Break the Frame: The Companion Podcast

How do you wrap up a series featuring amazing women doing amazing work?  Easy:  by featuring another amazing woman who is doing amazing work.   When not in her role as Chief Content Officer for Salon, my friend Erin Keane writes books ( Runaway: Notes on the Myths That Made Me, Death-Defying Acts, The Gravity Soundtrack , and more), pours a good drink or two, and loves loves loves movies. I though...

For over four decades, Chris Hegedus has shaped the documentary landscape with her empathetic approach and compelling narratives. She first rose to prominence co-directing The War Room (1993) with D.A. Pennebaker, which earned the duo an Academy Award nomination. In films like Startup.com, Kings of Pastry, and Unlocking the Cage, she provides intimate, behind-the-scenes portraits of politics, cult...

"Want to trade confessions?" I'll admit that I've seen A Simple Favour more than a dozen times. When I shared this confession with the screenwriter, Jessica Sharzer, she told me that people still come up to her on a regular basis quoting lines from this very quotable movie.  Jessica is also the director of the 2004 film Speak, which was the first role for a little known actress named Kristin Stewa...

When you create a style of storytelling that merges your life with fiction, you need to give it a name. What better name to describe the works of filmmaker, scholar, and trailblazer in Black queer cinema than the  Dunyementary? Cheryl Dunye first burst onto the scene with her groundbreaking 1996 debut feature The Watermelon Woman , becoming the first openly out Black lesbian to direct a narrative...

Directing in a team with Oakland-born  Ryan Fleck, Boston Anna Boden  has taken us into the centre of a addict's pain to the far reaches of space. And while a Boden Fleck joint is often about characters failing to overcome their limitations, their movies do not revel in despair but look with great tenderness into the eyes of the despairing. Their time and concern for how a character tries, fails a...

Known for her powerful, character-driven storytelling and focus on marginalized communities, Debra Granik gained widespread recognition for the critical and box office hit Winter's Bone (2010), which launched Jennifer Lawrence's career and earned four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Her distinct style of storytelling and an empathetic lens results in...

Who says a director should only direct just films or just television? Tamra Davis has shown that you can have a multifaceted career that includes music videos, feature films, television, and documentaries. Her unique visual style and collaborative approach has resulted in genre-defining music videos for Hanson, Tone Loc and NWA as well as career defining roles for Adam Sandler, Britney Spears and...

In a world where women of a certain age or of a certain shade are often overlooked, F elicia Pride tells stories that center Black women and their nuanced experiences. The acclaimed writer, director, and producer who initially started out as a journalist made the switch to screenwriting in her mid-30s. Pride contributed to such hit television series as Queen Sugar, Grey's Anatomy , and most recent...

The stand out monologue by America Ferrara in 2023's Barbie  may not have happened if it weren't for the trailblazing director Patircia Cardoso, who first cast Ferrera in her in her debut feature, Real Women Have Curves (2002). Cardoso who set out to become a anthropologist became the first Latinx director to win the Sundance Audience Award, and to have a film inducted into the National Film Regis...

Known for her sharp, satirical storytelling and commitment to LGBTQ+ representation, Jamie Babbit's career has been shaped by her own life experiences. In this episode we dive deeper into the film that made both her and its star, Natasha Lyonne famous. But I'm A Cheerleader is Babbit's debut and centers around a high school cheerleader whose parents send her to a residential in-patient conversion...