Warning, Anxiety Levels Dangerously High: Strikes & Podcasts
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Warning, Anxiety Levels Dangerously High: Strikes & Podcasts
Sometimes you have to take a beat to recover from some particularly impactful events.
Good gods, these past few weeks have been crazy. I know I’m not the only one whose body’s riddled with tension and anxiety working in the film industry right now. The second strike was called last week - SAG-AFTRA is now striking alongside the WGA.
Even though I am not an actor and my film is a fully indie production, these strikes impact me too. I was up all morning on Thursday July 13th (I’m currently in Europe, 9 hours ahead of LA at the moment), anxiously refreshing Deadline and my social media feeds to find out whether or not the strike was happening. I could feel everyone’s collective tension all the way over here.
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This is Manon de Reeper’s newsletter about her journey towards making her first feature film, wading through the messy Hollywood waters and trying to make sense of it all. It’s probably interesting to other screenwriters, directors and producers who’ve embarked on the same journey.
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The strike was eventually called, and immediately, we went from “what’s happening” to “it’s happening”, and it was a relief in a way because the weeks prior everyone was holding their breath and avoided making any significant decisions. Yet, now that the strike’s here, it’s taking some time to figure out SAG’s strike rules and how to get approved for the interim agreement.
Meanwhile, working with Women of Color Unite, we also dropped a hugely significant and impactful podcast episode. A WOCU member and actress, Roanna Renee, finally shared with the world her story of sexual battery that she experienced at the hands of the (now former) VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion over at Sony, last year. Our team’s been working with Roanna for almost a year now (it happened in September of 2022) and it’s been a Journey, to say the least.
I’m relieved the story is finally out there, and I can only imagine how Roanna feels. I know few women who are so determined and brave, to make sure that this man can never do this to another woman ever again.
The implications of a DEI exec doing this to a Black woman though. We recorded a second episode with our Head of Education and our advisor on all things DEI: Dr. Akosua Lesesne. She doesn’t work in the film industry, and her knowledge is based on history and academic study rather than HR - and her astute observations about DEI in Hollywood were pretty condemning.
I seriously urge anyone who is reading this newsletter to listen to these podcasts, and deepen their understanding of how little the studios care about their most vulnerable workers, and where we are in our battle for more inclusion.
Listen to “Black Women Reclaiming #MeToo: Roanna Renee’s Story” here
Listen to “Reclaiming #MeToo: The Inclusion Illusion” with Dr. Akosua Lesesne here
I’ll admit, the anxiety levels have been high. I’ll admit, I’ve been avoiding social media. I’ll admit, I’ve been neglecting my newsletter a bit. But sometimes you gotta know when it’s important to focus inwardly and do some meditative work to lower the cortisol levels a bit - so that’s what I’m doing.
In better news: I have taken this time to work on my short film I shot in New York City while I was there in Q1 of 2023 - and I have finished editing and color grading - it’s done! I’m so proud of the final result, and I hope to be able to share it, soon.
Things I enjoyed this week
TV: I’m a Virgo so much yes
Game: Frostpunk
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This newsletter is written by Manon de Reeper.
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