Episode 61: Finding the Story You’d Bleed For | Sara Zandieh | Filmmaker, Writer & Director
Sara Zandieh is an Iranian-American filmmaker, writer, and director whose work blends humor, humanity, and cultural depth. She recently directed an episode of NBC’s Good Girls and her latest feature, A Simple Wedding (a multi-cultural romantic comedy starring Tara Grammy and Christopher O’Shea) is streaming now on Amazon and iTunes. Sara shares her path from journalism to filmmaking, why being Iranian-American shapes her storytelling, and what it takes to commit to a project that spans years. She talks about filming in Iran, building a network of creative collaborators, and embracing the entrepreneurial mindset every director needs. Her journey is a reminder that great storytelling requires full commitment, deep humanity, and the courage to tell the stories that matter most.
“It’s impossible to isolate our humanity. We’re intertwined. We need each other.”
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A Simple Wedding
NBC’s Good Girl’s
Sasha
Tribeca Film Festival
Pool Party
Sasha’s New book - For Small Creatures Such as We
Tehran, Iran
DC
Maryland
NYC
LA
Farsi
Christiane Amanpour
CNN
Columbia University
Iraq War
George W Bush
How I Built This
Spanx
Sara Blakely
Glossier
Emily Weiss
Tara Grammy
Canada
Montreal
Olympics
Rita Wilson
NBC Female Forward Program
Hilary Clinton
Christina Hendricks
Mae Whitman
Reality Bites
Ann Druyan
Elizabeth Warren
Rachel Maddow
Jane Club
June Diane Raphael
Rebel Music docu series by MTV
NYU Film School
The Wing -
Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters
00:00 Meet Sara Zandieh
03:40 From Tehran to Maryland: An Iranian-American Childhood
07:30 Transition from Journalism to Filmmaking
12:15 Covering the Iraq War and the Draw to Narrative Storytelling
16:50 Earning an MFA at Columbia University
20:25 Filming Pool Party in Iran
24:00 Why It Took Six Years to Make A Simple Wedding
28:40 The Power of Collaboration and Creative Circles
33:15 Lessons from NBC’s Female Forward Program
37:50 Building a Career Across Film and Television
42:15 Finding the Story You’re Willing to Bleed For
46:00 Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers
It took me six years from start to finish and I remember I kept describing exactly what you're saying to my female friends where I was like I feel like I'm on the other side of the mountain. And then you look up and there's this whole other Yes, mountain still. Like the top is so far. 'Cause you keep thinking at every stage that you're on the other side of it, but then you're not.
That's Sara Zandieh and this is The Powerful Ladies podcast.
Hey guys, I'm your host, Kara Duffy and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast where I invite my favorite humans, the awesome, the up to something and the extraordinary to come and share their story. I hope that you'll be left, entertained, inspired, and moved to take action towards living your most powerful life.
Sara is a filmmaker, writer, and director. She recently directed an episode for NBC's Good Girls and her latest film. A Simple Wedding is a multicultural romantic comedy starring Tara Grammy and Christopher osha. It's hilarious. Go watch it right now, and it's available for streaming on iTunes and Amazon.
On this episode, Sara tells her journey from journalists to filmmaker. Ha. Being an Iranian American influences her storytelling. Why her circle of friends, including past guests, Sasha Sagan, are her bedrock and what really happens when you decide to make your first feature film all that and so much more coming up.
But first, if you're interested in discovering what possibilities and businesses are available for you to create and to live your most fulfilling life, please visit the powerful ladies.com/coaching and sign up for a free coaching consultation with me. There is no reason to wait another day to not be living your best life when you instead could be running at full speed towards your wildest dreams today.
I am so excited that you are here today because you are one of our amazing, powerful lady referrals from Sasha Sagan. Yes,
thank you.
Of course. Introduce who you are and what you're up to. To everyone listening.
Okay. My name is Sara Zandieh. I am a filmmaker, I'm a writer director. Right now I have a feature film that was just, that is in theaters now.
It's wrapping up, its theatrical and it's available on VOD, on Amazon and iTunes. It's called A Simple Wedding, and it's a culture clash, romantic comedy.
Ooh.
And I recently just directed an EMBAs an episode of NBC's Good Girls, which I just wrapped up. And now I'm I'm starting to write again and finding my next passion project.
Very exciting. There is so much in there that I want to dive into before we dive into all the work things. How do you and Sasha know each other?
Sasha and I met several, like many years ago, almost a over a decade ago at the Tribeca Film Festival. We both had made short films that were in the same program.
And so we were screening our films back to back and she had written this movie called Bastard, which Kirsten Dunt had directed. And I was there with a film called The Pool Party which was a short film that I made in Iran. And so we met, at the premier of these two works and hit it off and we're fast friends ever since.
And a lot of creative collaboration has come out of our friendship and
A lot of friend and a lot of friendships. She started this female group called the Ladies Dining Society, which is it was a monthly female group dinner that she kinda curated and and we became this like tribe in New York and we'd meet once a month at this restaurant.
And, and we just I have so many good friends from that group still. And it was just like this amazing moment in time for us. And so many friendships were formed from our meeting at this festival. So yeah, it was just, she's such a wonderful person and I love her new book.
It's amazing. It's so good. It's so good. And so yeah, I'm super proud of her for Yeah. For getting to this point.
And what I love about that story is it's a perfect example of how not to be in competition with people, but to collaborate and how much more comes out of it. Like you guys were in theory competing for the same thing.
Now you have this friendship that's lasted a decade and other projects and people and friends, and now you're here and it's like we put as females, so much pressure to like, protect, defend instead of just lean in and have fun together.
Oh, for sure. It was quite the opposite. It was just like, we just meeting people at your frequency, you're like, oh my God, how do I spend more time with this person? How do I like, 'cause I have so many inspiring women around me, and Sasha is definitely one of them. And I think we just, yeah. There's just a spark and we and so much good can come out of collaboration and friendships and especially female friendships.
They're just, they're it's so special.
Yeah. And to me it just allows us to. Do what we did naturally as kids. Like it's, it gives that a space of like play and collaboration and discovery which we all need more of.
Yeah. We definitely need it. And I really believe in that saying the sum is greater than its parts.
And I feel like, when you find people, women like you and it's just it's so nice, so much good can come from it and so much support and it's just such a source of strength
To have a female group.
Yeah. 100%. When, did you guys met in New York? Were are you from New York originally?
'cause you're now out in la
yes. My background is, I was actually born in Iran. I'm Iranian American. And then my family immigrated to the suburbs of Washington, DC when I was five. So I grew up in Maryland.
