Category: Entertainment

Midway through this year, the reproductive rights of folks with uteruses living in the U.S. suffered a cataclysmic regression when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. Now, with at least 33 million Americans without access to safe abortion care, how has this seismic change in our reality been reflected in entertainment? This is the central question of the latest study from Abortions Onscreen, a research initiative from the University of California San Francisco’s Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH). 

The fifth annual report “Abortions Onscreen in 2022” documents several key discoveries, including a continued trend of increased abortion portrayals on TV, with 60 abortion plotlines or mentions from 52 different TV shows, a notable spike from 47 plotlines from 42 shows in 2021. This year’s edition also saw a historic first in abortion representation: one third of plotlines (33%) depict logistical barriers that patients face when accessing safe abortion. While these stats may sound encouraging, Abortions Onscreen concludes that TV continued to misrepresent abortion patients demographically, tellings stories of characters who are whiter and wealthier than real-life counterparts. 

The study’s method involves researchers watching each scripted or reality series containing abortion, analyzing them by the metrics abortion of safety, the demographics of characters seeking abortions, type of abortion, reasons for obtaining abortions, and the difficulty or ease with which abortion care is accessed. The type of abortion content is categorized as either a joke, consideration, discussion, or an entire plotline on the procedure. The trends are then compared with the on-screen depictions from prior years, per the study design.

In terms of series genres, Abortion Onscreen discovered that 50% of abortion plotlines occurred on dramas, with comedies (19%), medical dramas (11%), and reality television (7%) following behind.

The report records 20 storylines that portray the contemporary obstacles to access that patients face, including long distance drives to clinics, such as the “Jackson” episode of “P-Valley,” and gestational limits, as seen on drama series “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” and reality program “Life After Lockup.” Abortion Onscreen found that illegality remains most commonly portrayed barrier (40%), in keeping with previous analyses.

“Prior to the 2022 television season, the majority of characters who obtained abortions on television did so with few of the legal, financial, or logistical barriers that plague abortion access in the United States,” the report reminds us. “Importantly, several of these plotlines included compounding barriers, like portraying a character who needs to travel across state lines for abortion care while also raising the money to pay for the abortion, negotiating time off work, and arranging for childcare.”

The on-screen representation of barriers is not without its problematic elements, though. Characters seeking abortions in “FBI: Most Wanted” and “Law & Order,” for example, either die or kill others in the process of obtaining an abortion, the report points out. “Whether intentional or not, this equates abortion both with death and criminal behavior,” the study emphasizes.

Based on their analysis, Abortion Onscreen confirms that TV depictions of abortion continue to distort the demographic reality of abortion patients. The study reports a 58% majority of white cisgender women characters seeking care, though they make up only about one-third of abortion patients in the country. This figure is compared with eight plotlines (23%) that include Black characters either obtaining or disclosing past abortions, which is a historic high but still fails to represent the Black folks who make up 33% of the total patient population.

What the report finds “most disappointing” in such misrepresentation is its erasure of BIPOC, economically disadvantaged folks who are disproportionately impacted by barriers to abortion access. “On television, the vast majority (80%) of characters who faced barriers to abortion care were white and portrayed as middle class (45%) or wealthy (35%), a distinct departure from real life in which the majority of patients who face barriers to abortion care identify as people of color and are living at or below the Federal Poverty Line,” the report details.

Despite the strides made in TV by way of coverage and visibility of abortion care, Abortion Onscreen’s report suggests that not all representation is good representation. There remains blindspots in these portrayals, opportunities to validate the lived experiences of the most marginalized abortion patients by prioritizing their stories: “We hope these shows and others continue to build on these depictions by giving main characters abortion plotlines instead of only guest actors and working to reflect the reality of abortion patients in the U.S,” the report emphasizes.

“Television and film help people make sense of the world,” lead researcher Steph Herold told The 19th. “It’s important to know what messages the media are conveying about abortion, particularly right now in such a politically precarious moment for abortion rights.” 

Highlights from the “Abortion Onscreen in 2022” report are below. To see the complete list of abortion on scripted and reality TV, read the full report here.

