Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
Friends! Good things are afoot. If you live in the Twin Cities or plan to be visiting in the near future, please do me a solid and go check out my film while it’s screening at the Walker Art Center!
Tidal Wave Girls is a project I completed in 2013 and was lucky enough to see it featured on The Huffington Post and Jezebel. Now, it’s playing as part of a showcase at our wonderful modern art museum. It will be playing now through February 27th. You can check out showtimes and read about the other films playing as part of the showcase here.
If you can’t make it to the museum, but want to see it on your television screen, you are also in luck. The film will be playing January 19th at 9 PM on TPT MN Channel 2. Rebroadcast times can be found here.
And of course, you can just watch the darned thing by clicking play above. But you know… it’s still exciting to see it in a theater or on your telly.
I often feel I have to explain my existence as an internet filmmaker. Most people don’t get it. And then when you tell them it’s your job - well, it gets very, very confusing.
So let’s bust a couple myths: most of us don’t do feature length films. Sure, we would probably like to someday, but until then, we are all trying to reach millions in our own way. And yes there is a way to make a living from it. Most of the time, the film itself doesn’t make a ton. Maybe a couple hundred bucks off advertising within the player if you have 1 Million or more views. BUT, that doesn’t happen very often. For me, it’s how I attract clients who then hire me to make documentary shorts about their organization. And yes, it’s all legit. There are definitely a lot of people making internet videos for fun. BUT, there’s also just as many of us making internet videos for a living. That means we have to think about things like sound, good lighting and composition. We care about quality because we want people to see it.
Now that we’ve covered those bases, I’d like to introduce you to a couple people making truly incredible stuff who do all the things I just talked about:
Andy Martin
The Planets is an ongoing web series by Andy Martin that takes viewers to a new planet each month. In each episode we are introduce to a new landscape, new characters, distinct problems or challenges - and we’re also treated to deft animation and gorgeous character execution. There’s nothing about this series I don’t love. Each piece stands on its own as a film, but together, they bring a planetary experience that makes you wish these creatures were real. If you fall in love with a specific planet, you can even buy a print from Andy’s shop.
Leigh Lahav
Leigh is not a stranger around here. We featured here a few weeks back as one of the Lady Geeks of the Week, but since then, she has been absolutely churning out a regular hail storm of internet and geek culture critiques that are one point every. single. time. It’s truly impressive. If you are not a YouTube subscriber, you are really missing out.
Jonathan Ng
Jonathan doesn’t have a regular set of shorts coming out right now, but his pieces are beautiful and one in particular, Requiem for Romance, features some truly gorgeous visuals. The execution is superb and the music breathtaking. What else could you want? You can check out his Vimeo channel here.
In trying to make a list of just three people, I’m realizingthis is an area of focus I need to spend more time on. So if you like it, let me know and I’ll be sure to write more posts on the amazing internet films I discover while trolling the internet at all hours. I also recommend ShortoftheWeek.com. Bookmark it!
“Of all people, you know who I am…who the world needs me to be. I’m Wonder Woman.”
Growing up, when something went wrong, did you ever twirl through your living room (maybe tripping over a cat or two), in the hopes of turning into Wonder Woman to save the day? Did you don a Wonder Woman suit for Halloween and stick your tongue out at boys? Looking back, did Wonder Woman change your perspective on feminism or what it meant to be a girl?
Since her debut in the 1940s, Wonder Woman has both shaped and been shaped by society. This is the premise of Kristy Guevara-Flanagan’s documentary, “Wonder Women! The Untold story of American Superheroines.”
In the documentary, Guevara-Flanagan tracks the evolution and legacy of Wonder Woman, exploring how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society’s anxieties about women’s liberation. Go watch the documentary’s trailer and just try to tell me you’re not filled with feminist pride – ready to twirl around your living room again.
Need even more from Guevara-Flanagan? Check out Wonder City, the online companion game to “Wonder Women!”. It’s a cute, fun, “choose-your-own-adventure” type game that challenges the player to think critically about power and gender.
Now, “stop a bullet cold, make the Axis fold. Change their minds and change the world!” You can start by reading Guevara-Flanagan’s interview with Being Geek Chic!
Q: Where did you find your inspirations for the film?
