Kiss My Grits: The HERstory of Women in Punk & Hard Rock
Directed by: Jacqueline Lesko & Bethany Ward-Lawe
Edited by: Chris Nicholas
Stevie Nicks, Debbie Harry, Diana Ross, Patti Smith, Patsy Cline, Courtney Love, Queen Latifah, Yoko Ono, Donna Summer, and all the women behind the scenes who have a name - you just haven't heard of them...
These women, among others, are the motivation behind our series of seven films documenting women's roles in all aspects of music. These are the women that influenced and inspired us to ditch our vacuums embrace our short nails and not give a damn about our runny mascara. They made it okay to sweat, scream, and be angry. They gave us songs to revel in - to celebrate our drunken brawls and one night stands. And even gave us permission to care, fall head over heels and love with tenderness.
The Women in Music series will consist of the following: Women in the Music Industry, Country, Hip Hop, Spoken Word/Performance Art, Soul and R&B, Pop and Disco, and Jazz. We are currently in production with Kiss My Grits: The HERstory of Women in Punk & Hard Rock. Unlike recent entertaining programs that have placed the history book in front of us, we will take it a few steps further, open that book, look in and examine. Each installment will explore women - past and present, leaders and groundbreakers. Utilizing traditional means of distribution such as cable and theatrical release, we will educate the general public. Furthermore, we will be taking this series to all-girl schools, women's community centers, and music and art programs while making it a point to be accessible to all-boy schools. The material will be presented in candid interviews, live performances and stock footage of women's roles used in visual popular culture. This is the perfect time for exploration because these groundbreakers and leaders are still here, rockin' and ready to tell their stories.
We have seen programs that have reminded us of our seventh grade history books. No matter how sympathetic, how understanding, or how appreciative a male author may be, he cannot have an appropriate take on the female experience. We felt cheated by these programs and left with more questions. Now, we realize political and social dynamics would not allow for a woman's experience to be truly examined when the questions asked were from a male perspective.
We are at a point in society that the people discounted by history (such as women) have an opportunity to write their own versions. People are ready to learn. Young minds are very hungry for information; they are searching for something, anything to identify with that is NOT their parents. This is the perfect time to introduce the history of women in music. This will be accomplished by presenting the series to schools; seventh grade, eighth grade; the adolescence years of chaos are the ages we need to inform. We will make sure this history is not only presented in a manner that is empowering to young girls, but will be exciting to young boys as well. We cannot change the stoic and static state of affairs without everyone's participation.
Edited by: Chris Nicholas
Stevie Nicks, Debbie Harry, Diana Ross, Patti Smith, Patsy Cline, Courtney Love, Queen Latifah, Yoko Ono, Donna Summer, and all the women behind the scenes who have a name - you just haven't heard of them...
These women, among others, are the motivation behind our series of seven films documenting women's roles in all aspects of music. These are the women that influenced and inspired us to ditch our vacuums embrace our short nails and not give a damn about our runny mascara. They made it okay to sweat, scream, and be angry. They gave us songs to revel in - to celebrate our drunken brawls and one night stands. And even gave us permission to care, fall head over heels and love with tenderness.
The Women in Music series will consist of the following: Women in the Music Industry, Country, Hip Hop, Spoken Word/Performance Art, Soul and R&B, Pop and Disco, and Jazz. We are currently in production with Kiss My Grits: The HERstory of Women in Punk & Hard Rock. Unlike recent entertaining programs that have placed the history book in front of us, we will take it a few steps further, open that book, look in and examine. Each installment will explore women - past and present, leaders and groundbreakers. Utilizing traditional means of distribution such as cable and theatrical release, we will educate the general public. Furthermore, we will be taking this series to all-girl schools, women's community centers, and music and art programs while making it a point to be accessible to all-boy schools. The material will be presented in candid interviews, live performances and stock footage of women's roles used in visual popular culture. This is the perfect time for exploration because these groundbreakers and leaders are still here, rockin' and ready to tell their stories.
We have seen programs that have reminded us of our seventh grade history books. No matter how sympathetic, how understanding, or how appreciative a male author may be, he cannot have an appropriate take on the female experience. We felt cheated by these programs and left with more questions. Now, we realize political and social dynamics would not allow for a woman's experience to be truly examined when the questions asked were from a male perspective.
We are at a point in society that the people discounted by history (such as women) have an opportunity to write their own versions. People are ready to learn. Young minds are very hungry for information; they are searching for something, anything to identify with that is NOT their parents. This is the perfect time to introduce the history of women in music. This will be accomplished by presenting the series to schools; seventh grade, eighth grade; the adolescence years of chaos are the ages we need to inform. We will make sure this history is not only presented in a manner that is empowering to young girls, but will be exciting to young boys as well. We cannot change the stoic and static state of affairs without everyone's participation.