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• We documented at least 60 abortion plotlines or mentions over the course of January-December 2022 from 52 distinct television shows, outnumbering 2021 (47 abortion plotlines in 42 shows) and any previous year. Half (50%) of these plotlines occurred on dramas (including eight foreign dramas), with abortion plotlines on comedies (19%), medical dramas (11%), and reality television (7%) contributing as well. Below, we analyze themes across these plotlines and how they comport both with the reality of abortion access and past representations.
• In a historic first, one third of plotlines portrayed barriers to abortion access. This year, we documented at least twenty plotlines (33%) that portrayed some of the more common barriers to abortion care. Most notably, we documented more plotlines than ever before portraying contemporary obstacles to abortion care and the overwhelmingly negative impact they have on patients, including long distance drives to abortion clinics (“P-Valley,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “New Amsterdam,” “Law & Order,” “Life After Lockup”), gestational limits (“Pretty Little Liars,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Law & Order,” “Life After Lockup,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) and even the first ever depiction of an abortion fund volunteer (“Law & Order”).
• Our previous research found that the most commonly portrayed barrier is illegality, and our analysis this year comports with that finding. Of this year’s plotlines that do depict barriers, the most commonly portrayed one was still illegality (on eight plotlines, about 40%).
• Abortion patients on television continue to misrepresent abortion patients demographically, especially when it comes to who faces barriers to care. Television has long misrepresented who gets abortions, choosing to tell the stories of characters who are whiter and wealthier than their real life counterparts. This trend remains the same for the 2022 abortion plotlines; of the characters who obtained abortions, the majority (58%) were white cisgender women. This is about 10% fewer white characters than in 2021, yet in reality, white women make up only about one-third of the abortion patient population in the U.S.
• Past patterns of demographic discrepancies between onscreen representations and real abortion patients persist as in years past; the majority (59%) of abortion patients are parenting at the time of their abortion, whereas only 18% of this year’s abortion plotlines included characters raising children at the time of their abortion. This continues to erase the very common experience of parents who obtain abortions, and perpetuates the false dichotomy between raising children and having abortions.
• Television plotlines continue to feature few portrayals of common abortion methods. Medication abortion makes up more than half of all U.S. abortions, yet only 4 plotlines (6%) specifically portrayed a character having an abortion by pill. Of those, both Station 19 and Grey’s Anatomy included dialogue from clinician characters stating the accurate abortion pill protocol, which may contribute to increased knowledge among viewers about medication abortion. No plotlines portrayed characters safely self-managing an abortion with pills.

Todd & Julie Chrisley are making it crystal clear that Chloe Chrisley‘s biological mother has no legal rights to the 10-year-old!

As we previously reported, the pair adopted the daughter of their estranged son Kyle Chrisley back in 2016 after her biological mom lost custody. Angela Johnson gave up her rights after being arrested for allegedly filing a false application for Medicaid, making it easy for a judge to grant custody to the Chrisleys. But after Todd and Julie were sentenced to 12 and 7 years, respectively, for tax fraud, the math changed.

Related: Lindsie Says She’s ‘Heartbroken And Devastated’ About Parents’ Prison Sentence

Angela shared with TMZ her intentions “to go back to court” and regain custody of Chloe. The Chrisley Knows Best star clapped back at the mother, telling People in a statement:

“Todd and Julie are saddened by the unfortunate and misleading narrative currently being portrayed in the media regarding Chloe.”

A pointed but rather tame response, considering. But Todd and Julie aren’t holding back their feelings on the matter now! During an episode of their Chrisley Confessions podcast on Wednesday, the couple slammed Angela’s efforts to get custody again, this time with some real teeth! First, they say they haven’t heard from her since 2017:

“It’s ironic that her biological mother would come forward now when she has not been in her life since 2015. Angela Johnson surrendered her parental rights on March of 2017, and we never heard from her again. Chloe was legally adopted by myself and by Julie. She is legally our child. We will be the ones who decide, if and when the time comes, as to who will be her caregiver. We’re not going to discuss who that’s going to be, because we don’t owe that to the world and that’s our private matters. At the end of the day, Chloe’s family is who Chloe has been raised with.”

On the one hand that seems fair, but also… they didn’t complain when Angela’s legal troubles caused her to lose custody. Should the same happen here?

Not according to Todd! While the family is going through a tough time after Julie and Todd’s sentencing and now this potential custody battle, the 53-year-old reality star vowed to make sure the child’s life is “unaltered” as much as possible:

“Chloe is a very bright, intelligent, charismatic, funny, beautiful child, who has a heart of compassion. Her life is going to be as unaltered as it possibly can be based on what Julie and I have the ability to control.”

Focusing the conversation back on Angela, Todd stressed that she has zero rights to Chloe since she gave them up five years ago:

“Angela Johnson, she literally surrendered her rights to her child. She did this in front of a judge. The judge explained to her, ‘You understand what you’re doing? You understand that you’re surrendering the rights to your child?’ And then explained that she had x amount of days to come back in and rescind that. [The judge] asked her in the hearing that day, ‘Has anyone promised you anything financial? Has anyone threatened you?’ The answer to all of that is no and that’s in writing. It’s in a court document. We’re not posting court documents because they are supposed to be private.”

He then insisted:

“Just so the record is very, very clear. Angela Johnson has no rights to Chloe. Her rights were terminated. She has been legally adopted.”

Although Angela gave up her “rights” to the kid, Todd alleged he and Julie have attempted to have a relationship with the mom, even going as far as to give her money, a home, a car, and funds to attend nursing school:

“We tried to do the right thing with Angela. We provided her housing for her to get on her feet at some point when she was homeless. I did not want to have to say to Chloe when she was 18 years old that I allowed her mother to be in the streets. I did not owe this to her mother. I did not owe this to go out here and provide housing for her. All the woman had to do was pay the $258 a month in the HOA fee for the condo we bought for her to live in until Chloe was 18 years old. At that point, the condo would’ve reverted back to Chloe and Chloe could’ve done whatever she wanted to with it.”

