Women’s Panel

Reviewed by Kimberly Howard.  Women’s Panel at The Lobero SBIFF 2013

This year’s women’s panel of industry professionals consisted of five women who shared their experiences of joys and lessons learned from their career in film. The panel was moderated by Madelyn Hammond whose questions created a theme to which I would like to coin as “Woman, know thyself.” The panelists included Allison Abbate (Producer, Frankenweenie), Lucy Alibar (Writer, Beasts of the Southern Wild), Ava Duvernay (Writer/Director, Middle of Nowhere), Marissa Paiva (Director of Development, Fox. Life of Pi), Katherine Sarafian (Producer, Brave), and Pilar Savone (Producer, Django Unchained).

Since this panel occurred at the very tail end of the film festival, although bringing exhaustion as my companion to this event, I came with expectations of being infused with encouragement and to hear nuggets of advice on having and maintaining a career in the film industry. As you read on, you will understand why I exited with vigor and rejuvenation simply from five women being transparent and revealing what it means to them to continue their “destined” career path.

As the panelists were being introduced and seated, I was doing a
little guessing game as to which of the women would have something profound to say that would stick with me and give me a new definition of what it takes to obtain a job in this field. Turns out each one had something noteworthy to contribute, but the ones that really struck me and provided a new outlook were from Lucy Alibar, Pilar Savone, and Katherine Sarafian.

Lucy is the writer of Beasts of The Southern WIld who was very down to earth and real. It was refreshing to hear her story of using her hometown within the script and how although seemingly insignificant, the world of the story attracted the attention to get her the job. She added that at the time while waiting for the response, she had to rely on email since her cell was turned off. That piece of information proves that you just keep going forward and use alternatives to make something work. Her delightful demeanor
and faith in a Higher Power gives her the awareness that she is grateful to wake up every day and do something that she loves.

As Katherine was approaching her seat at the table, there was something about the way she carried herself which exuded a confident strength and I just knew she had some great nuggets to share. She noted how the concept of time is very important in this industry and it is pertinent to take care of yourself first so that you can be most aware of the other’s needs on the set. Brave was a very long project so it is of good quality to possess patience since working on film sets requires long suffering. She also pointed out that it is important to know yourself and although you may not specifically like what you’re doing at a particular point in your life that you can’t easily get out of–this is no way referencing her work in film– you can use that experience later in life. She noted how she realizes the importance of her background in marketing….”everything is tied together somehow.” As her answers during the panel were increasingly interesting, her last response was a very valid point. She concluded by communicating that it is important to make your own trail and not wait for someone to give you the go-ahead. That not everybody will respond, but that doesn’t mean no one will. Basically, it is necessary to be responsible for your creative intuition and nurture it as your own. The respect of others will follow.

Pilar Savone started her career in film directly after college whose credits include Jackie Brown (second asst director, 1997), associate producer for Deathproof (2007), and Inglorious Basterds (2009). She described her on set working relationship to Quentin Tarantino as a sibling relationship. She always was a tomboy and loves working within his genre. Although she chose to take some time off, their relationship was so hand in glove, Quentin sought her out for help with Django Unchained (2012), to which she could not say no.

All of the women’s responses were very real and applicable to anyone wherever they may be on their life journey. The key summation came down to remaining true to yourself and allowing breaks when needed since that is what keeps your creative voice active and gives you the ability to listen to it more effectively.