Author: The Reel Women

@shmelvispresley: What is your biggest concern with the future? Wow that’s a big question. I’ll answer it in the macrocosmic way. Is that a word? That people continue to lay the blame and fail to self reflect and take responsibility for their actions. I think that’s what creates wars.
http://www.bulletcinema.com
#thereelwomen #girlboss #women #womenoflight #picoftheday #photooftheday #female #love #film #television #TV #media #art #FilmEquality #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers #empoweringwomen #womenempower #betterhollywood #womendirect #girl #movies #movielover #create #me #happy #ladyboss #bosslady #girlgang #goals http://ow.ly/i/jb2qu

@shmelvispresley: What’s a defining moment in your life? Being on set for the first time as a director. There’s something about working in harmony with an entire group of people dedicated to seeing your vision come alive that’s arm pinching. Surreal! I feel truly in the moment when I’m doing it.
http://www.bulletcinema.com
#thereelwomen #girlboss #women #womenoflight #picoftheday #photooftheday #female #love #film #television #TV #media #art #FilmEquality #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers #empoweringwomen #womenempower #betterhollywood #womendirect #girl #movies #movielover #create #me #happy #ladyboss #bosslady #girlgang #goals http://ow.ly/i/jb2oW

@shmelvispresley: Why did you decide to get into this industry? I was a film critic and I was tired of complaining about the same issues, basically not enough female stories being told, and inaccurate or monotonous portrayals of women. I had an idea for a short (Plastic, the story of a party through the eyes of a blowup sex doll) and decided to just go for it. I’ve been addicted every since.
http://www.bulletcinema.com
#thereelwomen #girlboss #women #womenoflight #picoftheday #photooftheday #female #love #film #television #TV #media #art #FilmEquality #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers #empoweringwomen #womenempower #betterhollywood #womendirect #girl #movies #movielover #create #me #happy #ladyboss #bosslady #girlgang #goals http://ow.ly/i/jb2nS

If people want to find out more about you, where can they find you on social media? Facebook, I also have photography website (http://www.mahinamoon.com) that is outdated which I’ll hopefully update after my trip to Iceland. It went on the back burner when I started film school. #thereelwomen #girlboss #women #womenoflight #picoftheday #photooftheday #women #female #love #film #television #TV #media #art #FilmEquality #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers #empoweringwomen #womenempower #betterhollywood #womendirect #girl #movies #movielover #create #me #happy #ladyboss #bosslady #girlgang http://ow.ly/i/hVq5z

What, if anything, do you collect? I collect hats. Any kind of hat. I like to wear hats. I’ve always been told that I have a certain panache for hats back in high school so I started collecting them. I have about 30, probably more. I’ve never really counted. #thereelwomen #girlboss #women #womenoflight #picoftheday #photooftheday #women #female #love #film #television #TV #media #art #FilmEquality #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers #empoweringwomen #womenempower #betterhollywood #womendirect #girl #movies #movielover #create #me #happy #ladyboss #bosslady #girlgang http://ow.ly/i/hVq4N

What advice do you have for other women in the industry? I hope people can continue to speak out about their experiences with sexual harassment and misogyny and continue to share those kind of stories. It isn’t something I have personally encountered. But, I think that being able to be open about those stories certainly helps not only those women who have experienced that but also the people who have experienced the more general, maybe not discrimination but the more general stereotypes that we fight against which is that women should be submissive, that female bosses that are aggressive are bitchy, that female bosses who lead are somehow they are either manipulative, shrews or they are angry and hags. I think that we have to keep talking about these things and sharing these stories on every level because it helps young women like myself coming in be prepared, rallies the parties base, so to speak. And its cathartic for those people who are fighting against that, who are in those positions especially on set where it isn’t as politically progressive as some other areas of the industry which clearly have a lot of work to do in and of themselves. Keep fighting the good fight. #thereelwomen #girlboss #women #womenoflight #picoftheday #photooftheday #women #female #love #film #television #TV #media #art #FilmEquality #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers #empoweringwomen #womenempower #betterhollywood #womendirect #girl #movies #movielover #create #me #happy #ladyboss #bosslady #girlgang http://ow.ly/i/hVq3B