He continued:

“She could’ve allowed Angela to live there or she could’ve sold it and done what she wanted to with the money. The woman would not even pay the $258 a month. I’ve given this woman money to go to school for nursing, only to find out that she never completed any of it. She was just using us for the money.”

Seems quite generous if true! Sorry if we don’t consider Todd Chrisley a very reliable source anymore…

Furthermore, Todd claimed that Angela would not show up to see Chloe when she did have joint custody with the television personalities — leading them to move forward with the adoption:

“When she didn’t have a car in the initial beginning, when we got joint custody of Chloe with Angela, Angela didn’t have a car that would get her back and forth. We bought her a car, a Toyota Prius, and gave it to her free and clear for her to be able to meet Julie every other week in Commerce, which was halfway, Commerce, Georgia. She wouldn’t show up half the time. She would never even call and tell us that she wasn’t showing up. Julie would drive that hour and a half there, sit and wait in the parking lot for 45 minutes. She wouldn’t answer the phone. We didn’t know anything. And then I would tell Julie, ‘Bring her back home.’ That’s what prompted us to move forward with the adoption.”

While Angela claimed to TMZ she was “pushed out of” Chloe’s life, Todd asserted on the podcast that wasn’t true:

“Angela terminated her rights voluntarily. She wasn’t threatened. She wasn’t coerced. And then for me to see… that she’s now trying to squeeze out five minutes of fame out of herself to put herself back out here. What she needs to do is spend more time trying to find a better wig and less time trying to go out here and get more time on the camera.”

The podcast host then concluded his rant about the situation by threatening Angela that they’ve kept all their communication from over the years and will release them if they have to:

“I know you listen to this, Angela. What you need to do is understand that I have retained every text message, and so does Julie, with any communication that we’ve ever had with you. We have not released those, but if we need to we will. That’s just drawing our line in the sand. You have had no relationship with Chloe. She does not have any relationship with you. You’ve never reached out to talk to her. You’ve never sent her a Christmas gift or a birthday gift. You’ve never done anything for her.”

Whoa…

At this time, Angela has not filed any documents but told TMZ she’s “in the process of getting some legal papers” submitted. We’ll have to see what happens next with this situation, but it sounds like Todd and Julie aren’t going down without a fight. For now, though, Chloe and her 16-year-old brother Grayson Chrisley will remain in the custody of Savannah Chrisley.

Thoughts on the situation, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments.

[Image via USA Network/Entertainment Tonight/TMZ/YouTube]

It’s Wednesday Addams’ world, and we’re just living in it. Jenna Ortega takes on the beloved role in the Netflix series Wednesday, which was released on November 23. Wednesday made a splash with the biggest opening week ever on Netflix for an English language series. After the show officially crossed one billion hours watched in three weeks, Netflix executive Peter Friedlander revealed that he feels “optimistic” about a season 2.

The opening credits were unveiled on November 8, just a few weeks before the show’s premiere. Christina Ricci also revealed EXCLUSIVELY to HollywoodLife how she feels about Jenna’s performance as the character she once played. Emma Myers also told HollywoodLife what to expect from Wednesday’s roommate, Enid Sinclair.

“Wednesday is currently a teenager, and we’ve never seen her as a teenager before,” Jenna said in a statement. “Her snarky, snide remarks might not necessarily sound as charming when they’re coming from somebody who should probably know better than a 10-year-old girl. That was a balancing act. We didn’t want to make her sound like every other teenage girl, but we also didn’t want to make her too ignorant. And we’ve never seen her on screen this much. Any other time you’ve seen Wednesday, she’s been the one-liner, the end of a joke, she always hits it, and I think that’s what people really love about her. But in this show, every scene is Wednesday. There’s an opportunity to give her a bit more dimension, and she becomes a bit more of a real person, which I don’t think we’ve ever seen before.”

While there have been so many depictions of the Addams Family, none have ever focused solely on Wednesday — until now. HollywoodLife has all the latest updates about Netflix’s Wednesday, including what we know about its release date, cast, and more.

Will There Be A Wednesday Season 2?

With the show’s massive debut, fans are already wondering about season 2. Netflix has not officially announced whether or not Wednesday will return for season 2, but it’s practically a sure thing.

Wednesday showrunner Miles Millar revealed that he and co-showrunner Alfred Gough already have plans for multiple seasons. “For us, it’s always looking at the future, and when we sit down to create a show, it’s looking at multiple seasons, ideally,” Miles told Variety. “That’s never expected, but that’s the anticipation that hopefully the show is successful. So you always lay out at least three or four seasons’ worth of potential storylines for the characters. It can evolve and change. Often, you want to see which characters or cast pop and who you like to write for. So you want to keep it open and organic enough to change it and evolve, but we certainly have a pretty clear runway of what we want to do in future seasons.”

