WOMANHOOD: THE SERIES, SEASON 2

Women in the STEM workplace

Sure, the line for the women’s bathroom is shorter,

but we’d rather have a seat at the table.

THE PROJECT

Womanhood: The Series is an original anthology film series produced by filmmakers across the US. Each episode explores the messy, complicated, and wonderful moments only a woman could experience. We are seeking funding support to expand Womanhood: The Series into a second season, but with a twist.

Womanhood: The Series - Season 2 Women in the Workplace pairs women in STEM with women filmmakers, targeting stories from disciplines where women are currently underrepresented: science, math, computer/IT, gaming, engineering, and filmmaking. Season 2 will contribute to the breaking down of silo structures by pairing arts faculty experts with STEM professionals. Our approach, using comedy to highlight social injustices, bias, and misrepresentation, is a proven storytelling methodology that has real and positive impacts. First, we will package the films with curriculum for education institutions, boardrooms, and workshops to ignite discussion that leads to action. Second, we will share the films through domestic and international film festivals to share these messages globally.

The artistic excellence of this series and its team has proven successful with three completed episodes garnering eight awards and over 55 international film festival acceptances. This track-record demonstrates that high-quality content with female leads and women’s stories are desired by audiences

Hollywood’s historic paucity of and negative on-screen portrayals of women is problematic, and Media is one of the most important factors influencing our values. Representation matters. Womanhood: The Series contributes to building spaces for diverse voices and inclusionary stories. We believe that positive depictions have instant impact, and if women and girls see themselves in spaces where they are underrepresented (in front of and behind the camera), we can contribute to more women in places where decisions are made about our bodies and lives.

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MEET THE FILMMAKERS

Jessica McGaugh - Filmmaker and Professor
Jessica McGaugh is an award-winning filmmaker and a tenure-track faculty member in the School of Theatre, Television, and Film at San Diego State University. She teaches production courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Jessica received an MFA in Film from Syracuse University with a Certificate of Advanced Study in Women’s Studies.
Jessica’s work celebrates diversity and inclusion through her use of underrepresented characters, storylines, and project collaborators. Her films have screened across the globe including the Vancouver Film Festival, Mumbai International Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, NDTV and Rocky Mountain PBS.
Currently in post production, her most recent film, *Tina Tina Bo Bina* follows a fictional performance artist struggling to balance the expectations of motherhood with the expectations of being an artist. Jessica created *Womanhood: The Series*, a collection of comedic short films, aiming to break the taboos associated with women’s bodies and gender expectations. The series is currently released to streaming platforms, and won awards for “Best Series” and “Best Director.” *Red Pearl*, Jessica’s debut narrative feature-film, was released worldwide to film festivals and streaming services. Her award-winning documentary release, *Three Worlds, One Stage*, is available through iTunes, Amazon, Roku and Walmart.

Sheila Schroeder - Filmmaker and Professor
Dr. Sheila E. Schroeder has been making films for 30+ years. Her work spans genre (documentaries and narratives) and form (short to feature) and has been accepted by over 100 film festivals across the globe. In 2015 she founded Project DU F.I.L.M. (film initiative linking mentors) as part of her work at the University of Denver where she has taught filmmaking since 1997. The goal of Project DU F.I.L.M. is to change the face of filmmaking both in front of and behind the camera by creating intentionally diverse stories and recruiting a variety of alumni and students to participate in this experiential mentorship program designed to give students opportunities to work on professional film sets. The Project’s films, *Hunting Season, Happy F-ing Valentine’s Day, Scary Lucy*, and the web series, Breaking the Turfgrass Ceiling, have garnered success around the world, but, more importantly, have provided experiential learning opportunities and career stepping stones for diverse students and alumni alike.
In season 1 of *Womanhood: The Series*, she wrote the short *Judy, Judy, Judy* based on her own experiences with menopause and she edited *Maid of Honor*. In season 2 her responsibilities range from grant writer to workshop producer to screenwriter to producer/director.

Roma Sur - Filmmaker and Professor

Roma Sur is a filmmaker, based in Denver, Colorado. She has taught screenwriting for thirteen years in the Film and Television (FITV) department of CU Denver. Currently she teaches Capstone Production classes and screenwriting at University of Denver’s Media, Film and Journalism department. She is also developing collaborative projects with DU’s Office of Internationalization. Most recently, she has been inducted into Marquis Who’s Who, 125th edition, a humbling recognition of her contribution to the world of arts, academics and internationalization.

