Newsletter

October 2017 – January 2018

Time’s Up and the time is NOW

With the cultural deluge of #metoo and #timesup, our message is even more pertinent today than ever. Not everyone is a beauty nor a beast; we all have many aspects to ourselves. We would all be better off as a society if we trained our boys to be more in touch with their beauty, and our girls to have more experience with their right to be ‘beastly’ when attacked by one.

As to this issue’s title? We’ve left some not-so-subtle clues in the following text … let’s see if you can find them all!

August – September 2017

The Cure For Grabby Hands!

When I’m not making (and promoting) movies and writing books and columns, I coach first-time authors. In a recent class, a student of mine told me he was concerned about his daughter slugging a guy who’d gotten all “grabby-hands” with her.

“What do you think?” he said.

I replied, “Good for her. She provided a ‘hot burner’ moment for that creep.” Ouch!

June - July 2017

We’re Going Places!

On Wednesday, May 10th we were honored to screen BEAUTY BITES BEAST for the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of UN Women. The event was held at the beautiful EarthWe Gallery and screening room at Bergamot Station, the famed arts enclave in West LA.
 
We’re happy to report the event was very well attended and received. We were thrilled to have people tell us they’d had a pre-existing idea regarding women’s self-defense that our movie turned topsy-turvy. After viewing our film, they changed their minds from a negative opinion to a positive one! Such is the power of one movie — and you helped make that happen!

April - May 2017

We’ve Got Some Big News!

I just received news of Carol Norberg’s passing. Carol was an early major contributor to BEAUTY BITES BEAST. I met her through the National Women’s History Project for which we were both serving as Goodwill Ambassadors. She was a believer in putting her money where her mouth is, and committed to the well-being of all people, with an emphasis on women and girls.

February - March 2017

You Won’t Believe What Happened in Pakistan

"We're going to Pakistan to screen Beauty Bites Beast!" I told my sister. There was silence and then she replied, "Aren't you nervous about going there?" I said, "I suppose Pakistanis would be nervous coming here, too. So yes... but I'm more nervous about making a fool of myself, which I often do!"My attempt at levity was an attempt at deflecting a serious concern. On October 7, 2016, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory — still in effect — for people traveling to Pakistan which starts with this phrase: "The Department of State warns U.S. citizens against all non-essential travel to Pakistan." Now what?

December 2016

The Oscar Edition

Big news!!! After much hoop-jumping, we are now qualified to be considered for an Academy Award. We jumped through hoops to jump through — drum roll please — more hoops!