Peter Friedlander, head of Netflix’s U.S. and Canada scripted series, spoke to Variety in December 2022 about season 2. “You may know what I’m going to say — but I have nothing to confirm at this time. I am optimistic about ‘Wednesday.’ We’ll leave it at that,” he said. Peter also called the series a “cultural phenomenon” and acknowledged how much it’s blown up. “The resurgence, for me, it’s something that’s been in the culture for a long time — but never this pronounced,” he said. “It’s something that we want to study and understand why this is such a phenomenon.”

HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Hunter Doohan, who plays Tyler, about what he’d to see from his character. Tyler was last seen about to Hyde out while chained up in an armored car. “I just want to explore what’s next for Tyler, and if he’s going to come back after Wednesday,” he told HL. “I guess the idea left at the end is that he’s really pissed off enough to transform in that armed vehicle and I assume escape.”

What Is Wednesday Based On?

Wednesday, like the rest of her frightening family members, was created by cartoonist Charles Addams for illustrations in The New Yorker, starting in the 1930s. The Addams Family consists of Gomez and Morticia Addams, their children Wednesday and Pugsley, other family members Uncle Fester and Grandmama, and their butler Lurch. They are depicted as a wealthy but odd aristocratic family who doesn’t care that other people perceive them as frightening and scary. The Addams Family has been adapted over the years into countless media projects, including the ’90s film franchise that featured Christina as Wednesday. For the 2019 animated film and its sequel, Wednesday was voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz. There was also a Broadway show based on the Addams family that starred Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth and was nominated for two Tony Awards. The Addams family truly has had a massive impact on pop culture.

Wednesday Trailers & Footage

On November 8, Netflix released the opening credit sequence for Wednesday. Netflix noted that the credits were “guided by Tim Burton and set to Danny Elfman’s haunting score.”

Feast your eyes on Wednesday’s killer opening credit sequence, which was creatively guided by Tim Burton and set to Danny Elfman’s haunting score pic.twitter.com/VR3uunaXiM

— Netflix (@netflix) November 8, 2022

The official trailer debuted during the show’s New York Comic Con panel on October 8. Wednesday heads to Nevermore Academy, and she couldn’t be less thrilled. “I act as if I don’t care if people dislike me. Deep down… I actually enjoy it,” she says. The show’s Uncle Fester, played by Fred Armisen, is revealed in the trailer.

Wednesday has a gut feeling that there’s “something wrong” with Nevermore. She vows that she won’t “stop until I find the truth.” Christina Ricci, who previously played Wednesday, pops up in the final moments of the trailer. She plays Ms. Thornhill, who works at Nevermore Academy.

Name a more dynamic duo than Wednesday Addams and Thing. I’ll wait. #TUDUM pic.twitter.com/umruHWkHsP

— Netflix (@netflix) September 24, 2022

During Netflix’s TUDUM event on September 24, new footage of Wednesday was revealed in a nearly two-minute clip. Wednesday is in her room and finds Thing being a little mischievous. She catches Thing and demands to know why he’s here. Thing was sent by her parents to spy on her.

Wednesday gives Thing two options, one of which includes pledging his “undying loyalty” to her. Thing chooses loyalty. She wants to escape Nevermore Academy. “Our first order of business is to escape this teenage purgatory. Of course, I have a plan. And it begins now,” Wednesday tells her partner in crime.

Netflix revealed the main teaser on August 17. When Pugsley gets bullied at school, Wednesday plots her revenge. “The only person who gets to torture my brother is me,” Wednesday tells a group full of boys before dropping two bags of piranhas in the pool. Naturally, she gets expelled.

Wednesday is taken to Nevermore Academy, where her parents met. Her mother, Morticia Addams, tells Wednesday that she’ll “finally” be among peers who “understand” her. She meets plenty of people along the way and ultimately thinks she’ll like Nevermore.

The first official teaser trailer for Wednesday dropped on June 6 during Netflix’s Geeked Week. The trailer and a newly-released photo gave fans a first look at Jenna as the titular character. Jenna embodies Wednesday with her signature braided pigtails and black polka dot dress with a white collar. Thing also makes a quick appearance on Wednesday’s left shoulder.

The official Wednesday synopsis reads: “Wednesday is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting 16-year-old Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Season one will follow Wednesday as she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the murder mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.”

Wednesday Release Date

Netflix has confirmed that Wednesday will premiere on November 23, 2022. The first season will consist of 8 episodes that will debut all on the same day. Wednesday will be available to stream only on Netflix.

Wednesday Cast & Crew

Wednesday will feature a very talented cast. Jenna Ortega, known for her roles in You, Yes Day, Scream, and The Fallout, will star as Wednesday. Jenna shared the news of her casting on Instagram in May 2021.

“New chapter. Hope I can do Wednesday Addams justice. *snaps twice*,” she wrote, alongside a photo of her holding a script for the show. The photo has since been deleted.

