Women’s History Month 2012: ’31 ladies who rock’ countdown!: filmmaker Leah Meyerhoff

With dangerous bills out there and oppressive sentiment from right wing radicals saturating the media, I am happy to take the next 30 days to spotlight women in my life who are living their dreams and helping others in the process. Check out amazing lady #3:

Leah Meyerhoff. Photo via https://www.facebook.com/leahmeyerhoff

Who Is She?
Leah Meyerhoff: Actor/Director

Location
Presently residing in Queens.

Known for
– Working on her first feature film “UNICORNS,” a Sundance Lab finalist from executive producer Allison Anders (Things Behind the Sun)
– Having her short films screened in over 200 film festivals, winning a dozen international awards and distributed by IFC, LOGO, MTV, PBS, Reelport and Skandinavia TV
– Her profile in the docudrama series “Film School” on IFC

Affiliation
I met Leah in early 2008 after randomly stumbling across her blog. At the time “UNICORNS” was still in development and I was impressed by her body of work and digital savvy. I took a leap of faith and emailed Leah to see if she needed help with “UNICORNS” — as a trade, I would learn more about her pre-production workflow and decision-making process. Leah met me in person shortly after that and I appreciated her open, friendly personality, film production knowledge and generous recommendations. Between 2008-2010 I volunteered on “UNICORNS” and in the process I learned volumes about what it takes to succeed as an independent filmmaker.

Why Leah rocks
Leah rocks because she’s not afraid to draw inspiration from her family and personal life, which informs her work. As many folks who watched “Film School” know, Leah cast her mother in her short film “Twitch.” Toni Meyerhoff, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis shortly before Leah was born and has been in a wheelchair ever since, made her acting debut in “Twitch” and also has a role in Leah’s upcoming feature, “UNICORNS.” If you have a few extra minutes, be sure to watch “Twitch”:

From the day I met her until now, Leah has remained a loving, generous person who takes time out of her busy schedule to help others. Be sure to follow “UNICORNS” on Facebook to find out how to attend a screening in your area. To wet your whistle, here’s the synopsis:

still from "UNICORNS" - http://www.unicornsthemovie.com/gallery/

“I Believe In Unicorns” tells the story of an awkward teenage girl who escapes to a fantasy world when her first romantic relationship turns abusive. From Student Academy Award nominated director Leah Meyerhoff (Slamdance Grand Jury Prize winning short Twitch), executive producers Allison Anders (Gas Food Lodging, Things Behind the Sun), David Kupferberg (Magic Valley) and Robin Leland (4th and Goal) and producers Heather Rae (Oscar nominated Frozen River) and Mark G. Mathis (Oscar winning Precious, Brick) Unicorns combines social and magical realism to address issues of teen dating violence from a new perspective.

Unicorns stars Natalia Dyer (The Healer), Peter Vack (I Just Want My Pants Back), Toni Meyerhoff (Twitch), Julia Garner (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Joshua Leonard (Blair Witch Project, Higher Ground) and Amy Seimetz (The Off Hours). A Sundance Lab finalist, Unicorns is supported by an Emerging Narrative Filmmaker Grant from the Independent Feature Project and fiscal sponsorship from San Francisco Film Society. Unicorns recently won an All Access Grant from the Tribeca Film Institute.

For all profiles this month, visit my Women’s History Month page.

My First Reading: Unicorns

Last night, after changing my work schedule around (Thank you, Mr. J and Mr. W), I attended Leah Meyerhoff’s reading at NYU for her feature, Unicorns.

– Leah, her cast and Brian Gonzalez

photo via thefilmpanelnotetaker.com

Leah is a Slamdance Grand Jury Prize winner and Student Academy Award finalist currently pursuing an MFA at NYU. Her short film TWITCH has screened in over 200 festivals, won a dozen international awards and was picked up for distribution by IFC and Skandinavia TV. Her music videos TEAM QUEEN and ETERNAL FLAME have screened in over 50 festivals and are airing on LOGO and MTV Europe. She was also profiled in the docudrama series “Film School” which continues to air on IFC. Leah has been a featured panelist at film festivals across the country and recently served on the Slamdance narrative jury.

Unicorns tells the story of an awkward teenage girl who escapes to a fanatsy world when her first romantic relationship turns increasingly abusive. This will be Leah’s first feature film. I discovered Twitch and Leah by simply googling local filmmakers who had made award winning short films. I contacted her a few months ago on her website and since then I have been incorporating some of my classwork for The New School into assisting Leah on Unicorns.

I attended last night’s reading both to observe and to participate. Besides assisting Clarissa Delos Reyes with setting up the room and prepping the reception snacks, I also brought along my Panasonic DVX100b to help Brian Gonzalez shoot the reading.

I had never attended a reading before so it was a great learning experience.

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