Sur writes young adult and female driven dramas with levity that are a cross-pollination of her immigrant experience of living in the US for twenty years, and her childhood in India. She also enjoys writing historical fiction. Her feature screenplay, The Rock Within, has been acknowledged by the Sundance Asian American lab, Stowe Story Labs, India’s leading pitch market, Film Bazaar, and Screencraft’s Funding contest. Her adapted feature screenplay titled ‘Shillong Times’, was a finalist at the Final Draft Contest. Her recent documentary, MAA has screened at multiple global film festivals, including the 42nd Breckenridge festival. She co-directed and co-produced Three Worlds One Stage, a documentary that is currently streaming on Amazon and iTunes. She is currently in development for her new film, QUEEN OF HEART, a short narrative that comments on gender based domestic abuse in Asian cultures, through a comedic lens. In Season 1 of Womanhood: The Series, she wrote Core.

Cat Dale - Filmmaker and Professor
An eternal optimist, writer/director Cat Dale creates characters obsessed by hope in dark worlds. Her writing has won the ScreenCraft Pilot Launch, Shore Scripts, Sidewalk Sidewrite Film Festival, been a Nicholl Fellowship Quarterfinalist, featured on The Black List, and part of the CANNESFILMS UNLIMITED writing residency. Her three-short films, RUBBER & GLUE, WILDCAT, & TOUCH have won numerous awards, and screened both nationally and internationally. She is currently producing co-written features film *Beasts Undiscovered* in partnership with the Jim Henson Creature Shop & Myriad Pictures, as well as feminist western, *Clara Boone*.
She has been a second-round script reader for the Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition, reader for Stowe Story Labs, and was on the Sidewrite Screenwriting Jury for the Sidewalk Film Festival.
A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin MFA in screenwriting, she is currently a professor at the Montana State University where she adores working with her students in film production.

Elisa Herrmann - Filmmaker and Professor

Elisa Herrmann is a filmmaker from Brazil, with a degree in Art Education from Federal University of Parana, a specialization in Audiovisual Communication from Pontifical Catholic University of Parana, a Master of Fine Arts in Mass Communication and Media Arts from Southern Illinois University, and an EdD in Higher Education Leadership from Sam Houston State University.

In the past years, Elisa produced and directed several short films that screened in festivals worldwide. Elisa’s awarded short documentary “Rodrigo Herrmann – Life and Works” premiered in Curitiba, Brazil, during the prestigious 34th Music Festival of Curitiba, and screened at several international film festivals, including the 2016 Cannes Film Festival – Short Film Corner. Elisa is also an awarded screenwriter with her short screenplay “Death Expectancy” and feature screenplay “The Great Adventure of the Bentley Girls”. Elisa’s first feature documentary about the Brazilian religion Umbanda premiered at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston as part of the Afro-Atlantic Histories exhibition. Elisa’s latest short documentary “Undocumented: A Dream of Education” has been screened in festivals and conferences worldwide and has won multiple awards.

Elisa is an Associate Professor of Mass Communication and the Coordinator of the BA in Film at Sam Houston State University, where she teaches film production, advises students, promotes the program, and continues to produce her own films.

Sophia Holt - Filmmaker and Student
Sophia Holt is a writer/director whose work ranges from nuanced social commentary pieces to comedic film noir parodies. An undergraduate Film Studies and Production major at the University of Denver, she cares deeply about telling stories that matter. She is a part of the graduating class of 2025 and has minors in English and Marketing as well. A queer, woman of color; representation is something that has been a guiding force in the works she has created and collaborated on.
*Under America’s Radar* (2022), *Black Box* (2022), *Murder on High Street* (2023), & *The Cab Driver* (2023) are student short films where she is credited as writer and/or director. Currently (alongside her work on *Womanhood: The Series*), Sophia is directing her Narrative Capstone short film. Entitled, *With Liberty and Justice for All* – it is a 1970’s coming of age tale of Black university students forming community, a script which she has written herself. Coming June 2024. . .
Sophia also works for the Daniels College of Business as an engineer and editor of the Voices of Experience Podcast and tacks on a producer credit as well for the school’s Entrepreneurship@DU podcast! She is the president of the University of Denver’s Black Student Alliance and the vice president of DU’s Film Production Club.
Her special interests include musical theatre, audio design/engineering, and fruit flavored candies (no chocolate!)