And then I went to, I lived in New York. I moved to New York to work in, to pursue, my education and to start a career in the arts.
And I was in New York for almost 15 years. And then I finally took the plunge and moved up to LA four years ago to make my film. I moved out here 'cause I, it was getting more traction in Hollywood and so yeah, I've been, it's like Tehran, dc, New York, la it's a long journey.
I've had many homes
I feel like most powerful ladies have. Yeah. Especially when you're following your passions. It's hard to it's unique when you get to have everything you want, where you started from.
Yeah. It's, yeah. Especially being an immigrant too, it's just like you're Yeah.
It's a nomadic kind of path and being an artist, it leads you to so many different places. And you go where the project is, so that gives, it gives it its own like nomadic existence.
Yeah. I can't imagine a life that doesn't have some level of being nomadic in it.
For sure. Especially nowadays.
Yeah. Yeah. How did you end up getting into film?
I always, I was always interested in people's stories. Yeah. And I initially thought I would wanna, I wanted to be a filmmaker. A, sorry, a journalist. Because I grew up in DC and the careers that you're exposed to there are, you're a journalist, you're an attorney, or you're a lobbyist.
And so I was like, definitely I'm gonna be a journalist and I have a really international background. I majored in French, I speak Farsi. So we just had, I thought I wanted to be like an international reporter.
I, new Christine Amport. Yes. And
She was like, and still is like an idol.
Yes. She's such a strong, smart woman. And our community, the Iranian community idolizes her, where she's such a gem. And being in DC it's just you're always around reporters. So I thought that's what I wanted to do. And I I studied journalism and I worked in a newsroom after college.
I worked at, I like intern at CNN and I in VOA. And so I, I. I dabbled in news but I was always drawn to directors.
Even within the news context, I was always somehow assigned to do stories about filmmakers and film and culture and arts.
And I there was just this law of attraction and I naturally gravitated towards film and filmmakers and I was always a film buff.
And so was my family. We're super into movies. And the more I met them and interviewed them, the more I was like, I think that's the way I meant to tell my stories. Not through news but through narrative storytelling. And I did a lot of documentary work. And so the shift from nonfiction to fiction was pretty easy because I was still, working in news and documentary.
I was still telling stories. Yeah. But I wanted to make the leap into fiction. And I went to Columbia University's School of Arts and I got a an MFA in film directing and writing. It's, it was in directing, but we have to write everything at that in that program. So I just got, I just went into like basically a film school and the conservatory there.
It's, and I just, I made the leap. I just did it. Yeah. And when I told my parents, I was like, I'm going to become a, I wanna become a filmmaker. And they were like, oh God. They were like, it was bad enough. You wanted to be a journalist. But now, no, actually, my mom at the time was happy that I didn't wanna keep pursuing journalism because it was actually when I was working in a newsroom, it was during their rock war.
It was under George w
Yeah.
It was a really dangerous time for journalists, and it still is. It is a kind of dangerous profession. So they were relieved that I was gonna stop doing that. But so they were pretty supportive and now they're like super behind because they saw my movie.
They love they love it and and so they're very supportive.
And the pool party is the one with the scenes with the chandelier and the pumping from your reel.
Yeah. The pool party is it's, yeah, it's the story of. A domestic servant in Iran who is, it's about his relationship with his employers.
And like his role in their family. And I was in grad school, I was in, I was at Columbia at the time, and I really wanted to go back to Iran because I hadn't been since I was like 13, so I hadn't been back as an adult. I was going back and forth a lot as a kid and, or a young teenager, but I hadn't been back as an adult.
And I was like, it's, it was, I had to make a thesis film.
And I was like, I really want to go back and just see what it's like to make a film. And I had a lot of questions about my identity and I. I just wanted to go back and see it for myself. And so I had a producer who was Canadian, and so we just, we were like, let's go and do it.
And then my parents again were like, what? They were like, you're going back. So we did it. We got, we, we went back and we found a local crew there. I had a, I found like really amazing producers and we pulled it off and we did a. A beautiful little short film that then premiered at Tribeca, which is what led me to meet Sasha.
And so yeah, it was just such an incredible experience to go back and make this film. And I did the movie within the constraints of the rules there. 'cause Iran has a lot of there's a lot of rules, there's a lot of censorship and you have to abide by the the constraints.
And we did everything pretty pretty legally Yeah. With permits and everything. 'cause I didn't wanna get anyone in trouble. And it, and the story didn't call for anything outside of, it was very doable within the system.
Yeah.
You just. Filmmakers are so creative there 'cause they, they make such great work within the confines.
And it's, I think it inspires a lot of creativity actually.
That's I think one of the rules, right? If you're given a box, what can you do in it? Exactly. Yeah. So I'm sure there are some people who are listening that have always dreamt of making their own film or movie and they're like, what do you mean you just made it?
So of course you were doing it within the constructs of having a program and having some guidance through the MFA. When people wanna start, what's the next thing? Is it finding a producer to help do all of the tasks and logistics? What would be the first things?
The first thing is finding the story that you wanna tell.
'cause you're gonna, it's like blood sport making a fell. Yeah. So it's it's just, it is really hard and it's like pushing a truck up a mountain.
Through and through. And it's so you have to find the story that you're willing to bleed for. And after that it's financing.
Yeah.
So finding the money, and sometimes you find the money before the producer, or sometimes you find the producer and they help you get the money.
But I think when you're starting off as a filmmaker you have to be a producer as well as the director and the writer. And I'm just starting to now after 15 years of doing this, starting to not have to produce my own stuff. I'm starting to find producers that are like willing, that are legitimate and have access to financing and can help.
But even my first feature, which is the one that's out now, it was, I became a producer on that even it's. It's really important to accept that responsibility that you're going to be everything. You're gonna be everything. Yeah. And that it's like a startup. It really is. Like I really identify with entrepreneurs.
Yeah. 'cause being a filmmaker is a lot like being an entrepreneur. It's a lot. It's, you can't really distance yourself from the business aspect of it. Especially when you're starting out. So it is, it's like a startup. You have a concept, you get the financing, you make a business plan, you hire a team.
You execute the pro product, and then you have to figure out how to sell the product and promote the product. And Yeah. It's just, it's very similar. So actually getting through this last film, which was like the biggest project I've done, I was listening to a lot of podcasts with entrepreneurs
Who had started businesses. There's that NPR podcast, how I built this, one of my favorites. I love that podcast. Yeah. And I was, because I was. I had taken on something pretty massive, and it was, I was in a lot of new roles and I was like, how do I manage a budget? How do I lead? How do I lead a team?
