She Does

Linda Pan’s parents moved from China to Saskatoon, Canada--making Linda a first-generation citizen. They persuaded Linda to follow a path similar to theirs: electrical engineering. So she did. After two engineering degrees and a handful of hard family conversations, Linda talks about how she transitioned from electrical engineering to media business, attended Harvard Business School and climbed the ladder at MRC and Netflix. Today, Linda is the general manager of SundanceNow Doc Club and Vice President of Business Development at AMC Networks. Similar to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, Sundance Now Doc Club offers a place for both longtime documentary lovers and those new to the genre, to stream classics and new releases. Learn how Linda, your video clerk on the Internet, curates and stocks the shelves and makes the business decisions behind what the new streaming service offers. Our featured MusicMaker this week is the talented Casey Dienel, of White Hinterland. At the end of the show, stick around to hear about Casey’s journey touring around the world as a singer/songwriter. SHE DOES podcast, hosted by Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg, showcases conversations with women making their mark in media. Going beyond their current career status, we explore each woman's past to understand how their personality, background and philosophy informs their work.

Hanna Polak, a Polish director and producer, has the stamina and guts that most filmmakers would envy. And now audiences at film festivals around the world are experiencing her dedication through “Something Better To Come,” a documentary that Hanna shot over the span of 14 years. The documentary follows the lives of Russians living in a massive garbage dump, located 12 miles from the center of Moscow. Hanna filmed many people living in the garbage dump, but one person in particular stood out: a young girl named Yula. We watch Yula grow up on-screen, experimenting with hair dye and makeup, foraging for food and shelter, as well as witnessing some firsts: trying her chances with alcohol, cigarettes and young love. Hanna previously directed the short film, “The Children of Leningradsky,” which explores the lives of homeless children living in Moscow train stations. The film received an Oscar nomination, an International Documentary Association Award for Best Documentary, two Emmy nominations, and the Gracie Allen Award, given by Women in Radio and Television. But there are many moments when Hanna puts down her camera and serves as an activist. In 1997, as part of her work in Russia, she founded and later collaborated with Active Child Aid to help support the children of Russia and in 2006 she was awarded the prestigious Golden Heart Award. Hanna shares the challenges of shooting and editing a film for 14 years, as well as a special memory with documentary pioneer, Ricky Leacock. Doc fans: this episode is not to be missed. Also, our featured musicmaker this week is Taryn Blake Miller from Your Friend. SHE DOES podcast, hosted by Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg, showcases conversations with women making their mark in media. Going beyond their current career status, we explore each woman's past to understand how their personality, background and philosophy informs their work. Writers, producers, directors, technologists, designers, cinematographers, musicians and journalists share their knowledge and personal stories.

Ingrid Kopp has been exploring the highest peaks and lowest valleys of independent film for the past 15 years and for the past 6 years has been island hopping to discover intersections between storytelling, social media and technology. As the Director of Interactive at the Tribeca Film Institute, Ingrid supports interactive and cross-platform projects through the TFI New Media Fund and TAA Interactive Prototype Fund. She is the creator of Tribeca Hacks, TFI Interactive and the curator of Storyscapes at the Tribeca Film Festival. All of these spaces invite story, tech and design into the same room to foster conversations and collaborations. In this episode of She Does, Ingrid talks about growing up in South Africa during apartheid, the balance between offline and online communities, lack of diversity in technology and curation, and her dreams to write a book and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro--at the same time. SHE DOES podcast, hosted by Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg, showcases conversations with women making their mark in media. Going beyond their current career status, we explore each woman's past to understand how their personality, background and philosophy informs their work. Writers, producers, directors, technologists, designers, cinematographers, musicians and journalists share their knowledge and personal stories.

Lina Srivastava is an impact strategist who combines media, technology, art and storytelling for social transformation. She has assisted filmmakers (“Born Into Brothels,” “Inocente,” “Who is Dayani Cristal”) in positioning their media to have meaningful impact. She also provides design consultation to social impact organizations, including UNESCO, the World Bank and UNICEF. She practiced law for four years, before transitioning to the social impact field. She shares how she has helped filmmakers create impact campaigns to make real change, including providing clean water for a community in Honduras. Whether you are plugged into the impact metrics conversation, or feel alienated by it, this episode is for you. Lina breaks down how to catalyze and amplify social impact through creative media and warns of pitfalls she sees in the industry, shattering unrealistic expectations and pressure put on filmmakers to make change. SHE DOES podcast, hosted by Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg, showcases conversations with women making their mark in media. Going beyond their current career status, we explore each woman's past to understand how their personality, background and philosophy informs their work. Writers, producers, directors, technologists, designers, cinematographers, musicians and journalists share their knowledge and personal stories.

