I am happy to report that the student who asked me if I had any women in my class has written a nice script and will be shooting a short film in late summer. (She subscribes to the good, fast, cheap- pick two, philosophy and doesn’t have a lot of money, hence the lead time.) Making the film will be a challenge for her but in good way. Typically she works as an editor and by far this is the biggest project she has undertaken. I am sure she will do well.
As a teacher my favorite classes have always been the ones with more women students. Even if only a third of the students are women, it balances out the young man energy. I also always try to have a woman teaching assistant because one more woman in the room cannot hurt things.
In my 11 plus years teaching I have had a lot of successful female students. Many have gone on to successful careers both in the business and in private life. Though I am not playing favorites, I would like to single out one former student, Therese Schecter. Therese loves film. She has written about it for The Chicago Tribune, has had a great published journal of her time spent at Sundance over the years, she has worked for Tribecca Film (Robert DeNiro’s company) and more importantly she has made two very good films. I Was A Teenage Feminist has played in festivals and been screened around the world and How I Learned to Speak Turkish is about a visit to Turkey where she discovered an obsession with Turkish men. Currently she is working on a new film called The American Virgin.
Here is a link, I will let you discover Therese for yourself. If you contact her ask her about Cake, the film she made for me. www.trixiefilms.com
PeterH