Yep. And so I found a lot of amazing interviews with female entrepreneurs. Like the the woman who invented Spanx, I remember like listening to Sara Blakely. Yeah, yeah. Sara Blake. She's a hero of so many of us. Oh my God. I remember like driving to my film set and listening to her and and the CEO of Glossier and Yep.
Emily Weiss. Yes. Emily Weiss. She was just like, I loved those interviews with women who had just taken on this endeavor and we're figuring out, 'cause you have to roll with the punches. You don't know what you're doing. Totally. You
never do. You never do. It's as a business coach and as an entrepreneur running powerful ladies, it.
The biggest misconception, I think, is that people assume people who are doing things out in the world know what they're doing, and it's Nope. Just the crazy ones enough to just start.
Totally. Because
once you get the ball rolling, what you actually think is the mountain is not at all like that. That once you climb the mountain, you're like, shit.
That mountain's even bigger than one after it.
I know. I remember talking to my friends 'cause this feature was such a massive project, it took me six years from start to finish. And I remember I kept describing exactly what you're saying to my female friends where I was like I feel like I'm on the other side of the mountain.
And then you look up and there's this whole other mountain. Yes. Still like the top is so far. 'Cause you keep thinking at every stage that you're on the other side of it.
Yes.
But then you're not like, I got through I got through pre-production and then I got through production and I'm like, okay, after production, like we can just chill, smooth sailing.
And then, yeah, and then like post-production was, it's like the biggest, actually mountain that we faced. And I was like, oh my God, there's, I didn't know, I still had another year to go.
And you, yeah, you just you roll with the punches, you learn as you go. You try to be as patient and graceful as you can.
Yes.
And you try to hopefully, bring your team along because part of it is just trying to get people to stick with you to see the project through. Yeah. And I was lucky 'cause I had. People who really did my producer and my lead actor. A lot of, I had a lot of amazing cast members who supported me.
And and so I got lucky and I found some really good people who, who stuck by me and were pretty loyal.
Yeah. And it's so important because there's so many balls you're juggling. You don't wanna have to add another, you're like, what do I have to do? I will hug you, pay you, love you, please just stay.
Please. I look at how important teams are in general, and there's a whole controversy about, being self-made. Is it even possible? And I'm like, no, it's not possible. No, it's, are there people who had to create it from truly nothing versus others who may have had a smoother start?
Sure. But there's no way, there's no way to make anything in this world and be. Self-made.
Totally. It's always a collaboration. And there are those people who give you a chance and work for you and stand by you and believe in you. Yes. And it's just, yeah. Collaborate. Especially in filmmaking, it's just not a singular endeavor.
It's a collaborative effort. It's all about your team. It's, it really is the sum of its parts. And everyone, including the director, the writer, producer. It's not about one person. It's about, a large group of people bringing their talents to the table. And it is your job as the director to pick and choose and refine.
And make it all work together. You're like a conductor. Yes. But ultimately it's like a bunch of people's talents
Yeah.
On the screen. Yeah.
Yeah. You need every everyone rise at once. Thank
you. Totally.
Yeah. While you were going through six years of creating this film. How did you keep yourself motivated and sane and continuing to be passionate about it?
Because six years is a lot, is like starting to push the patience and grace, I would imagine.
Totally. And the just not having finances to support yourself through it. So it's also and you hear like directors, their first film, everyone goes bankrupt on their first film and that's true.
You literally, you take such a hit on your first film financially. So you're also struggling to be like, how am I gonna make it through? What got me through it, every stage was like a different sort of motivation. I really believed in the message of this movie. I believed in the heart of the film.
It's an imperfect film. There's a lot, it's literally like every shot is like being held up with scotch tape. It feels a very, if I had more, obviously I would've, done it different. So as a director, it's like hard to watch at this point. But even despite probably like 400 viewings, I still believe in the fundamental messaging of the movie and what it's trying to say.
And it, it has a very simple message, but I felt like it was an important time to, to tell this story. And to just remind everybody of this message that love is love, transcends religious, cultural divides. Because this is such a divisive time we're living in and it just felt a good time to remind people of this message as elemental as it is.
So that was motivating. I guess there was a kind of social justice, part of it. Yeah. That felt. I could ride it for a long time.
I could believe in it for a long time. And the second, I think the second motivation was the people that came into my life because of this project.
And they inspired me. And I love my DP on this film. His name is Ziv Kovich. And he just he what his, he was so talented in his own right and what he brought to the project really shifted the project and like seeing him what he could bring. My lead actress Tara Grammy and everything she brought my producers.
It was just like, it was, I was really inspired by my collaborators. Yeah. And they, my, my composer, my editor, everybody. Just going through the different stages and interacting with new creatives. That was motivating.
Yeah. You don't wanna let them down.
Totally.
And it was just like, at every stage there was like some fresh blood, yeah. It was like, okay, now it's like time with the composer and he had this, he had a whole bag of, new tricks and Yeah. It was just ama it just, I love that. I love that part of the collaboration was just going from one artist to the next and collaborating with them in a different way.
How awesome. No, and I think it's so having. That energy cycle come back to you? Yes. Because when you're creating something as a creative, as an entrepreneur, like whenever you're the person generating the thing, like pushing it from behind, you need that supply of other energy and vitality from it.
Because so often, at least from my experience, you can correct me if I'm wrong for yours, but sometimes you look at yourself going who actually wants this? And then you start working with other people like, oh, okay. I'm not losing my mind. This is actually a thing. And it's important.
Totally. Exactly.
It's like that energy that you get from new collaborators, it's really miraculous.
Yes. Yeah. And needed. Because I also love, in especially whether they tell it on how I built this or other entrepreneurial stories or just people making things that. It's very much like your own story is a hero's journey of its own.
And each kind of project is its own hero's journey. And there's going to be moments when you are so tested and you think I thought it was gonna take five minutes. This is taking five years. Or I didn't know it cost as much. You name it, something's gonna go wrong. And it could be on the project, it could be personal, it could be both.
And it's, it really comes down to believing in that why. And it has to be strong enough, like
totally. And something that I really identified with in those listening to the, to those other women creating these products was to some extent, it starts out. As something that you need for yourself.
You wanna make it for yourself. 'cause I want to see this so I'll just make this thing for myself and you don't think, oh, it's gonna turn into this long Yes. Six year project with so many people and so much, so many challenges, but it just starts off in this very simple, naive place.