What is a successful moment in your career so far? If you are measuring things in the typical Hollywood promotion ladder, probably the point when I got promoted to a coordinator position at CAA and then gave it up in exchange of interviewing to go into kids entertainment. It was actually the same day I was offered an interview at Disney, I was offered the promotion at CAA and I told them that I was interviewing outside the company. I ended up taking the coordinator position on a temporary basis just to fill the job until they could find someone else to come in. I got the promotion and did the job for as long as was needed and then went on to pursue where I really felt I would fit in the industry and progress further because I probably wasn’t going to make a very good agent. #thereelwomen #girlboss #women #womenoflight #picoftheday #photooftheday #women #female #love #film #television #TV #media #art #FilmEquality #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers #empoweringwomen #womenempower #betterhollywood #womendirect #girl #movies #movielover #create #me #happy #ladyboss #bosslady #girlgang http://ow.ly/i/hVq2x

What is your biggest concern with the future? Definitely that ticking clock for motherhood. I’d say that that is the central pivot on all my plans. I very much want to have kids and have a family. If I’m going to have my own kids, we are built in a certain way and that is just the way it is. It definitely puts a pin on anybody’s calendar who wants that for themselves. So all of those plans are shifting around the assumption I’ll be in a place economically and at a place in my relationship where I can raise kids in a stable environment. #thereelwomen #girlboss #women #womenoflight #picoftheday #photooftheday #women #female #love #film #television #TV #media #art #FilmEquality #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers #empoweringwomen #womenempower #betterhollywood #womendirect #girl #movies #movielover #create #me #happy #ladyboss #bosslady #girlgang http://ow.ly/i/hVq1L

What’s a defining moment in your life? There are so many moments you could point to that have defined me in this way or defined me in that way. Maybe it’s the moment I gave Alan a chance in my life because I had been very, very career focused up until that point. I had no intention of ever marrying. I had this bizarre notion that eventually I’d get to a place in my career where I could adopt a kid as a single parent which is a terrible idea in retrospect. Absolutely terrible. And I thank Alan everyday for making me realize that is isn’t like raising a dog. Definitely the moment where I decided that as much as I want to be a trailblazing career woman, having a full life also means sharing it with someone else and learning to make that sacrifice has definitely helped me grow as a more full, grounded person. And has also made me stronger and more aggressive in my work life too. I definitely have more self-confidence having someone to back me up and validate me when I go home and cry alone after a tough day especially when I was working at CAA. #thereelwomen #girlboss #women #womenoflight #picoftheday #photooftheday #women #female #love #film #television #TV #media #art #FilmEquality #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers #empoweringwomen #womenempower #betterhollywood #womendirect #girl #movies #movielover #create #me #happy #ladyboss #bosslady #girlgang http://ow.ly/i/hVq0R

Why did you decide to get into this industry? Going way, way, way, way back to when I was a little girl, I told my parents I wanted to be a paleontologist. I was told a paleontologist needed to know a lot of math. My grades in math were not very good. So, I told my parents, “I want to be an actress!” And my parents said, “no, absolutely not. You will end up waiting tables. Do you want to wait tables?” I said, “no, I don’t want to wait tables. I will be a broadcast journalist and millions of people across the United States will see my face before they go to bed.” That was all well and good until I started pursuing journalism and realized I didn’t want to be put in a position where people were calling me up after the broadcast and telling me I should have worn a pink sweater, or, you need to cut your hair by two inches. It really wasn’t me. And, furthermore, working in local journalism wasn’t quite the Woodward and Bernstein investigative experience I thought it would be. I decided to go back to school and go to Chapman University to study Documentary filmmaking. But there wasn’t a graduate program for Documentary so I ended up in cinematography. And through the course of that I realized that I really wasn’t as passionate about documentary filmmaking as I had been at one point in my life. Really what I was watching were narrative films. So, it’s really been an ongoing evolution of what has led me to this place and pursuing what it is that I like to do with my free time and what I can do to get paid for it. #thereelwomen #girlboss #women #womenoflight #picoftheday #photooftheday #women #female #love #film #television #TV #media #art #FilmEquality #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers #empoweringwomen #womenempower #betterhollywood #womendirect #girl #movies #movielover #create #me #happy #ladyboss #bosslady #girlgang http://ow.ly/i/hVpZJ