phone, Warshaw was figuring out that the internet could work as another channel for television content. Plugged-in viewers, more passionate than ever, were seeking alternative ways into their favorite television shows. Warshaw already knew that as the brain behind all the “Smallville” tie-in websites and DVDs. Still the “Chloe Chronicles”, which he helped create, were a fairly new concept. This was material that tied into the show’s mythology but could only be found on the web, engaging fans and working well for then-sponsor AOL. Suddenly you could use the web to tell more stories and who better to tell stories than “Smallville“‘s favorite truth-finder?
Since the “Chloe Chronicles” first bowed in 2003, Warshaw has gone on to work on a variety of other trans-media projects such as web content for NBC’s late “Heroes”. Now it seems like every genre of television show has dabbled in interactive content. When Warshaw and the “Smallville” brass were conceiving the “Chloe Chronicles”, however, it was a brand new arena. After the success of the “Chloe Chronicles” Chloe once again picked up her digital camera and reporter’s pad in “The Vengeance Chronicles”, another tie-in web series.
Legendary Women was lucky enough to speak with Warshaw about working with Allison Mack on the “Chloe Chronicles”, the plucky appeal of one blonde girl detective and what the future holds in store for trans-media content.
How did the “Chloe Chronicles” come about? Could you tell us a bit about your experiences working on them?
At the time (Smallville Season 2 - 2002), Warner Bros and AOL were one company. AOL was just starting to experiment with online video distribution. They asked for a behind-the-scenes video tour of the Smallville sets. We had been having some good success with extending the Smallville story online with the Smallville Ledger, Torch and LuthorCorp websites and asked if we could instead take the opportunity to tell more stories in the online space with video.
They liked the idea and so I took Allison Mack out to lunch and asked her what she really wanted to do with the character of Chloe. She had been underutilized on the main series to that point. The fans were pissed. They loved Chloe and wanted more. So Allison shared her vision of turning Chloe into a character who could inspire girls to take action and make change in the world. With that, we created the idea for the Chloe Chronicles — an investigative news series where Chloe picked up where the stories on the TV series left off. It was her crusade to expose what was really happening in Smallville. We used webisodes, websites, comic books, mobile and other interactive experiences to create stories fans could engage with and participate on a deeper, more connected level.
What was it that made Chloe a good character for an online series?
She was the POV of the fans. She was deeply concerned about the ongoing conspiracy and mystery of the series so there was a wealth of fun interactivity and deep mythology we could build into her Chronicles. Plus, Allison was so talented and in the first two seasons of the series, the TV show needed to spend a lot of time establishing the Clark - Lex and Clark - Lana relationships. This left less screen time for Chloe.
What transmedia does is create space were you can explore your lesser used characters and develop them some more. It costs less so there’s a better opportunity to take risks. The online space served as a perfect storm for this. Plus, the Chloe character was by far the most digitally savvy of the cast. She was always on her computer or cell phone digging up info so Clark could go off and save the day. So using Chloe as the main star of the online part of the show was a natural fit.
What did you like best about writing for Chloe? What do you think makes Chloe a strong female character?
Chloe was based on a real person named Dana Fox who is now one of the top screenwriters in Hollywood. At the time, Dana was the assistant to Al Gough and Miles Millar. Dana has brilliantly sharp wit to her and this inspired a lot of the Chloe snark that became the character’s voice.
Of course — Allison brought a ton to this as well. She grew up in a very musical household so if you listen to the way she delivers her lines, there is a beautiful rhythm to her dialog. This combination was gold to the Smallville writers. You get to speak the truth through a super strong female character and try your best to infuse the dialog with some bite as well.
Chloe also stood for the “Truth” in the inspiration for Superman’s “Truth, Justice and American Way” equation. So writing Chloe gave you the license to go right to the core of what was really happening on Smallville. You could be honest with the fans.