In a featurette released by Netflix on August 24, Jenna revealed that the show begins with Wednesday getting expelled from school for attempted murder and sent to Nevermore, where she has to “navigate her way through this new school, new relationships. But then also, she’s dealing with this serious investigation involving serial killers and murders and monsters.”

Jenna also noted that it was important to her to do something “different” from past iterations of the character. “She’s a bit more socially awkward. There’s a confidence there, but it’s more concealed,” she said. “Wednesday is technically a Latina character and that’s never been represented, so for me, any time that I have the opportunity to represent my community I want that to be seen.”

Catherine Zeta-Jones will play Wednesday’s mother, Morticia Addams. Luis Guzman has been cast as Wednesday’s father, Gomez Addams, though only in a guest star role. Wednesday’s brother, Pugsley Addams, will be played by Isaac Ordonez.

Uncle Fester will be played by Saturday Night Live alum Fred Armisen. The actor shaved his head to play the iconic character. “They really did such a great job with the makeup and everything. I had no eyebrows. It was prosthetics over my eyebrows to give me that look,” Fred told Vanity Fair. “But I think that bald caps don’t look great all the time, so I was hoping to just make it that much more convincing.”

The main cast also includes Game of Thrones alum Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems, Ricki Lindhome as Dr. Valerie Kinbott, Jamie McShane as Sheriff Donovan Galpin, Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin, Georgie Farmer as Ajax Petropolus, Moosa Mostafa as Euge Otinger, Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair, Naomi J. Ogawa as Yoko Tanka, Joy Sunday as Bianca Barclay, Percy Hynes White as Xavier Thorpe, and Victor Dorobantu as Thing. Thora Birch (Hocus Pocus) was previously cast as Tamara Novak, Wednesday’s dorm mother, but she had to exit the series in December 2021. “Thora has returned to the States to attend to a personal matter and will not be returning to the production,” a rep for MGM Television, which is producing the show, told Deadline in a statement.

HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY to Emma ahead of the show’s premiere about Enid and Wednesday’s friendship. “I think Enid and Wednesday both kind of take from each other. I think they both teach each other very important lessons like Enid teaches Wednesday that she can feel emotions and she can cry and still be a badass and still be strong. Wednesday teaches Enid how to stand up for herself and to just be okay with who she is. So I think they really bring out the best in each other, and I think it’s great that they became roommates,” Emma told HollywoodLife.

In March 2022, it was officially confirmed that Christina Ricci would return to The Addams Family franchise and appear in Wednesday. As reported by Deadline, Christina is playing a new character and not an older version of Wednesday. Christina teased more about her role in an August 2021 interview with Variety. “I was really flattered to be asked and to be asked by Tim,” the Yellowjackets star said. “It’s nice to be a part of this next iteration of that character. It’s fun to watch and it’s fun to see other people’s takes on things and what they put of themselves into something like that.”

HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Christina about being a part of this new chapter and Jenna’s performance. “It’s really exciting, and it’s really fun. From the moment I saw this sort of new interpretation of her look, I was like, oh my God, that’s so smart and so cool,” Christina said. “And then to see her performance… it’s really great. It’s a really great, modern take on it. It feels more timely and appropriate. She has that sort of self-respect and dignity that really is at the core of Wednesday. All of her choices are so smart. I have so much respect for Jenna, and I think people are going to love her as Wednesday.”

Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville) are the creators of Wednesday. Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns) is directing the series in his TV directorial debut. Alfred, Miles and Tim are also executive producers, alongside Jon Glickman, Andrew Mittman, Gail Berman, Kayla Alpert and Steve Stark.

Development Details

Wednesday was initially announced in October 2020, as an unnamed The Addams Family project under Tim Burton. After the showrunners and executive producers came on board, Netflix officially gave the project a series order of eight episodes in February 2021. Filming began that September in Bucharest, Romania. The show wrapped in early 2022.

In the recent featurette, Tim pointed out that in the past incarnations of Wednesday Addams “it’s been very cartoony. So in this longer form, we just tried to give it a reality which I loved.”

The series has been described as a “coming-of-age comedy” with “a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery” focusing on Wednesday during her high school years at Nevermore Academy, according to Deadline. The show’s official longline, previously released by Netflix, reads, “Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.”

Miles Millar, co-showrunner and executive producer, noted: “It’s very important to us that it wasn’t a remake or a reboot, that this is a new chapter of Wednesday Addams’ life.” Alfred Gough, also a co-showrunner and executive producer, added that this show is really about “exploring” Wednesday’s “journey into adulthood.”

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Alison Star Locke began her writing career as a story producer for reality TV and has written, directed, and produced numerous shorts. Her favorite, “Shhhhhhh…,” was laureled-up by the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Denver Film Festival. Her script “The Projectionist” won second place at Slamdance in the Horror/Thriller category. Her scripts have placed in numerous contests, including the BloodList, Nicholls, Screamfest, Women In Horror Film Festival, Scriptapalooza, and Fright Night. 

