Filmmaking While Femme Roundtable Talk
This International Women's Day, join filmmakers Ashley O’Shay, Elena Valentine, Stephanie Jeter, and host Sarah Minnie as they discuss their journeys in the film industry, how they have thrived over the years, challenges they've overcome, and more on zoom. March 8th 6-7:30 p CST.
ASHLEY O’SHAY
Ashley O’Shay is a DP and documentarian based in Chicago, IL, whose work focuses on illuminating marginalized voices. She has produced work for national brands, including Lifetime, Nike, KQED, and Dr. Martens. She filmed the final episode of Dr. Martens' "Tough As You" series, starring the band Phony Ppl, accruing over 65K views on social and web. In 2019, she co-produced the Chicago episode of KQED’s award-winning series “If Cities Could Dance,” which became one of their most viewed episodes to date. Her work also appeared in the critically-acclaimed Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly. Most recently, she premiered her debut feature, Unapologetic, a deep look into the Movement for Black Lives in Chicago, told through the experiences of two young, Black queer women. The film premiered at the 2020 BlackStar Film Festival, and was shortlisted for the International Documentary Association Awards.
ELENA VALENTINE:
Workplace filmmaker and design researcher, Elena has made it her mission to help people find meaning in their work through stories that matter. With the motto “you cannot be what you cannot see” Elena started filming jobs as a way to get young people excited about careers. Since then, her team at Skill Scout has since built a world class media company. Their films have helped clients like Nike, McDonalds, and American Airlines engage candidates and employees alike. Elena's particularly excited about Skill Scout's latest project, the Humans@Work documentary and virtual film festival series that shares stories of people who find passion and meaning in their work.
Elena was recently named HR Superhero by DisruptHR Chicago and Newcity's Film 50 of 2020. She is also the co-founder of Mezcla Media Collective, a a thriving community based Chicagoland non-profit that elevates 600+ femme identifying filmmakers of color.
STEPHANIE JETER:
Stephanie Jeter is an award-winning filmmaker from Chicago, Illinois. She spent more than ten years working in production management on various network TV shows, blockbuster feature films, and commercials. She was the first Head of Production for OTV | Open Television, and is the CEO and a Co-Founder for OTV Studio, an incubator for emerging intersectional creators.
Stephanie is an active writer and director, focusing primarily on speculative and drama narratives that center black women. Her award-winning 2018 film "Searching for Isabelle" has screened at various festivals, including the American Black Film Festival, and can be viewed on Amazon Prime, Xfinity Streampix and various streaming channels through Gravitas Ventures. Her latest projects are "Viktory", a heartwarming drama (available on the OTV streaming app), and "HIVE" a sci-fi series pilot which will premiere at festivals in 2021.
SARAH MINNIE:
Sarah Minnie is a storyteller - a video witch - a digital artist. Sarah’s magic as a Producer and Director has led her in “bippity boppy boop-ing” content such as; commercials, fashion films, music videos, web series, pilots, short films, a feature and more. Her work has been published in VOGUE, The Chicago Tribune, Hyperlink Magazine, Women & Hollywood, and in film festivals such as DC Black Film Festival, NYC Web Fest, Austin Film Festival - just to name a few. Sarah’s work illuminates the power of being authentic, bold, abolishing barriers and creating unapologetic content.