am a proud director of this precious gem! enjoy. it’s 12 minutes of your viewing pleasure. (hopefully.)

i think this film is one of my best works but only because i had a major team, and was able to pull it off. it’s a musical, so naturally it’s daunting, and it has to be done carefully with each step of the way. i still learned extremely from it. it was crazy how much work it took to do a musical. it’s not because i was deaf… i don’t feel like that was an issue at all, but it was more likely just because it’s a musical. it requires more planning and careful thinking in terms of singing, blocking, dancing, and so on. the crew i worked with was amazing. no one gave less than 100% for this film.

i also discovered my feminism on that set. i know it sounds nuts, but i really was internally sexist without realizing it. after i had seen so much empowerment occur on set, i was just thrilled. i loved working with sherri kauk as the gaffer, catherine mackinnon as the producer, chantal deguire as the 1st A.C., marjorie alexander as a grip, amazon beard as the key grip. was a supercool experience working with them all.

go see the short film online.  http://www.damname.com/gsfm

http://www.damname.com/raw

there was an hour long presentation at the premiere emphasizing how important gallaudet was to the world in terms of using american sign language, amongst other things that we could be advanced in.  ben bahan, melissa malzkuhn, laurene simms, ryan commerson, dirksen bauman, hansel bauman was among those who were involved in this presentation to an audience of 150 people at the Atlas Theatre on H street, only blocks away from Gallaudet University.  It was indeed a night of truths to remember-- something that we, the deaf and hard of community, must never forget, and completely give it full recognition.

the point for the film to be shown was to raise the bar, and wake us all up. we must recognize that we are indeed important people of the world, not just a group of people who need help and support and be left in isolation together.  no.  indeed not.  this is the new frame of thinking: we are hot and awesome. 

A college writing professor, Genevive, frantically tries to finish her dissertation before the deadline tonight. When a disgruntled student, Wanda, unhappy with her grade refuses to leave her office, Genevive is forced to cross boundaries with the student in order to finish on time.

BUDGET OF THE FILM (2-DAY PRODUCTION & 3 WEEK POST-PRODUCTION):

Items to create & design the office & classroom (i.e., books, papers, pencils, trash cans...) - $200
Food & drinks to feed the Actresses & Crew of 15 people for a 2-day shoot (12-hour work-days) - $200
Wardrobe for the Actresses - $50
Makeup & Hair for the Actresses - $150
Creating a great sound design for “Beyond Essays” in Post Production - $200
Camera & Lights to create a great look for the film - $550
Extra little expenses (papers, printing, photos, office for production) - $100
Photographer for documenting this important shooting event - $100
For letting us use the locations to shoot on - $200

Everyone else is volunteering their services & equipment for free to contribute to this important film. With your help, we will be able to get all of these things!

http://www.damname.com/Beyond_Essays/pitch_video.html

it’s exciting to me that bigelow won.  regardless of what people thought of the film (i thought it was an amazing film, although, perhaps it wasn’t quite too entertaining for the laymen out there) i still feel that it’s an excellent way for many of us to keep chugging forward with our stories to be told.

http://www.tinyurl.com/beyondessaysdonate

Also you can check out the Beyond Essays website and Facebook fan page.

We’ve got a ways to go, so with your help, in spreading the word and understanding what we’re trying to do, please do join us in this innovative short film in ASL!

now i feel much better about the dwif facebook fan page. 

here’s the link: http://www.facebook.com/julia.dameron?ref=mf#!/group.php?gid=48300989933&ref=ts

I was able to create a logo that was decent enough and I hope that it’s memorable enough for all to know.  We are deaf women in film, and please spread the word.  we need more members in order to support each other and create events. 

we deaf women in film need each other, wholeheartedly, i know this!

i was invited to act in something--and this is what it was!  it’s actually silly.  i did a bit of improvising there.

for the deaf people-- here’s what the hearing people said (thanks to dania douglas, a old friend of mine) NOTE:  This is a loose translation.

Girl 1 (on right red shirt & grey sweatshirt)
Girl 2 (in center white sweatshirt)
Girl 3 (on left black jacket & red scarf)… See More

:26 “Woah” (Girl 1)
:27 “Woah” (Girl 2)
:29 “What do you think you’re doing?” (Girl 1)
:30-35 “Don’t litter; It’s a public park guys” (Girl 1) (with a chorus of woah & hey in the background)
:36 “What is this?” (Girl 1)
:37 “Hasn’t Al Gore showed you anything?”
:41-:42 “What the eff--?” (Girls 2 & 3)
:43 “Hello? We’re talking to you” (Girl 1)
:52 “Has anyone seen the movie Wally?” (Girl 3)
:53 “You have to clean up after your planet earth.” (Girl1)
:58-1:00 “Hey, hey, hey girls” (All 3 girls)
1:02-1:03 “Two words Fern Gully, the last rain forest” (Girl 3)
1:03 “Hey, hey, hey you left your trash.” (Girl 1)
1:11-1:12 Indistinct murmurs of “Oh, oh, oh...ah, okay”
1:15 “Aaah have a good day” (Girl 1)
1:17 “Sorry, carry on."(Girl 3)
1:18 “Aah..we should probably go” (Girl 1)
1:20 “Call me...ah...no...” (Girl 3)
1:25-1:26 Camera turns away so you can’t tell who is speaking, but the girls say “Well, that made me feel good...now I feel like a good person...hmm.”

for the hearing people—here’s my LOOSE translation:

1:04 - “who are they?” (lexi - black top)
1:05 - “stop talking!” (jules - pink sweatshirt)
1:06 - “oh i see… okay...” (jules - pink sweatshirt)
1:07 - “okay, obviously they’re green party environmentalists.” (lexi - black top)
1:08 - “yes, obviously.” (jules - pink sweatshirt)
1:12 - “OKAY, VERY GOOD, SEE YOU LATER!” [to the 3 speaking girls] (jules - pink sweatshirt)

(indistinct conversation as lexi & jules walks up the hill).

turns out they posted something about the play i was in… my roles were maria gable and marilyn castaline.  good roles.  i had a bit of fun in it.  i had the opportunity to play a deaf person and use my voice-- and even SANG.  can you believe that??  i sucked as heck, too, but hey, i dismissed it as a character thing that my character was doing…

and these were based on real characters too. pretty awesome.  it was so exciting to be acting in an original piece written by a deaf author, no less.  his name is David Kurs, but I always call him DJ.  he’s a cool guy.  i’m sure anyone would agree with me about him.  he’s a great screenwriter, as well!

let me list my most common things that i whine about (that anyone who knows me will happily agree) --

1) women don’t get enough recognition or opportunities in the film industry.
2) deaf women don’t get enough recognition or opportunities to grow in the film industry.
3) i don’t see enough “deaf” films that are strictly as professional as your commonplace studio production, say… “Moulin Rouge” or “Knocked Up” or anything of the sort or that level.
4) i don’t see enough variety in roles for deaf people.  it’s always the same thing-- deaf people who can speak, can really read lips well, and the dialogue is so horrible that it ruins the potential for their natural american sign language.

there’s a lot more that i whine about (and i try to make it happen for myself, at least) but this is the basic gist list of it.

say, did you guys watch dollhouse or fringe on hulu lately?  it’s so awesome!

check it out. i directed and wrote it.  erik call shot and edited it.  starring abby walla, amber zion & introducing mango, the kitty.  original music by russell wiener.  Convo Relay is a great company. I wouldn’t have made a commercial for them otherwise. http://www.convorelay.com

what an experience! I’ve never wrangled cats before for a film, and trust me, it’s so much harder than it looks! LOL!

--jules