From the Big House to the Big Screen: The Story of Chris Petry’s film “Marilyn”
Written by a convicted felon from prison and filmed on a shoestring budget, the story behind the making of director Christopher Petry’s “Marilyn” is almost as fascinating as the film itself. The movie tells the story of a bank robber on the run (Ryan Robbins) who takes a runaway woman (Allison Mack) under his wing. Her volatile personality and dreams of becoming a singer change him forever.
“Basically it’s a character movie,” Petry said in a phone interview with Legendary Women. “The two actors really carry the whole show.”
—EXCERPT —
It also helped to be working with friends. For the titular role of Marilyn, Petry cast “Smallville” co-worker and friend Allison Mack. Despite the role being unlike anything Mack had played before, Petry was confident in her abilities as an actress to portray anything thrown at her. He had complete faith in her chops as an actor to pull off a far different role than what audiences were used to seeing her play.
“She does a complete 180 from Chloe,” Petry explained of Mack. “She’s playing a street girl who is basically a borderline hooker and a runaway. And she nailed the role exceptionally. She’s a wonderful talent.”
Once on set, Mack really dove into the character of Marilyn. Having watched Mack play a character she established and built from the ground up for ten years on “Smallville”, Petry was amazed to see her process in creating a completely different kind of character. Marilyn, a runaway and drifter from South Carolina, allowed Mack to flex a different set of acting muscles than her time playing hard-driving career woman Chloe on “Smallville”.
“She nailed the accent and she just lived in the accent,” Petry said of Mack’s process of getting into character for Marilyn. “Even off set when we weren’t rolling camera, that’s just how she spoke. I don’t think she wore shoes for I don’t know how long, so her feet were filthy,” Petry laughed. “She just let herself become the character.”
Chris Petry Talks “Smallville”, Chloe Sullivan and Lemurs
Recently Legendary Women was lucky enough to speak with “Smallville” producer and director Christopher Petry by phone. Petry has worked on the CW’s superhero drama since its beginning, starting as a production assistant parking cars. By the end of the series ten years later, Petry was a producer and director with independent film work under his belt.
While cooking up a delicious dinner for himself, Petry shared some inside dish about working on “Smallville” since the beginning and how the show created their own super heroine legacy in the form of one Chloe Sullivan.
—EXCERPT
So clearly we are highlighting Chloe for the month of February at Legendary Women. What did you think of Chloe’s journey throughout the course of the show?
What did I think of it? Oh I think it was an awesome character. I mean it’s a character that, we’re taking all these DC characters that are established by other writers and are established within this world. And here we have a character that as a collective group, you know our show runners right from the beginning, our writers and then to Allison Mack, to take a character that has never existed before and now exists in our world and make her like a superhero. In fact she is a superhero, she was Watchtower right? So to create that seed and for Allison to grow it into this character, that’s probably my favorite thing. You have all the geeky comic guys creating superheroes and then we got to create one of our own out of thin air.
Do you know if the original conception for Chloe changed over the years?
I cannot say for certain but I’m sure it did. Every year we would do an overhaul of the characters and where their arcs were going and what not. And then also the cast brings certain things to the show, like Allison would. If she had chemistry with someone than you’d start developing it. As a part of a series you have to imagine, and I’m speaking for our writers which I wasn’t one, they did a great job of seeing what Allison would bring to the table and writing to that. They would blueprint and the cast would put forth great performances and story arcs. Allison Mack is just a phenomenal actress though.
What was your favorite moment for Chloe’s character on the show?
My favorite Chloe moment? Gee, there were a lot of moments. I didn’t like when she was always pining over Clark. I would have to say I think I’d go with the very end when you see where her character got to, at the very end of the show when she was telling the whole story through a comic book to her child. That’s pretty awesome. Again that’s a testament to Allison’s commitment to the show and the show runners. Keeping her on contract for that period of time and getting her to have a great character wrap-up and a whole arc to the series. Not all the characters got to do that.
