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

This is an episode where I was hired as an ASL Instructor for most of the lines in the show, particularly the Gorilla and Luther’s interaction with him. Enjoy the clip.

I was the line producer for this film. 

directed & produced this film. enjoy.

I was the assistant director and assistant producer of this production, “gallaudet.”

I helped produce and was the first assistant director of this production.

They asked me to act in a quick short comedy with my good friend and colleague, Lexi Marman.

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

directed & produced this.

http://www.damname.com/raw

i directed & shot it myself.

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