Yeah. For me I was just, I wasn't even thinking I would ever make like a romantic comedy. But there was just this time where I was like, you know what? I wanna make a romantic comedy. I wanna make a movie within a popular genre that represents my world and the people in my world.
'cause I don't see the diversity in my world represented.
Especially within a popular genre like the rom-com.
Yeah.
So I never thought I would make a rom-com, but it just at that time I was like, I feel like seeing this. And that's literally where it started. It was just like, I wanna.
See this myself. I wanna see an Iranian woman as the lead role in this popular genre. I've never seen that before. And it's my experience and it's and so yeah, it just starts off there with something that you just wanna see for yourself and then it, yeah. And then it's amazing when other people wanna see it, right now it's like there's so many Persian women and, that are just like the outpour of support and them being like, I can't believe I, I'm seeing my life in a movie.
That's how powerful is that for
you's?
It's so incredible. 'cause I they connected to it 'cause they've never seen their experience represented.
And that's really been so fulfilling, especially the, this last couple of months that it's been released into the world.
What else has surprised you from the feedback you've received?
Just how. Accessible. The movie is to so many different kinds of people because it's a, it's about an Iranian woman and a white guy, and them bringing their very different families together and them navigating modern love and all of the challenges that come with modern dating and and falling in love with someone that's fundamentally different from you in many ways. And that I feel like, is it, that's my favorite response is when multicultural couples come up to me that aren't necessarily Iranian or white. Like I had this, I just screened in San Diego and there was an Ethiopian woman and a Mexican guy who had gotten married and they really identified with their stories, even though they weren't, it wasn't specifically their culture, but they just, they were like, the exact same thing happened to us.
This is just like our families. And it's really cathartic to see it on screen. And. Just seeing them raise multicultural children and bringing both of their cultures together and educating each other. But I just love that, I love these stories of like cross-cultural love and I've seen it in my own family a lot and it's always really inspired me.
Yeah.
And so seeing people connect and it that, that the fact that it transcends beyond the specific cultural groups in the movie, that's my favorite. It's really touching. Yes. Check that
box. Yeah.
It's really profound. Yeah. Yeah.
I'm always fascinated by seeing. Cross-cultural families and how they navigate what how they navigate blending their own culture and past, prior to meeting each other with like how they're raising their children.
And often they're raising their children in a different place than where either of them are from and maybe speaking different languages. And suddenly you like, I had this experience from living abroad and like seeing a Swedish person and an English person raising a family in Germany, right?
You are like, your kids are German, you're d something else. Like your family nucleus is like a whole mishmash of things. Like how do you pick and choose? You have to worry about it. Do you have this pressure from your families to make sure that this is happening or this isn't happening? And I just find it all fascinating.
Totally. Because there's
all these questions that. We all have to deal with on some level, and often we're not paying attention to it at the degree that they have to be mindful of it if they choose to.
Yeah. It's inventing your own culture Yes. With within your family and picking and choosing.
I think it's so cool, like multicultural couples are so cool because they can pick and choose from their respective traditions
And build something new within their own family. And I've seen that again in my own family so much. I have an uncle who's Iranian and he moved to Paris in the seventies, and then he met his wife in a.
ESL class in a foreign language class learning French. And she's from Japan. And so they got married and had two kids. And the kids are half Japanese, half Iranian, but they're French. Yeah. And that was, and like they're, it's such a funny household 'cause it's like there's a sushi night and then the next night it's Iranian food and then it's, and then, but then they're like, so French, it all of the, and and my own family and growing up in DC too, it's a very international city.
So my family's mixed a lot with Hispanic cultures, Jewish, African American, I mean there's everything. And so going to all of these multicultural weddings has, was also what inspired the Yeah. The story. 'cause I was like, this is really beautiful and. And in this time where it's just like such a divisive time.
Yeah. That I'm like, we really need to remember that, this exists and this is worth celebrating. And diversity is always, I have always seen it as such a promotion. Yes. Like it's such a bonus Yes. In our humanity. And to see that politically being deleted or it's just, it, I don't understand it
when when I was growing up I spent a lot of my elementary school years outside of Philadelphia and I remember celebrating everything.
Whatever holiday came up, if there was somebody in the world that was celebrating it, we did some sort of exercise on it. And to hear that some schools now are removing all cultural and religious and things. 'cause they're like, okay, if we can't celebrate, we have to celebrate nothing. I'm like, I think that's actually the opposite of what we're supposed to be doing.
I like learning about this stuff is fun, especially for kids. And I would rather celebrate all of it. It's a small world all the time and get to share and tell the stories. There's so much humanity in all of this. Like why are we taking the humanity part away? Especially when we just filled out our census online and it didn't, it just asked for our race plus any ethnic background notes that we knew.
And I'm like for crying out loud, like I need a paragraph. Like I am a second or longer generation American. So there's so many things that could be listed, and I'm one of the least diverse people in America at the same time. So how do we get to celebrate all of it?
Totally. I think that's, it's such a great, it's such an asset, really.
To be able to be a multicultural society and to have all these great rituals and food and ways of, celebrating that we can all that we can all incorporate in our own lives. Yeah. It just, yeah, it just doesn't make sense to me why we would, we wouldn't celebrate our diversity.
I just, yeah. I don't, yes. I feel like Canadian society, when I go there,
I'm just gonna go there.
The way they celebrate multiculturalism is it's my dream. Like I just there's so much correctness in the way they embrace multiculturalism.
And Canadian is at the same time.
Yes. Totally. Yes. When you see like their conservative president go to like the Sikh community in the in the garb and wish them a happy new year, you're like, this is their conservative party, and they're just like, they're just celebrating their traditions. 'cause it's like every ritual. Yes. And that's what I love about Sasha's book too, is it really is a celebration of ritual.
Yes.
And she talks about that a lot in her book. And I love that. I love that. It's I. Everyone needs to celebrate.
Everyone needs ritual. Yes. And it's it's something, every culture turns to that specific ritual for a reason. There's like a wisdom behind it. And so the fact that we can access that is just, it seems like a no brainer. It seems so cool to learn about it.
Yes. It I truly was about to bring up Canada as soon as you did.
I love that we're on the same page on this. 'cause I am so impressed at how they not only handle multiculturalism, but how they use their, national pr. To promote com cons multiculturalism to onboard people when they become Canadians, to still have a clear Canadian culture and to show how it can all live together.