What would you say your favorite moment working with Allison was?
My favorite moment working with Allison? I would have two different answers. For Allison the actress, just being with her and Justin Hartley when she’s trying to leave and they have a big romantic moment where he won’t let her go and they kiss. That was my favorite moment directing Allison; it was just awesome working with her and seeing her craft getting her there. As for Allison the person, working hand-in-hand with her when she directed her episode was very memorable. I enjoyed that. Watching her grow and learn and seeing what a director she became, those are my favorite moments working with Allison.
—Read the MUCH longer full interview about Smallville, Chloe and Lemurs at LegendaryWomen.org HERE!!
‘The Pregnancy Project’ Director Norman Buckley Talks About Teen Moms and Stereotypes
Norman Buckley knows about OMG moments. As the director of such scandalous teen fare as The CW’s “Gossip Girl” and ABC Family’s “Pretty Little Liars” Buckley’s been around the block when it comes to outrageous teen behavior. His newest outing could be something out of a “Gossip Girl” storyline, but it’s actually the very real story of a one girl brave enough to try and change the way people think.
In “The Pregnancy Project” debuting Saturday January 28th at 8 p.m. EST on Lifetime Network, Buckley directs a film about Gaby Rodriguez’s unorthodox social experiment for a school project. The 17-year-old pretended she was pregnant for six months, fooling friends and family, to open a dialogue about teen pregnancy in her community. What Gaby discovered was the very real stigma attached to being a pregnant teen. She soon found herself the newest item in the mean-spirited high school gossip mill.
Gaby only told her boyfriend, her mother and one of her eight siblings the truth about her pregnancy. Her boyfriend’s parents were left totally in the dark, as were most of her friends and family. Six months and several fake baby bumps later, Gaby revealed her secret in a school assembly. Her project titled “Stereotypes, Rumors and Statistics” made headlines, first in her town of Toppenish, Washington and then nationwide.
Gaby was motivated to start her experiment after some real life experience with teen pregnancy. Her mother got pregnant for the first time at the age of 14 and her older siblings also dealt with the issue. Gaby wanted to explore the societal effects of getting pregnant as a teen, but also wanted to stress that it isn’t the end of the road.
Needless to say, Buckley had a fascinating story to work from for “The Pregnancy Project”. The movie, staring “Spy Kids” actress Alexa Vega as Gaby and “Scrubs” Judy Reyes as her mother premieres this Saturday on Lifetime.
Legendary Women was lucky enough to speak with Buckley about his thoughts on the movie and what it says about teen girls and pregnancy.
What was it that drew you to “The Pregnancy Project” and Gaby’s story?
I was intrigued by the script, particularly the idea that a high school girl undertook such a complex project. I spent a lot of time thinking about why she would do it—there was nothing easy about it and it was a charade she had to keep up for months. When I read her book I came to understand that her family relationships had a lot to do with the decisions she made, and this provided a great opportunity for drama.
Recently teen moms have been a hot topic issue, particularly with the popularity of MTV’s “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom”, as well as films like “Juno”. While I don’t think any of those programs outright glamorize teen pregnancy, one of the things most often overlooked is the way pregnant teen girls are viewed and treated. “The Pregnancy Project” seems to take a hard look at how pregnant teens are treated and stereotyped. Can you talk a little about that and why you think this aspect missing from other teen pregnancy narratives is important?
I think there are no hard and fast assumptions that can be made about any individual’s life—a pregnant teen or anyone else. The decisions one makes, or the lack thereof, are different for every person. One of the primary themes of Gaby Rodriguez’s project was that people jump to assumptions quickly when it comes to pregnant teens, without having any basis for these ideas. She used this as a springboard to examine the whole issue of stereotypes and how the assumptions of others can have a debilitating effect on the self-esteem of a person.
— Read the full interview with Norman Buckley at LegendaryWomen.org HERE!
