Role Models: Jan Chapman

There are a number of female producers out there whose careers I've followed and admired for some time: Kathleen Kennedy, Mary Jane Skalski, Christine Vachon to name just a few. Although the type and scale of projects these women produce differ, they all have one thing in common--their nationality. Rarely do I hear about the producing efforts of women in other countries, so it was great to see Aussie Jan Chapman spotlighted in the Huffington Post. Checking her out on imdb, it turns out her filmography includes some of the best indie films of the past decade (three of which were in collaboration with Jane Campion), including The Piano, Lantana, Bright Star, Holy Smoke and The Last Days of Chez Nous.  You can read all about her at the link below.  Who are some of your role models?

Jan Chapman:  The Woman Behind So Many Great Films

Lessons From Jane Campion

Thanks to Ted Hope's blog /Hammer to Nail I stumbled across Jane Campion's website for her excellent film Bright Star. This intimate and revealing website should be what filmmakers aspire to build for their films. Designed as a digital scrapbook, it's interactive, informative, and with a unique whimsical style that complements the film's style and subject. I spent an hour devouring everything from Jane's notes on her children's acting workshop (to cast for the role of Fanny Brawne's little sister) to DP Greig Fraser's breathtaking light studies (see photo below) to the art department's entry on how they decided to fold the love letters. What an excellent companion piece to the film and a great inspiration to young producers like myself looking for ideas as to how to creatively bring their films to life and connect with audiences on the web.

The Celluloid Ceiling: Thoughts From Five Women Who Broke Through

Excellent article from IndieWire about female directors. While I don't agree with all the points put forth by the panel (i.e. Finola Dwyer's comments about women and action films), they did confirm my point from my Women And Directing post about the female reaction to the burden of initial commercial success.

The Celluloid Ceiling: Thoughts From Five Women Who Broke Through