Kara Oehler is a radio documentary maker, media artist and co-founder and editor-in-chief of GoPop. GoPop--an app that allows users to communicate with GIFs, photos and videos--was recently acquired by BuzzFeed. Her Peabody award-winning radio work has aired on shows like RadioLab, Marketplace and Morning Edition and her interactive storytelling projects have been exhibited at MoMA and SFMoMA. She is also the co-founder of the interactive platform Zeega, the UnionDocs Collaborative Studio, metaLAB at Harvard, and Mapping Main Street. Previously, Kara was a Film Study Center Fellow at Harvard's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and a Rockefeller Fellow with United States Artists. We talked with her about her early influences, growing up in the woods of Indiana, living out of her car to document America, and being a female in the tech and startup world. SHE DOES PODCAST, hosted by Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg, is a bi-weekly showcase of creative women making their mark in media. Going beyond their current career status, we explore each woman’s past to understand how their personality, background and philosophy informs their work. Female writers, producers, directors, technologists, designers, cinematographers, musicians and journalists share their knowledge and personal stories.

Debra Granik is the Academy-award nominated director and writer of Winter’s Bone, which features a young Jennifer Lawrence in a gripping story set in the Ozarks. Winter's Bone won several awards including the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Film at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. It also received four 2011 Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor. Previously, she wrote and directed Down to the Bone, starring Vera Farmiga. Her narrative work is heavily influenced by real life and real people. So it makes sense that recently Debra has found herself exploring the non-fiction world. She recently released Stray Dog, a contemplative portrait of Ron 'Stray Dog' Hall: biker, Vietnam Vet, and lover of small dogs. It has screened over 60 times around the world and was nominated for a 2015 Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary. In this episode, Debra talks about learning her craft from politically-active women in the 1970s, being inspired by real life, where ideas come from, how stories take seed, and the ins and outs of her many productions. Granik reflects on her past, present, and the future of the industry. SHE DOES PODCAST, hosted by Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg, is a bi-weekly show featuring creative women. We hold live discussions with each of guests, one week after each show releases, where you get to ask your questions.

Anna Sale is the creator, host and managing editor of WNYC’s podcast, Death, Sex & Money, a biweekly show featuring intimate interviews with both celebrities and commoners alike, that has risen to the top of the iTunes charts. She’s a public media veteran who covered the 2012 presidential campaign and has contributed to This American Life, NPR, Marketplace, Studio 360, PBS Newshour, and Slate. In this episode, Anna talks about her West Virginian (or Appalachian) roots, being a self-proclaimed “honorable detector of snobs”, coming into journalism as an activist, landing her first job, coping with divorce, the art of the interview and the challenge of telling stories that aren’t often featured on the front page. You’re in for a real treat. Anna has a special gift, a voice made to be heard. You can hear the smile in her voice. SHE DOES PODCAST, hosted by Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg, is a bi-weekly show featuring creative women. We hold live discussions with each of guests, one week after each show releases, where you get to ask your questions.

Lyric Cabral is a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker based in the Bronx. She, along with her co-director David Felix Sutcliffe, premiered her feature-length film (T)ERROR at Sundance this year in the US Documentary category. They were awarded the 2015 Sundance Special Jury Prize for Break Out First Feature. (T)ERROR is billed as “the first film to document on camera a covert counterterrorism sting,” but the documentary has been in the works for over a decade. Lyric came across the film’s subject, an FBI informant, when she was only 19, but knew she was too young to tackle the story then. Lyric talks about the uncomfortable situations she’s found herself in as a photojournalist, being inspired by Gordon Parks, spending over a decade covering national security issues, and returning to a story 12 years after discovering it. SHE DOES PODCAST, hosted by Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg, is a bi-weekly show featuring creative women. We hold live discussions with each of guests, one week after each show releases, where you get to ask your questions.

Katja Blichfeld is the brains behind Vimeo’s popular new web series “High Maintenance," which features New Yorkers in all their strange glory. Katja and her husband write, direct and produce the show and they recently were awarded a 2015 Writers Guild Award for their episode "Rachel." But Katja's first love was casting. In 2014, she won an Emmy for her casting on 30 Rock. But success didn't happen overnight for Katja. In this interview, she shares the ups and downs--and all the delightful moments in between--of her journey.

Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg introduce their new podcast, which launches on January 14th, 2015. Listen to soundbites from the first episodes of the series.