I was there during in Montreal during the Olympics in January a couple years ago. And I would be working back at my hotel room after, meetings all day and my jaw would drop at how they were, what their commercials were between the Olympic performances. 'cause they were a mix of I think they truly had a campaign that was like what it means to be Canadian.
Like we're more than just nice, I think was the slogan. And then it would show all these different people who are Canadians different, everything. And the fact that they were all came back together that they were Canadians and they were nice. And I'm like, why don't we do internal PR in the us? What it know, it would make such a difference if the conversation was, look how different we are and look at how we're all nice.
Absolutely. Yeah. No, there's so much about the way they embrace multiculturalism. I wish we did in the Yes. In the United States, for sure.
Yeah. I think it also speaks to the fact that they accept how connected they are as a culture. Whereas unfortunately in the US so often we think like it's every man for themselves.
And I'm like, that is not true. That's not how it's ever been. We, none of America would've happened.
Yeah. Again,
coming full circle to why you need a team.
Yes. But
it's no, like there's so many people helping everyone all the time. Let's just acknowledge it.
Yeah. And whether we like it or not, as we can see with what's going on right now, we are so interconnected.
Like our wellbeing is directly impacted. Like we're just, we're all interconnected. Yes. By, it's, we can't, it's really impossible to isolate. Our humanity. It's just, we are, we need each other. Yes. We depend on each other and it's, yeah. And so I think multiculturalism is just, it's fun.
It's like a way to celebrate.
And learn from each other. I don't know. I feel like that was a message I really wanted to to tell in this movie. And it just, the timing, 'cause I ended up making it after Trump was elected and stuff. So I was like, I felt even more motivated to make the film.
Yeah. After the election.
And now that it is available, it's Amazon. And where else is it available? iTunes. iTunes. How has that changed your life, that your movie is available on Amazon?
That's new. We just wrapped up our theatrical literally on Friday.
Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah.
And, we got lucky 'cause of everything that's happening. It went into the streaming right in time before everyone was like quarantined.
And now that they're home, they can all watch it. Yeah. Yeah.
So the online sharing is new, so we'll see how that plays out in the next month or two.
But generally the response has been really loving. People have really appreciated the film and and romantic comedies are generally relaxing, it's not a stressful movie.
It's pretty fun and uplifting and and I love that it's, there are multi-generational storylines and that's been nice to just play to not just a multicultural audience, but a multi-generational one.
'Cause I think a lot of older people can access one of the storylines that's played by Rita Wilson. And she, they love that storyline. And I've gotten a lot of feedback from older women about that.
So just connecting with so many different types of people across cultures and age has been really Yeah.
Rewarding.
How has your life change going from New York to la?
I never wanted to move to la I never thought I was gonna take the plunge 'cause I was such a, I'm such an east coaster. Like I grew up in, in near DC and I was in New York and I love that east coast kind of groundedness and Me
too.
Yeah. And that, you're from Boston, right? Yeah. Yes. Yeah, I just, I love that culture. It just feels more on the ground, grounded and I just never thought I could leave it. And, but it was just time because. Our industry is entrenched in LA and Hollywood and it, there is a lot more going on here.
But I've surprisingly, I've really liked it. Yeah. I think the fact that it has been so much better for work has made me like the city more. The weather is really, it's really nice to like skip winter. Yes. But more than that I've, I feel really inspired by this city. There is a large Iranian presence in this city.
They all I guess this community came like in the seventies. And so connecting with the Iranian population in LA has been really interesting and they've been really supportive of me and my work. And especially getting this movie made. It's, they've been such a, an incredible community for me.
So I feel really inspired more than I thought I would be.
Living here.
No, that's amazing. It's, a city that has so much to offer when you go looking for it.
Yeah. It's all about the enclave here, it's it's and it's shot, it's weird. It surprisingly reminds me of Teran a lot.
It's a similar type of city in the sense that it's urban and it's dense, but it's a driving city. And, Tehran is similar. You you go, you drive and then you go to someone's house and then it's this whole world and it's it, and then the hills and the mountains are just, yeah.
It's, I can see maybe why they all came here. 'cause they're just, there's a similarity
geographically. Yeah. Yeah.
And just visually it reminds you of this urban city in the mountains. Yeah. But it's such a, and what I love about Los Angeles is it's very new, it's very inventive and it is they're not as.
Attached to tradition and like old, east Coast feels like more European.
Yeah.
So there's something innovative about California and Los Angeles that's inspiring.
There's definitely the element of freedom. Nothing is too crazy, nothing is nothing's unacceptable. Nothing's, almost impossible at this point either.
Whereas there are definitely a lot more rules and the way things maybe should be on the East coast sometimes.
Yeah. There's less history. I think in East Coast there's a little more, it's more historic and it's still, I think more connected to European culture. Whereas here it's just, it's so American, it's so new and Yeah.
And just innovative. So that part of it has been interesting. It's, it can be cool.
Yeah. We talked earlier about how important your girlfriends are. What is the impact having a close knit of women friends been for you and your life and the choices that you've made in it?
They're a lifeline.
They're just like the strong voices in my head that are constantly advocating for me and reminding me not to settle. And sell myself short. And yeah. I go to them for counsel. It's like having like a, like counselors? Yeah. All the time. And we just, and it's, we support each other through big decisions and, just gray areas, but I think, I have a friend who I met through, actually Sasha, through this. We had this women's group in New York, and, a lot of them are in the industry too. And so every time I make a creative decision, I like run it back by her. And I'm like, is this good?
Is this bad? Should I do this? And she just has the best advice. She's like a super very intelligent creative. And so she's been such a lifeline in my professional decisions.
Yes. And I imagine I believe that we're so bad sometimes I'm making good decisions for ourselves.
I couldn't imagine not having a network that I could, as you said, not settle for things and make sure you're pushing yourself where you need to, and also acknowledging yourself for like, all the awesome things that you do.
Totally. I also went to, in film school I found a group of women in film school.
They're all female filmmakers and we started a writing group at Columbia. 'Cause we graduated and we were like, oh my God, how are we gonna workshop our scripts? And because that was something we did in film school a lot was we workshopping our screenplays. And so we formed this group it's seven female screenwriters and we gave ourselves a name.
We're called the Bush Administration and we're a female group of writers and we workshop our screenplays through this group. And so that's also been really vital and just. Getting, being with female screenwriters and being able to workshop our scripts and it's the best feedback 'cause we've all had the same training.
Yeah. And it's just, that's also been like a fantastic group of women who have supported my writing and vice versa. And same with them. We just, we've, and a lot of our work has been made that we've workshopped within this group. Cool. So that's been, yeah. A really essential group for for my writing.
