Athena Film Festival Call for Entries

Happy first day of Summer, everyone!! Today I'd like to talk about another great film festival for Women: the Athena Film Festival. What makes this festival unique is the fact that only films about women in leadership are accepted. Take a look at this video below and the blurb from their website. The deadline for submission is September 15^th!

A Celebration of Women and Leadership

Heading toward its fourth year, the Athena Film Festival -- a celebration of women and leadership -- is an engaging weekend of feature films, documentaries and shorts that highlight women’s leadership in real life and the fictional world. The four-day festival, which includes conversations with directors and Hollywood stars and workshops for filmmakers, has quickly established itself as one of the most prestigious festivals of its kind. The festival will be held Feb. 6 - 9, 2014 in the heart of New York -- at Barnard, the most sought-after women’s college in the nation.

http://athenafilmfestival.com/

https://twitter.com/athenafilmfest

https://www.facebook.com/athenafilmfestival

https://twitter.com/athenafilmfest

*Do you have a helpful resource you’d like to promote? Do you know about a great resource to share with the Broads? Contact me to be a part of helpful resource Friday.

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Hey Fellow Writers...Extend Your Life With A Treadmill Desk!

I'm writing this blog while walking on my treadmill desk -- the newest trend in office accessories, or should I say office necessities. At a speed of one mile per hour, I comfortably stroll and write and, according to Dr. James Levine,  extend my life.  I've had my treadmill desk for less than a week and so far I love it.  An article in the May issue of The New Yorker called "The Walking Alive", inspired me to get one after reading some alarming statistics about the health hazards of sitting at a desk. As a writer, I easily sit six hours or more a day often ignoring the aches and pains that my body sends as cries that it's had enough. "Shut up, you wimpy, whiny body! I must keep writing and finish this scene!" Does this sound familiar to any of you? I know I'm not the only one into this type of self torture.  And then after a long day of writing, what do I do? Relax in front of the TV. Who's with me on this? And even on those nights when my body protests at being forced to sit on the couch in front of the TV,  I still do it because, as an entertainment writer, I consider it "research", right? I've got to keep up with the current shows so I know what's out there. It's work! So what does all this sitting amount to?  Well, there's the obvious back aches and weight gain, but there's even more going on under the surface.  Dr. Levine has discovered some frightening facts about sitting that I want to share so that you know what's really going on when you sit at your desk innocently tippy-tapping out your scripts.

Sitting a lot, even if you're in good shape, is bad. Even if you go to the gym 3 times a week, you might feel fit, but you won't be metabolically healthy. According to Levine, "Sitting puts muscles into a sort of hibernation, cutting off their electrical activity and shutting down the production of lipoprotein lipase -- the enzyme that breaks down fat molecules in the blood. Your metabolic rate drops to about one calorie a minute -- just slightly higher than if you were dead."  Pause to let this sink in.... Okay. Moving on.

Even sitting for two hours a day is harmful. Sitting for more than two hours a day (hello, that's 2 dramas a night) causes the presence of good cholesterol to drop and, in time, insulin effectiveness plummets. This can lead to cardiovascular problems, certain kinds of cancer, depression, deep-vein thrombosis and type-2 diabetes.  (gulp)

A one-hour hard workout a day won't cut it.  Contrary to popular belief, going to the gym once a day for a hard one-hour work out may not cancel out the damage done by sitting for six hours. (Well, I wasn't even doing that much activity)

For women, sitting is especially unhealthy. While studies show that men who sit for six or more hours a day have an over-all death rate  20% higher than men who sit for three hours or less a day, women have it worse. (of course) Studies show that women who sit for more than six hours a day die at a rate that's 40% higher than that of women who move more. This is the statistic that got me to run out and get my treadmill desk. 

The answer is walking. It's been tested and shown that walking can reduce the risk of cardiovascular events by 31% and the risk of dying by 32%.  

The Treadmill Desk.  No need to spend thousands on a new treadmill desk - you can make your own! I found a cheap treadmill on Craigslist last Thursday, my husband rigged up the "desk" part on Friday and by Friday evening I was emailing all my friends, bragging that I was writing them while exercising. If you decide to go for it and DYI a treadmill desk, here's what to look for in a treadmill:

- 2.0 horsepower motor minimum - most treadmills are built for one-hour workouts at higher speed as opposed to 6-hour continuous use at a low speed. So this size motor is recommended.
- 18 inch wide belt - You're going to be working so a wider belt is recommended so that you don't step off the side. 
- Speeds of 1mph and lower - Setting the treadmill at .8 mph is recommended for work.  I set mine at 1 mph and that feels comfortable. You just want to make sure that you have slow options. 