“The Apology” will be in theaters and available on AMC+ and Shudder December 16.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

ASL: “The Apology” is a dark Christmas tale, a genre blender of psychological thriller, horror, and chamber piece drama. It’s largely a two-hander between Darlene (Anna Gunn) and Jack (Linus Roache) as a huge thundersnowstorm rages outside and traps them together to work out their past in a rather big way. 

But Darlene’s best friend, Gretchen (Janeane Garofalo), also plays a rather pivotal, moving part in the proceedings. Anna and Linus are notorious powerhouse masters, and I’m so grateful for and proud of their work here. Janeane is stunning in how still and quiet she is in this film in a way I think will be surprising to most people, although not to us superfans. But don’t worry, she’s still funny in this, too.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

ASL: As cheesy and cliché as it sounds, it came to me in a dream. In it, there was a knock on my front door in the middle of the night at Christmastime, and a man said, “I know what happened to your daughter.” I’ve always been fascinated with true crime stories, so that’s where the specifics came from. 

But as I started writing, the story evolved into this personal metaphor for the experience of sticking up for my daughter and her rights as a neurodiverse child in a less than accommodating world, and how I had become obsessed with being there for her and had almost lost my way in that pursuit of giving her every chance I could. Obviously, having a disabled child is light-years away from searching for a missing child, but that’s art for you.

I finally found confidence in my voice again through the making of this film. It’s been pretty damn powerful for me.

W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?

ASL: I hope they think about how complicated we all are, how crucial compassion is, and whether real change is possible. If it is possible, what does that need to look like to be real, to last? I want audiences to believe in their own power and remember the love that already surrounds them. 

And I would love for people to have real conversations about violence against women, physical and emotional, how women should be more empowered to expect safety and real love from men, and that men should be set up to live emotionally healthy, fulfilled lives as well. Accountability and compassion shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. And it’d also be cool if we really talked about how much work Christmas tends to be for moms. Big goals but, hey, I’m an ambitious lady. 

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

ASL: It was my first feature film so it was all a challenge and a learning curve. But it was also a dream come true.

I had been a stay-at-home mom and advocate for my autistic daughter for years before coming back to work to make this film. So I think the biggest challenge was managing my huge feelings of gratitude for the opportunity, shock at how much people wanted to hear from me, and then trying to support my cast and crew to do their best work with an intense story and such a short schedule, just 16 principal photography days, all at once.

I’m a crier on set anyway. It’s how I usually know I have the scene, but this time, I cried a lot more. I think avoiding tears at all costs at work, especially creative work, is a very patriarchal, unhealthy thing.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

ASL: It’s a bit of a true fairy tale, to be honest. There was so much hard work involved, of course, but it started from a very pure place. Stacy Jorgensen, one of the producers on the film, used to act in my short films, and we also produced and collaborated on a whole bunch of projects together. Then I had my daughter and she moved from acting and to producing full-time. I sent Stacy the script for “The Apology” and asked if she could just recommend someone to send it to. And much to my shock, she called me up and said, “I want to produce this. We’ll find a home for it but let’s at least start with the company I work for, Company X. They’re very picky so they probably won’t say yes. But let’s start there.” 

And then they said yes. I got the news as I was picking my mother up from the airport for the holidays, and it felt like some magical Christmas present. This is not what happens to middle-aged mom indie filmmakers trying to make their first feature. I still can’t believe it. And then Stacy and Company X took the film to Mark Ward at RLJE Films. It turned out that I’d been volunteering for years at my kiddo’s school book fair with Mark’s fantastic wife, so Mark and I just hit it off right away, both being horror hounds and parents who live in the same neighborhood. He’s been so supportive and green-lit the film. Stacy and Lisa Whalen, Company X’s CEO, worked their tails off to put it all together.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

ASL: Like many ‘80s kids, I saw “The Goonies” and “Poltergeist” really young and they got me excited about the movies. My mom was always supportive about my interest in film and would take me to the movies, dollar cinema and art house alike, my whole childhood. When I saw families I related to in “Gas Food Lodging” and “Running on Empty,” it began to feel like something I could do, telling my own stories about my own family or my own fascinations. 

But the film that made me want to direct was “Taxi Driver,” specifically the moment when Travis is on the payphone trying to convince Betsy to give him another chance and the camera just pans away from him and stays on that empty hall. That blew me away, the idea that where you put, and move, the camera can indicate feeling like that, that humiliation and hopelessness could feel so visceral. 

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

ASL: Like almost all creatives, I’ve suffered from imposter syndrome. Especially after being home with my daughter for years and trying to write and get scripts out to producers, I started to feel filmmaking wasn’t realistic for me. But then – and I wish I could credit who said this to me – I would lay out all this defeatist worry and they would just say, “Well, why not you?” And that became my mantra. “Why not me?” Men don’t ask for as much permission or seek as much validation as we do to start something so we have to back each other up. Having my amazing all-female producing team backing me up – Stacy, Lisa, and Kim Sherman – did wonders for that. 