There's so much discussion about where women's roles are in the film and TV industry and based on the media, you would assume that there's five people working in the industry and they're all being suppressed. And how is it being in a woman in the industry, what do you see from the inside out and how do you think things, are things changing for the better?
Are they still have lots of improvement? What's real based on you on the ground?
I think there is a shift happening that feels genuine. It doesn't feel like a fad. I think after Me Too and Time's Up and these movements and these stories that have been exposed, there's no, I don't think it would be possible to go back to way to the way things were. So I think the shift is real. It's just gonna take a while. Because it's just it's uncomfortable for a lot of people to like to open the doors and, it's, it is gonna take a long time to have gender parody in Hollywood, but I think it, we're on our way and a lot of doors are opening up for women in writing, directing, producing everything.
But it's just it's sad that it had to get to this point where there's been, these stories that you hear. Yeah. It's just it's sad that it took, like criminal activity to like Yeah. To just, to balance things out. But it's new. You can see it in every industry, like just what we just saw with Elizabeth Warren and, it, it's just gonna take a long time to have a balance in power and it's, I think it's hard for even good men to relinquish power, because it, you do have to make room for all these new people and Yes. To have the same opportunities. But fundamentally the problem is, and I think this is the fundamental problem of female disempowerment, is women just don't have access to finances the way men do. And that's across the board.
Yes. Before sex and harassment and all this stuff, the root of it is we just don't have access to finances the way men do. When you hear these stories, you know about Harvey Weinstein and like these Yeah. The situations that these women were in, like they wouldn't be in those situations had they had access to financing for their projects.
It's it's just such a big problem. And I was just on this panel with other women and one was in the finance industry. One was in the NGO industry and I was representing Hollywood. And that was like what we concluded on this panel was just like. There's just a lack of access that we don't have and we've never had in history.
And that's part of, the problem. So if, if that starts to shift and if Hollywood is gonna be the first industry to lead the way, then that would be great. But it's, I think it's it's gonna take a while. Like I just directed my first episode of tv this show called Good Girls on NBC and that, that's like a, badass showrunner Jenna bands.
She's a really awesome showrunner. She's so smart. She's a feminist. Like she's just so cool. And so I got that gig through this initiative called the NBC Female Forward Program, which is an initiative that NBC has started for, to bring more women in and give them their first episodes. These initiatives help.
And a lot of people are like, oh, why couldn't you just get the job like a normal person, you made a film and you have a degree from Columbia. Like, why can't, why couldn't you just get your, why did you have to go through initiative? And I'm like it's just that's just where we are.
We have to go through initiatives right now and hopefully one day you can just get hired without going through an intense vetting process and program, that men don't have to go through. But, at least we have this right now. At least this is like taking a step forward and Yeah.
So we just, it's a
door that opened for you, why not take it?
Yeah. So I think, it's, time will tell, but I think I, it does feel like Hollywood is opening up to more women behind the camera, but also more stories that are. More new perspectives and new voices.
It
does seem like they're more curious now about diversity and inclusion in a kind of genuine way.
So we'll see.
When you landed the TV directing opportunity, was that a bucket list check for you? Like how exciting was that?
Oh, amazing. It was such a long vetting process. I interviewed for months it was, and then I had to shadow for months before I could do it. So it was like, I felt really ready by the time I was up to do it.
But it was, it definitely felt like, yeah, it felt big. It felt like, okay, a door just opened to me that, that I really wanted. And yeah, it was just, it was, it did feel like a big monumental moment. Yeah. It, it was great. And I had such a great experience. It's such a good show.
There's so many good people involved. It was just like a wonderful experience from top to bottom.
Being someone in the film industry, when have you had a fan girl moment or do you get them?
Oh my God, so many. I fan grill out so much.
Has there been a moment where you've embarrassed yourself or have you been able to keep it under control?
Oh my gosh. I, no, I try to keep it cool, but I'm just trying to think of my last major fan girl moment. I have so many, especially like in politics too, I
think.
When I've met Hillary Clinton, I like melted. I like, I was just like, oh my God. She's real. Yeah.
And she was, yeah, I definitely was amazed when I met her. Gosh. Yeah. I'm trying to think there, there's so many, the show I just worked on I love those women. I love the women that work on that show for
people who don't know who's on that show. Yeah.
Christina Hendricks, rta, may Whitman and the showrunners, Jenna Bands, who I'm a big fan of.
And then I met this writer, she wrote Reality Bites and I, that was like one of my favorite Love it movies as a teenager. And I, when I met her, I fangirled out. I was like, oh my God. I just that was such an iconic movie for me in the nineties. I was a nineties teen, so
Me too.
Yes. Yeah, all the time.
I'm just inspired by so many women. So many of them are my friends too. Like Sasha, I love Sasha. Like she is I'm her fan. I fangirl out.
Yeah. Yeah. No, it, for me, I was like, it was a moment of wait, somebody whose work I respected who I've never met said yes to my work. And then we had an amazing conversation.
I'm like, yep, we're gonna be friends forever. This is awesome. Yeah.
I, her mother, I just went to the premiere of Cosmos, her mother, I fan girl out. When I meet her, when I talk to her mother, she is oh my God. She's prophetic. She's just so incredible. I love hearing Andrea speak.
It's really inspiring. So those are the most recent moments where I felt really inspired.
When you think of powerful ladies, what is, what did those words mean to you, and what do they represent for you?
Self-reliance, perseverance. I think women who have vision and who are just positive and active in a really relentless way. Like they just won't stop. Yeah. So I'm really inspired by women who are Yeah. Who are just very persistent, and I love, I'm, I've never been so inspired by like female politicians as I am right now.
Like the, those superstars that we're seeing rise in politics is like riveting.
Yeah.
So I, that's something I follow very closely. Like the next female politician who, there's so many of them. This race was so close, there were so many good ones. I was a big Elizabeth Warren fan.
So I was. Definitely disappointed. But I followed her. She was just, I just, I don't know if you saw her interview with Rachel Maddow but it was just, she was, she ran a great campaign. She's intelligent, she's smart, she's age appropriate. She would've been a great voice to listen to every day, yeah. So yeah, I love seeing sort of women rise in politics.
I saw her give her first press release after declaring she wouldn't be running for president, and I felt it was so the, one of the most authentic moments of her speaking that I saw throughout the campaign, and I almost had wished it had come sooner.
