Following their success with interactive documentary Hollow, filmmakers Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg are now busy showcasing conversations with other women making their mark in media.
The She Does podcast, which is hosted by the pair, looks to go beyond guests’ current career status and “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.”
I spoke to Elaine to find out her and Sarah’s motivations for doing the series and why they chose the podcast over other platforms:
“I’m attracted to the podcast form because of two reasons: the level of intimacy in voice alone and the portability of audio. I was craving this show. I emailed some friends in media and asked if they knew of a show that focuses on sharing stories of women in a creative way and it turns out, the show that I craved wasn’t being produced in the podcast world. So Sarah and I decided to make it ourselves; a show that falls between a highly-produced NPR podcast and a traditional interview podcast.
“The show that I craved wasn’t being produced in the podcast world. So Sarah and I decided to make it ourselves”
There are some amazing video and written series about women’s contribution to this field, but we wanted to make something that allows you to escape from that screen or page. We want to encourage people to take a break, go on a walk and just listen. We want people to take the time to learn about these women’s stories in a very low-tech and intimate way. We want people to listen as these women think out loud and hear them breathe between words as they speak of something a little more difficult. Not something that requires you to put all things down and concentrate on, but something you can learn from on your commute, on a walk, while cooking or answering emails. And then allow you to ask your questions the following week through the live Google Hangout.
Elaine Sheldon and Sarah Ginsberg
From this point forward, I have been choosing guests based their personalities, achievements and my own personal connections. We’re looking to feature women who put their heart and soul into what they do. The women who have been hustling for years to make it where they are. Women who are pushing the boundaries, status quo and challenging themselves.
We have a mix of writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, documentarians, journalists, art directors, designers, developers, photographers, strategists, funders and many more. We are interested in drawing parallels between these many fields. We take suggestions here.
What next?
Because this is a self-funded show (we are looking for partners and sponsors though) we are only able to interview women we can access. We would love to expand our coverage to Europe and other countries but, as of right now, we’re trying to cover creatives in the cities we travel to for work. We are going to San Francisco and Los Angeles for a road trip in early April, where we will be interviewing 10 new women.
You can stream or download the bi-weekly show on their website and on iTunes. Alongside the podcast, Sarah and Elaine also publish ‘5 Takeaways‘ from each show with their partner, Filmmaker magazine.
An illustrated portrait of recent guest Lina Strivastava by Christine Cover.
Elaine’s favourite episodes so far
An important conversation about media impact with Lina Srivastava.
You can also catch Lina on the live hangout tomorrow.
>>Listen now<<
Where inspiration comes from with Academy Award-nominated director, Debra Granik.
>>Listen now<<
The She Does podcast has also featured Katja Blichfeld (creative of High Maintenance, Vimeo’s first original series–narrative fiction/web series), Lyric Cabral (director of TERROR documentary—photojournalist/documentarian), Kara Oehler (Zeega, GoPop—tech/startup/interactive storytelling), Anna Sale (Death, Sex & Money—radio producer). All can be accessed and linked to here.