MEET THE STEM PROFESSIONALS

Virginia Rhodes -
Virginia Rhodes (she/her) is the Project Director for the Women in Engineering ProActive Network’s (WEPAN) ADVANCE Resource and Coordination Network (ARC Network), a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant-funded project focused on advancing the culture of inclusion and diversity within science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines.
Virginia received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame in 2017 and completed her Master of Science in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in 2019. Prior to joining WEPAN, Virginia was the Project Coordinator for IUPUI’s NSF ADVANCE Adaptation grant as well as a Research Associate at the STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute.
Her background focuses on workplace diversity, leadership development, and creating inclusive environments, where she applies psychological concepts and interventions to address gender and racial disparities throughout multiple STEM fields. She is passionate about creating organizational change related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and strives to build more intersectional and informed communities of practice.
She is fascinated by the world of film and specifically interested in utilizing visual mediums to promote equity in STEM spaces. She believes messages conveyed through a video format can be more accessible and have a significant impact on fostering diversity and inclusion and is excited to share her experience and expertise as a contributor to Womanhood: The Series, Season 2.

Lynda Weist -
Lynda Wiest, Ph.D. is a professor in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she has been a faculty member since 1996 and currently serves as Chair of the Department of Educational Studies. Her work centers on mathematics education, educational equity, and teacher education. Dr. Wiest served as lead editor on a recent two-volume series titled *Out-of-School-Time STEM Programs for Females: Implications for Research and Practice*, which aligns with her experience as Director of the Nevada Math & Technology Program she founded in 1998. During her career, she has received numerous local through national awards for her work. Outside of academia, Dr. Wiest's interests include various types of sports and recreation, animal welfare, and narrative nonfiction writing.

Rachel Roper -
Dr. Roper is a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at East Carolina University (ECU) in the Brody School of Medicine. She received her B.S. from Texas A & M University, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry where she received the M.A. Hare Research Excellence Award. She received her post-doctoral training at the NIH Lab of Viral Disease and was awarded an NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence. Dr. Roper was part of the team that first sequenced and analyzed the SARS Coronavirus genome and oversaw SARS vaccine development and testing. She is an inventor on the patent, as well as patents on poxviruses.
Dr. Roper has received funding from foundations, industry, the US NIH and NSF and has served on national and international grant panels, Editorial Boards and is Chair of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) poxvirus section. She has published on flavivirus, coronaviruses, poxviruses, and oncolytic viruses and been cited more than 7,000 times.
She is a member of the National Academy of Inventors, an ECU Woman of Distinction, and recipient of the School of Medicine Women’s Advocacy Award and Faculty Senate Extraordinary Service Award. Dr. Roper became interested in faculty gender issues in her roles Chairing: School of Medicine Women’s Faculty Committee, Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Women, School of Medicine Promotion & Tenure Committee, Department Personnel Committee, and Faculty Welfare Committee. She was one of the Principal Investigators on a National Science Foundation grant to advance Women in Science, Engineering, Technology, and Math. She serves on the American Society for Microbiology Inclusive Diversity with Equity, Access, and Accountability (IDEAA) Committee of the Board.

Anna Sher -

Anna Sher Simon is a full professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Denver, where she has been faculty since 2003. For the first seven years she held this position jointly as Director of Conservation and Research at Denver Botanic Gardens. She founded the STEM Women’s Faculty Association and is a vocal supporter of both tenure and teaching line faculty in the sciences. Dr. Sher is now the Faculty Director and Co-PI for DU MERISTEM, an >$1mil. NSF-funded program to increase representation and advancement of women and other historically groups among STEM faculty, a grant she initiated and led.

Off-campus, Anna is very active in her communities to promote equality. She and her wife Fran Simon have received awards for their work testifying for civil unions, and they were given the honor of being the first couple in the state to receive one, May 1, 2013. The Simons have given dozens of media interviews and presentations to groups about LGBTQ+ equality, acting as a literal “poster family” with their son, Jeremy. Anna also serves on the board of Judaism Your Way, a non-profit dedicated to making Jewish life inclusive and accessible.

Dr. Sher’s academic research has focused on restoration ecology and invasive plant species, but she also has published works on a variety of ecological conservation topics. Her lab is the first to use human manager traits and project organization to predict restoration outcomes, work funded by an NSF Coupled Natural and Human Systems grant. She is author of the best- selling textbook An Introduction to Conservation Biology (3e, Oxford University Press), as well as the lead author of Ecology: Concepts and Applications (9e, McGraw Hill Education). She teaches Conservation Biology, Invasive Species Ecology, and Advanced Research Methods and Analysis, and mentors research by both undergraduates and graduate students.