But there is something when she said that the biggest impact to her. Was the fact that women and girls wouldn't see a president for at least four more years and she almost burst into tears. Like I so connected with that individual moment because whether I think we realize it on a daily basis or not, I do feel the the weight of like, how much more can we push?
How much more can we make sure is available to anyone regardless of gender or whatever else they have? And I know that for what's happened with the powerful ladies and how it's snowballed beyond, as you mentioned, like a thing for me to now this thing that other people wants and like hope keeps showing up like that.
The biggest pressure I feel for myself now is like making sure I keep delivering like the best thing possible for, everyone listening. And when she said that moment I was like, oh, like it's. This is so much bigger than the petty choices that often lead to any political decision that ends up coming up.
Yeah. You want to see it in your lifetime, I think it was a tough day. 'cause you were like, I actually, I work, I at this coworking space called the Jane Club Oh yeah. Which is June Rafael's space. And I, she's on our
list for the podcast. Oh yeah. I love
her and I love everything she's doing there.
And I, that day I was so glad I was there because I was with everyone and and there was some like weepy moments, but it just, it was so nice to be in a space with other women who have the same hopes and dreams of seeing more female leadership. It was a day where you're like, oh, it's never gonna be the right time.
It's never gonna be the right person. And there was a little bit of despair, but then it's gonna happen. It's gonna happen eventually, and it's just a matter of time. But I think a lot of people, men included, want to see more balance in power and more female leadership and it couldn't get any worse.
We couldn't do any worse. Yeah. And I think me being from Iran, which is a very patriarchal system and it's a country that like imploded, like in on, its in itself for variety of reasons, but it's really it's just such a dream to, to be, to see more women
In.
In leadership roles, particularly in politics,
with your passion for that and your background in journalism and the storytelling and making sure all voices are heard, does it drive you to wanna be in politics ever?
I, I thought, growing up in DC you're just, you're political. I'm Iranian, so I'm inherently a political person.
I, yeah. I'm, I listened to, my, you grew up just talking about politics at a very young age, because Iran was so troubled politically, and there was so much so much of it had to do with religion and gender.
It's woven into your story.
Yeah. And you become very politically aware as a young very young, like before even you're a teenager, you're, because it's just, your family is talking about it and it's affecting your reality.
Like the fact that we had to immigrate and yes, we fled war and we migrated, and we had to. Become immigrants and it's just, and it was all because of political reasons. So you become aware politically very early. And I grew up in DC and so even like in high, you all my, my, I have a good group of girlfriends, core group of girlfriends from my childhood.
And and they're also very involved. Most of them have become attorneys and we talk about politics a lot. I don't think I'll, I think I am, I don't think I'll go into politics. I never wanted to go to law school, but I'm, I feel like making my own political impact through the movies I wanna make and the stories.
I'm telling and the way I hope to influence culture.
Yeah.
And it started out with a romantic comedy, it's I just, it's funny 'cause everyone's you're so serious. Why did you make a romantic comedy? I'm like, no. I just, I wanted to reach as many people as I could.
And I wanted to do that within a popular genre. And,
you've also done music videos, like you've directed a wide variety of not platforms, but what would you call it? Types? Yeah, I've done documentaries.
And I directed a documentary series for MTV about a female Iranian heavy metal singer who was a really amazing artist, very radical woman who was very brave.
And what's that called? It's called, the show was called Rebel Music. And it was a docuseries about rebel musicians in conflict countries. The episode I did was about this heavy metal artist from Iran who was exiled and is now living as a refugee in Turkey and her journey as a heavy metal vocalist.
And she had a mohawk, like she was a super rad Yeah woman and she was very brave. And I really, I love directing that. I had a co-director named Rosanna, who's also a cool f feminist director. And I love doing that. But yeah, I just wanna tell women's stories and the genre that the vehicle doesn't really matter for me, whether it is like a documentary or a romantic comedy or a political drama, or a historical period drama.
I just wanna tell female forward stories because. We need to, they're just, we don't see them as much as we should, and we don't hear them as much as we should,
and they don't because women are not just serious and significant. Like it's okay that they're mixed with the normal and the mundane and the silly and the romantic part too.
I think I think there's a. Trying to write what women are is really just really opening the door that like, we're all of it. So like, why wouldn't we tell stories in all of these spaces?
Yeah. We represent half of the world population, if not more often. Yeah. And we deserve to see ourselves represented.
So that's, I think my vocation it's what drives me to be a filmmaker and a storyteller. Is just to represent just new voices and new stories. And right now I'm getting sent a lot of scripts. I never thought I would direct other people's screenplays. But now I'm like, I'm getting sent so many scripts, the and I'm reading them and I'm like, this is amazing.
This is there's so many female writers that have stories. About their own experiences across industries. Like I just read this screenplay about a woman in Silicon Valley and like her, her trials and tribulations of trying to get a startup off the ground. It's just incredible.
There's so many stories like that and they all deserve to be made and seen and celebrated and so yeah, that's really what drives me.
And so I'm curious now what you're up to next, that your most recent movie is now available online. We can all watch it and what's next? Are you picking a script to Direct Next?
Are you doing your own project?
Both. I'm I am going up for some directing jobs that where I would direct. Other female scripts. And some of them are male scripts too. I don't wanna I men in my life are so feminist. My friend group of men are just like, they're so incredible.
And I wanna represent them too. 'cause that's also I tried to do that in the movie. There's this archetype of ma milit, like militant male feminists that are just like, so amazing. And I'm lucky I'm friends with so many of them, but so I don't wanna divide Yeah.
In that sense. But you don't either. Yeah. But yeah, I might be directing, other people's scripts. I'm also writing a lot, I'm writing my own screenplays and I have a feature and a pilot I'm working on, and so I'm just writing as much as I can right now and also reading. And so it's just a time to be reading and writing right now for me.
For people who would love to write a screenplay, how do they begin?
Again, it starts with the story. Yeah. And the character. For me, actually it starts with a character first. Somebody that I'm just totally fascinated with, and I wanna see them go on an emotional journey. So I would say, who is your story about?
And what is their emotional journey? And I would start from there and then plot and all that comes after you've really answered these two fundamental questions
to answer those two questions and just start writing and see where it goes. Yeah. I think
it's like, who is your character and what is their emotional journey?
I think that those that's the first place to start. And 'cause you can learn, even if you didn't go to film school, you can write a screenplay. You can there's so many books. There's like online, there's masterclasses,
yeah.
It's really just it's like the character and this and the emotional journey that really is the skeleton of of a movie.