A: I started researching Wonder Woman after reading an article about Gail Simone, Wonder Woman’s first female writer in 60 plus years! I started looking into the Wonder Woman’s origins, and learned about her creator, the Harvard-trained psychologist and inventor of the lie detector, William Moulton Marston. I actually hadn’t known much about Wonder Woman beyond the Lynda Carter incarnation on TV in the ’70s, but Marston and his early comics fascinated me. Marston wanted to create a hero in opposition to all those male superheroes who were out there. He also recognized the educational value of comics, and really felt women should be able to do anything a man could, but with more grace and diplomacy. And when I read those early comics, I really did find a very radical female hero… even by today’s standards.
Today’s a big day for me. Why? Because I’m premiering my newest film, Tidal Wave Girls. It’s a documentary short about the everyday feminist - the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, friends, teachers - who impart the lessons of life on their daughters and sons about real equality. When we set out to make this film, we thought the best people to tell us about women today and in the future are the young ladies who are about to become women and the young men they will work with, marry, befriend.
Watch Tidal Wave Girls now:
I am so excited to finally put this piece out into the world. It’s my firm belief that it’s those of us who don’t have fame and fortune that are changing the world. We are the ones who will define “women” in the next decade and century. But with this, we also have a responsibility to teach our young people what equality means. As the lovely Lachy points out, it’s important to teach young men the importance of women being intelligent and strong:
I asked him: “What kind of girl do you want to meet?”
He said: “A smart girl and a pretty girl.” A SMART girl, first.
It’s a testament to the women in his life. I bet they are a brilliant bunch.
I would be SO grateful and honored if you would share this short film with your family, friends, internet buddies and fellow bloggers. I made it for my mom, but I know there are millions of other moms that need to see it too.
Thanks, always, for your support. And thank you to the people that made this happen, in no particular order: Ann Aronson, Chris Gruszka, Jozef Conaway, Bill Magdalene, TJ Paulson, Allison O'Toole, Mollie Kjer, Vicki Bakk, Tish Watson and all the young ladies and gents who appeared in the piece and their families.
As many of you are aware, I have spent the better part of 18 months working on my first feature length documentary. Sometimes, when I’m feeling like I just need to laugh about it all, I say I could have had a baby in this time and it’s name is SKOL.
It may seem strange for the purveyor of a blog on geek chic-ness to direct and produce a documentary on sports fans, but in truth it was always a no-brainer. See, the amazing people that I feature in this film and I have one thing in common that I rarely share with other people:
An irrational passion.
I believe with every muscle tissue, blood cell and brain synapses inside of me that I was put on this earth to be a storyteller. They believe with every sounding of the gjallarhorn and glob of purple and gold paint that they were born to yell, SKOL. It’s a crazy kinship that I have relished in and appreciated more than I could have ever anticipated.
This project was anything but easy. I cried. I worried endlessly. I was rejected. I was told I was crazy. I lost a lot of sleep. I spent much of my life savings. I begged for money. (Successfully, I might add!) And yet, it was completely and totally worth it. And now it comes full circle. Holding the DVD case in my hand on Friday afternoon for the first time, I almost started laughing like a hyena. HOLY SHIT. I made this thing. And now I have to sell 1,000 of them. HOLY SHIT, again.
So here is where I tell you that for $10 you can get your hands on a copy of the DVD and support an independent filmmaker trying to make her dreams come true.
Beyond the totally daunting question of whether or not I can sell 994 more DVDs, comes the inevitable “what’s next?” that taunts me at night.
I can tell you this much. I’ve narrowed my next film down to three options, all decidedly more obvious topics for this lady nerd. One is Bob Dylan related. Another is about the resurgence of sewing and the last is loosely centered around the survival of public libraries. In the next month, I’ll be seriously researching each angle for viability and topic interest. I definitely have a front-runner, but hope all three could see the light of day somehow.
When a project this size comes full circle, you do have to say goodbye to it in a way. Sure, there will be a few more showings and DVD sales too, but the creative hunt that takes place when you are building something like this is a hugely life-changing endeavor. In my mind, the best way to say goodbye is to share my appreciation one last time for all the important people who made it happen. It would not have been possible without my family, friends, financial supporters, countless volunteers, the cast of characters that shared their life with me and the people who showed up to see the film. To all of these people, I owe a huge debt of gratitude. You have helped me change of my life. You have helped me realize my full potential. You have given me hope.
For that, I can never say Thank You enough.