The worst advice I’ve gotten has often been the most well-intentioned, basically telling you to follow the specific path or approach to the work that they did. So if something doesn’t seem to fit the best way for you to work, listen to those instincts. You know more than you think you do. And it really is true: there’s no correct, one way to do things.

W&H: What advice do you have for other women directors?

ASL: Use your life experience in your work, and not just in the story you’re telling. I use the persistence, patience, and organizational skills I learned in advocating for my daughter when working with my collaborators. You have more secret skills than you think you do and we don’t have to lead in the traditional, male ways to be successful.

We can fight the toxicity, starting in our own meetings and on our sets. Set boundaries early, often and with great clarity, but don’t be afraid to lead with love, appreciation, and a collaborative, open spirit. And carve out time and space in your personal life to give enough love to your work, too. As women, we’re conditioned to make everything else a priority but our work needs deserve our attention, too. 

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

ASL: There’s so many woman directors who inspire me, but I’d have to say it’s a dead heat between “The Babadook” by Jennifer Kent and “Fast Times At Ridgemont High” by Amy Heckerling. 

“The Babadook” is one of my more recent passions. When I first saw this film, it evoked so many feelings about the early, hard days before my daughter was actually diagnosed and we all got the help we needed to be there for her. Luckily, nothing as dark as the film, but it tapped into one of my main themes: how hard it is to be a mother. I’m so grateful for my girl but there is so little support for mothers, still, let alone mothers of children with differing needs. Kent’s film made me see there was a space for me to tell stories about that. And it’s just a gorgeous, big swing of a film. 

“Fast Times” was one of the pivotal movies of my childhood that put young women’s feelings and experiences at the center and brought a female POV to the male characters as well. It’s a movie I’ve grown up with and so, my relationship with it keeps changing and deepening. Great flicks will do that. They’ll mean different things to you at different points of your life. 

I’m also just so, so happy to see Chantal Akerman’s “Jeanne Dielman” at the top of the Sight and Sound list. That’s one of my favorite films as well and a huge, emboldening influence on me.

W&H: What, if any, responsibilities do you think storytellers have to confront the tumult in the world, from the pandemic to the loss of abortion rights and systemic violence?

ASL: We all have a responsibility to reflect our world and that absolutely includes brutal realities like our abortion rights being stripped away and people confusing selfishness for freedom, i.e. not wearing masks. Everything I write is confronting bigger issues like these in various ways. There are many ways to tell stories that bring us into the reality of these issues without them necessarily being “issue” films, which can sometimes be more effective. 

I would love to see more representation of the real-life horrors of the world in films because I am a feminist and a progressive and a humanist and also a huge horror fan. I think “sneaking” these issues into genres like horror is a great way to confront them. With “The Apology,” I wanted to explore the way women are too often seen as expendable, that the male perpetrator is always given sympathy, and women are left feeling unseen and unsafe. 

I also wanted to create something set in a female battleground. Revenge is usually looked at as something that is all about brute force being met with brute force, but I didn’t connect with that. So how would this woman want to get revenge? Is justice even possible in a system this broken? I’m especially interested in the emotional and physical violence involved in gender inequality and all the many ways it manifests in our lives.

W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing – and creating – negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make it more inclusive?

ASL: We need more underrepresented people in crucial, decision-making positions to open it all up more. You hear all the time about how, say, white men won’t hire a Black woman because they “don’t feel comfortable” or “don’t relate” or other code-phrases for racism – that’s so damaging and inexcusable. We are each, to a one, accountable to do better. 

But I think one of the more actionable items is the retention and growth for underrepresented people. Too often, folks don’t get access to these opportunities because they are viewed as not experienced enough or not known enough, but they can’t get to that point without people giving them a chance. We need to give more chances to people to not only make that first thing but also to have more chances to grow. 

Breakthrough contests and programs are wonderful but we need more ongoing support. That also includes looking at your own cast and crew list and saying, “Where is the mentorship and are we offering a chance for positions or roles?”

We all need to be rigorous in thinking of filmmaking as community building. We shouldn’t just be looking for the absolute most experienced person for every single job or only direct recommendations. That approach too often excludes people of color. Fresh voices give us, as filmmakers, unique insights and give audiences a more varied, and therefore more rich, view of the world, and hopefully make them feel that their world is being reflected.

Find friends who don’t judge you. Find friends who understand you. Find friends who listen to you, help you grow, and commiserate with you when the future seems uncertain. All these qualities can be found in this week’s podcasts, which center on queer creators who are cultivating safe communities for queer folks. 

In discussions about relationships, family, politics, literary canons, therapy, and everything in between, these podcasts have something for you to laugh about and learn from. With each podcast maintaining a light and conversational tone, the creators show us that gender and sexuality discourse can be accessible and entertaining. 

Here are Women and Hollywood’s latest podcast selections.