We ask everyone on the show where they put themselves in the powerful lady scale zero being average everyday human, and 10 being the most powerful lady you can imagine. Where would you put yourself today and where would you think you would put yourself on average?
Oh my God, I have to rate myself.
Oh my God. I don't know. Today versus like in the future
or in the past? Yeah. On an average day, where would you put yourself in today? Where do you put yourself?
Yeah. In the past I definitely feel, in the past I felt like I was maybe like a five, four or five, and I feel higher in the scale now.
Because I did manage to push a truck up a mountain and test my limits. And you have work out in the world. Yeah. Yeah, totally. You it's something I think I question, and I think a lot of women question is their ability, their own abilities, their own capabilities to be self-reliant.
And to be independent. And that's something that I think I really question more. And as I get older, I feel more confident in my abilities to be independent. And that's something that is, I'm looking forward to in the future, is just gaining more confidence in your judgment and in your, and your capability. And it's also like experience and age helps.
Yes.
But I think as women we struggle with it a little bit more.
The, are we, am I making the right choice kind of conversations? Yeah. Just
Just confidence is I think something we struggle with more an entitlement.
Because even everything that's happened in the last five years with like Me Too. Look, I mean like those were strong, powerful women. Yes. That should not have been in those situations, but they were Why?
Because. They didn't have the entitlement and confidence that they could, get their projects made or they could do what they wanted to do.
There's so much disempowerment. And I think, when I see the younger generations, my cousin now is in at NYU Film School and she's 20. And when I hear her talk the way she speaks, it's it's, I feel so hopeful that she is gonna be coming into the industry in a post Time's Up
Yeah.
Era. And and hopefully she won't face those, ridiculous challenges. It'll just she'll feel more entitled.
So that's something I hope in the future it'll be like a 10. Yeah. You're getting there. Yeah. Yeah.
What are things that you put into practice to keep yourself at your best and in your most powerful state?
Health and wellness and self care is essential.
What does that mean to you?
Diet, exercise, women's groups, just, conferencing with my strong female powerful women's clubs. Yeah. Whether it's like my, New York crew or my film school crew, my home homegirl crew.
It's just their lifeline. So they're part of my self-care really. Talking to my mother and my aunt and, just really conferencing with other strong women. So it's really, health, diet, exercise, meditation.
And my female cohort.
All the ladies, all the, we're so lucky that we are like, comfortable, having these groups.
'cause sometimes my partner was like, he didn't have a group like this, yeah. And I'm like, I think as women we are we feel more comfortable conferencing. And it's such a lifeline. I'm trying to get, my dad is retired now. I'm trying to get him to have a male cohort, yes. I'm like, you need like a man's group. Yes. You guys need like a book club. You need to talk about, things that you guys are going through and you need to be with other people you age who are at the same stage of life. Because it's really therapeutic. And so and they just still he never had that, and I'm like, I keep trying to form like a fraternity for him, but
I totally understand.
Even our our brothers 25. And I'm like, you should be coming to the Powerful ladies events, but you need your own events. Yeah. Who, who are your people? And not that he does have his friends and a crew that he, goes back to for support, but I think it's different when, women seeking community, I think is very, it's automatic.
It's natural for us. And I think also because there's always, we wanna be learning what else we need to know. It's more natural, I think also. At least our generation where like mentorship started becoming encouraged. I'm to be around women who are up to amazing things like that lights me up.
It inspires me for whatever I'm up to. It's, I see the opportunity to connect and support and help each other. And I'm like, I hope men are doing this. Because we don't, we're not looking for the pendulum to swing the opposite way.
No,
we want everyone to we want balance.
Have their people. Yes.
Yeah. We just want balance. We want the scales to balance, that's all. We don't want more, or Yeah. It's, and it's really wonderful to see all these spaces that have been created in the last few years the Jane Club and the Wing. And there's so many more.
And I think these are, these spaces that have just been created recently are very much a reaction to the these movements that have surfaced in the last few years. So they've been so much good, has come out of those stories.
Yes.
And I think it's, we're only gonna go up in the spectrum of feeling more confident and powerful.
100%. Is there anything else that we haven't touched on that you would love to share with everyone listening right now?
Oh my gosh. I dunno. I don't I don't think so. I think that we did. Yeah. We covered all Perfect. My movies on Amazon and iTunes. It's called A Simple Wedding.
I'll just do a little promo plug at the end. Sure. So please please download it and enjoy it. It's a nice lighthearted rom com that this shows some new faces on the screen, so
I like that. Yes. Thank you so much for being a Yes to powerful ladies and sharing your story with all of us. Powerful ladies that are recommended by other powerful ladies really are my favorite and I'm so excited to have a new friend in LA and likewise.
And see how we can support you. Yes, thank
you so much. Thanks for having me on the show. Thank you. Thank you.
It was such a pleasure to meet and chat with Sara from how we're all connected through our humanity. To how storytelling only works when you're truly committed, and her passion for telling the great stories that exist out there right now. I feel so many parallels to my own perspective and drive and why I built powerful ladies.
That it's such a nice thing to find another sister in arms. I'm also so excited for you guys to go and watch her film The Simple Wedding. It is so good. We watched it this past weekend and I'm glad that all of you can enjoy it and have a little happiness during this quarantine. Go and watch it now to connect, support and follow.
Sara. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter at Sara zendaya. You can also go to her website Sara zendaya.com and we're gonna have all the links in the show notes at the power.com/podcast that include her Facebook, LinkedIn, email, and of course all the links to her things on iTunes and Amazon.
I hope you've enjoyed this new episode of The Powerful Ladies Podcast. If you're a yes to powerful ladies and want to support us, you can subscribe to this podcast anywhere you listen to podcast. Make sure to give us a five star rating and leave a powerful review on Apple Podcasts. You can also be one of our Patreons for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/powerful.
Ladies, we can get access to exclusive content that we're making just for you. Follow us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube page, and of course, visit our website, the powerful ladies.com for all the latest news details and updates. I'd like to thank our producer and audio engineer Jordan Duffy.
Without her, this wouldn't be possible. You can follow her on Instagram at Jordan K. Duffy. Thank you all so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Until then, I hope we're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love. This episode of The Powerful Ladies is Made Possible by our Patreon subscribers.
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Episode 242: Rewriting the Rules of Hollywood: How a Female-Led Production House Is Making Movie Magic on Their Terms | Hayley Young, Rose Julian & Bhavishya Sharadhi of Curator Pictures
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Email: szandieh@gmail.com
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