Before getting my treadmill desk, I really didn't have enough hours in the day to do my work, my daily chores, AND exercise. Now I work and exercise at the same time! Who doesn't love multitasking?! Fellow treadmill deskers -- I'll call them "treaders" -- claim that they have more energy and more focus while working. It's too early for me to make those claims, but maybe I'll check back in a few months and tell you how it's been -- hopefully 5 pounds lighter!  My next goal -- get my dogs on it with me!

Oh, BTW, while writing this blog, I just walked 2 miles and burned 204 calories!! Yay!

TED TUESDAY - The Clues to a Great Story

Takeaway idea: A story starts with a promise that tells you it will be worth your time.

Top 10 Reasons the Lack of Women in Film isn't All Bad

I don't think the lack of women in film is necessarily a bad thing. (Oooh! Them's fightin' words!) Just hear... er, read...me out. Here are the Top 10 Reasons the Lack of Women in Film isn't All Bad:

10) Being a minority allows us to have fun "just for us" things like the Broad Humor Film Festival!

9) This blog exists. That gives me something to do every Monday.

8) If there were tons of women in the industry, there would be no reason for diversity programs to help women break in.

Mumbai Women’s International Film Festival Call For Entry

One of my favorite things to do is to keep track of Women’s Film Festivals around the world. 

This one just announced their call for entries. Take a moment to check them out and send in your films.

www.mwiff.com

https://twitter.com/mwiff2013

https://www.facebook.com/mwiff

*Do you have a helpful resource you’d like to promote? Do you know about a great resource to share with the Broads? Contact me to be a part of helpful resource Friday.

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Free 5-Day Professional Development Intensive for NYC Artists

 Do you live in NYC?  Then get your name on the list.  You might get picked by the lottery to be part of this great professional development intensive. 

I, for one, think lotteries are the best way to select artists for all sorts of programs.  Once you rise to the general level of requirements, it becomes personal taste and not artistry that makes the last cut.  In the "personal taste" realm also lives the -isms - you know - sexism, racism, cultural imperialism.  Anyway details below the fold or just go to the website:  NYC Artists Professional Development Program

QUEUE THIS!

For those of us in Los Angeles, this week sees the start of the LA Film Festival, and I'm really excited about it.  As many of you know, I was on the fest circuit with my itty bitty short film, The Director, in 2011-12 and it was a wonderful experience.  When things slowed down, however, I really started missing all that's great about film festivals-- meeting other filmmakers, seeing new films, being inspired by the creative energy swirling about, etc.  So, I decided to get a pass for this year's LA Film Fest to kinda-sorta pretend that I'm back on the circuit (don't worry, I'm not going to lie to people and say I'm a festival filmmaker, I'm only going to lie to myself a little bit).  So, if you see me around the fest, please say hello!  My favorite part is connecting with other filmmakers.  And if you're a woman director, I just might snap a picture of you to share with @TheDirectorList twitter followers (you'll have photo approval, of course). Don't be shy!

Good lord, there are a lot of great films by women at this year's festival.  To help you get to know a few of the women behind those films, I've put together a Netflix viewing list that includes some of their other film work. By the way, I love how easy the LA Film Fest makes it to find women directed films- just go to the film guide, click the Genre drop-down menu and pick Women Directors.  I wish every fest made it so easy (as well as Netflix, for that matter)!  It's too bad they don't include the short filmmakers, but it's a great start.

I'll be honest, there are a few filmmakers here I didn't know had other films, so working on this week's post led me to some nice discoveries.  I hope there are some discoveries for you, too.  Let's QUEUE THIS!

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (dir Tamar Halpern, 2011)  Netflix says: "Just before his 13th birthday, Jeremy Fink receives a mysterious box that needs four keys to be opened and promises to reveal the meaning of life. Aided by his feisty best friend, Lizzy, Jeremy goes on an extraordinary quest to open his treasure."