“En(ba)by” — Created by Gara, Maggie, and Basil

First airing in 2020, “En(ba)by” is a weekly podcast that covers all things gender. Hosted by Gara Lonning, a trans and non-binary comedian, writer, and performer, “En(ba)by” consciously weaves humor with topics both serious and commonplace. Lonning co-hosts with Maggie Dunleavy and Basil Lee.

No two shows are the same. In episodes that range from 40-60 minutes, Lonning, Dunleavy, and Lee interview guests about topics including gender-affirming surgery, dating, and friendship. The hosts also engage with audiences through a Q&A advice section in select episodes. Listeners can submit questions for upcoming shows through a link in the description of the latest episode.

In “Dear En(ba)by: The Kinsey Five,” which aired in June, the hosts get personal. A listener describes a teammate who made transphobic comments towards them when they opened up about their chosen name and their experiences of gender euphoria. The listener questioned whether or not these issues were even significant enough to bring up, since her other teammates didn’t seem to notice nor take issue with the perpetrator.

The “En(ba)by” hosts listen with empathy and share personal stories that acknowledge and validate the listener’s experience. Lonning has a particularly memorable response, emphasizing, “There’s not a scale of how transphobic something is, it either is transphobic or it’s not transphobic.” The hosts discuss the difficulty of advocating for yourself and your identity. 

Even though they deal with some serious topics, every conversation is filled with the warmth and comfort of being in a room with close friends. “En(ba)by” handles sensitive issues with care, but also with levity, making this podcast an easy and fun listen.

Listen to “En(ba)by” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

“Two Twos” — Created by Nana and Rose

“Two Twos” is created by London-based Black lesbian sister duo, Nana and Rose. In hour-long episodes, the siblings speak their “unapologetic truth whilst creating a safe space for people like themselves and bridging the gap between LGBT+ people and cisgender straight people.” From topics like mental health, single parenting, sex and romance, as well as cultivating community for queer people, Nana and Rose leave no rock unturned.

In Episode 128, “‘I wanted to cultivate a home for queer people” ft @drybabe (K),’” the “Two Twos” hosts invite their friend K to discuss the importance of diverse literature. Librarian by day and DJ by night, K recognized a gap in access to inclusive literature in schools. To mitigate this issue, she created PRIM, a database that acts as “a space for Black existence, showcasing the varying mediums used for storytelling in one place.” Not only has K developed this resource featuring visual, aural, and written storytelling, she’s facilitating pop-up events, such as the “It Started With Me” gallery curated by PRIM, which premiered at the NOW Gallery this past October. 

In a poignant discussion about libraries, Nana asserts, “It’s about access.” She shares that, as a child, having access to books written by Black authors and featuring characters she could relate to changed her whole life — these books inspired her to become a writer. 

K builds on this personal experience. She emphasizes that many schools lack any library facilities at all. But the issue goes further than access to books. K forces us to consider what books are, who they’re written by, and “how much can a young Black girl or Black boy or nonbinary young person see themselves in these books.” She explains that when you acknowledge the diversity in life experiences (or lack thereof) represented in a library, you recognize that it “is not just about providing books. It’s about curating, it’s about making sure you have a wide variety to appeal to what is a very multicultural environment.” It’s necessary to engage with and demand such inclusion.

Listen to “Two Twos” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

“QueerWOC” — Created by Dr. Money

“QueerWOC,” hosted by a relational therapist known as Dr. Money, debuted in 2016. In these biweekly hour-long shows, Dr. Money “unites, ignites, and excites” the queer women of color community through “reimagining healing, identity, and community.” Covering a wealth of topics from capitalism, protests, and feminism to relationship and queer-specific issues, Dr. Money approaches each episode with a joyful warmth and an eagerness to learn alongside her audience.

In Episode 116, which aired November 20 this year, “Every Sapphic I Know,” dives into affordable therapy tips and intense sapphic friendships. However, before she digs into this discussion, Dr. Money begins the show with a regular segment she calls “QueerWOC of the Week.” Dr. Money celebrates Councilwomen Erika Hilton and Duda Salabert, who were recently elected to the National Congress in Brazil this October. Hilton and Salabert were the first openly trans women in Brazil to be elected as federal deputies, is no small feat in a country where 2SLGBTQIA+ people are killed at a higher rate than anywhere else in the world. In 2021, there were 125 reported murders among the trans and gender-diverse population in Brazil.

Dr. Money discusses Hilton’s progressive platform, fighting for education, LGBTQ+ rights, and housing access, noting that the trans community is disproportionately impacted by survival sex, substance abuse, and houselessness due to transphobia.

Salabert ran under the Democratic Labor Party, and made history by amassing the highest number of votes any councilperson in the state of Mines Gerais had ever received. In this landmark election, Hilton and Salabert make huge strides for the representation of women and queer people in government.

With Dr. Money’s “QueerWOC,” you’ll either find yourself nodding along to the sapphic truths she speaks, or learning about something new alongside the host in a compelling and comprehensible way.

Listen to “QueerWOC” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.