Moderator Madelyn Hammond, former Chief Marketing Officer for Variety, kicked off the “Creative Forces: Women in the Business (Women’s Panel)” at the Lobero Theatre with a few “inspirational” messages from an unlikely source: her cough drops. While Hammond tolerated “Flex your can-do muscle, ladies,” she was less accepting of “Inspire envy.”
“Inspire envy? said Hammond. “The hell? Some man did that one. No envy here today.” With that, Hammond began a lively, frank discussion with six women who have risen to positions of power in the entertainment industry: Directors Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone?) and Alison Eastwood (Battlecreek), producers Rosa Tran (Anomalisa), Susan Cartsonis (Storefront Pictures), and Shannon McIntosh (Hateful Eight), and cinematographer Svetlana Cvetko (The Architect). Hammond, a likable and capable moderator, touched on issues that were specific to powerful women in show business and dedicated time to discuss the careers of each panel member.
Academy-Award nominated documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus talked about her experience interviewing inmates for one of her early projects. Garbus was okay with interviewing murderers, but balked at interviewing inmates who were serving time for rape. As an artist, Garbus pushed herself to “relate and find humanity, even there.” “This person has been judged,” said Garbus. “[My] fear wasn’t the story. His story is the story.”