MAKESHIFT IN THE MEDIA
Ojai Film Festival Details DEI Program In Collaboration With NFMLA And CineFemme
Set for November 3, 2024, this year's DEI programming underscores OFF's commitment to fostering inclusivity in storytelling.
Cinefemme, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women filmmakers, will premiere its 2024 slate of sponsored films. This selection highlights groundbreaking projects by women in tech, exploring subjects ranging from female founders to the true story of a Jewish grandmother's escape from the Holocaust. Cinefemme's mission to incubate and fund women's films is at the heart of this program, which promises to inspire and uplift. Featured films include: Makeshift Society, The Red Shoe, Here She Comes, and Coppola Mécanique.
MISS EDUCATED PODCAST, “What the Tech Bros Got Wrong”
This week my guest is Serena Schuler, an award-winning writer, director, and series creator. She's piloting the first episode of her new series called Makeshift Society, an Original TV Comedy Series about a female founder. I liken Makeshift Society to the female version of the HBO show Silicon Valley, so I’m really excited to share this conversation I had with Serena today. What I also love about Serena’s story is that she worked on screenplays and scripts, writing secretly for years before she decided to become a filmmaker.
Here, I ask her all about that journey, how her experiences of working in tech influenced her storytelling, how she got her cast and crew together and how she fundraised for her increasingly ambitious film projects. We also talk pretty openly about the douchebags of startup bro culture, and I share some of my experience getting fired. LISTEN HERE
LANE CHANGE PODCAST
In this episode, we not only discuss changing lanes from tech to filmmaking, but talk about carving out an innovative path as an independent creator. From building an audience to financing her own work, Serena has used some of the strategies of the tech industry to push her vision forward without waiting for a studio or network to give her the green light. LISTEN HERE
NO GREEN LIGHT: HOW I MADE A TV PILOT WITHOUT A STUDIO OR A NETWORK, AND BECAME A SHOWRUNNER’
On the set of Makeshift Society, Serena Schuler directing Samir (Nardeep Khurmi).
“I’d written a pilot script that I believed in, a story about female founders who go after their ambitions, and build their own startups. It’s a show that I wish existed, but had never seen anything like it on TV. I didn’t want to wait to shop around the script, hoping someone would see my vision, finance the show, bring together the team, and actually make the show happen. I knew that it could be years of waiting, and ultimately go nowhere.
So, I decided to fundraise, write, direct, and executive produce the pilot episode. I would develop this series. No one would have to imagine if I could be a showrunner. I’d make myself into a showrunner. This is how I galvanized backers to support the project, recruited a talented cast and crew, and made this pilot happen without an agent, a manager, or studio financing. I went way off the normal path, and learned how to be a showrunner.”
FOUNDERS, FIRSTS, AND (PH)ENOMENAL FEMALES: CONVERSATIONS ON CAREER EMPOWERMENT
Hosted by the Box Women’s Network & Medallia Women
From left to right: Anna Min (Founder of Min Edition), Serena Schuler (Series Creator of Makeshift Society), June Manely (Female Founders Faster Forward), Meaghan Rose (Founcer & CEO of Rocksbox), and Coral Chung (Co-Founder & CEO of Senreve).
HOW A TV COMEDY SHOW CAN CHANGE THE GAME FOR WOMEN IN TECH
“While the Silicon Valley TV show parodies a male experience in Silicon Valley, Makeshift Society tells the story from a much-needed female perspective. The idea is: If you can see it, you can become it.”
MICROSOFT WOMEN IN BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY PODCAST
"We hear from writer, director, and producer Serena Schuler about her upcoming comedy TV series focused on a female founder, Makeshift Society (www.MakeshiftSociety.com). Our hosts interview Microsoft’s Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan about the company’s culture transformation. We wrap with Procter & Gamble’s pledge to have women direct 50% of ads by 2023."
FEATURED ON PANDO BY ESTEEMED TECH JOURNALIST SARAH LACY
"A young television writer and creator Serena Schuler has a different point of view when it comes to television: Tell the stories that can inspire things to be different. Because those stories do exist. Women may only make up some 3% of CEOs of venture backed companies, but they do exist. And it’s possible, a story about someone overcoming even more odds than the typical startup founder just might make for more interesting television."
‘A UTERUS IS A FEATURE NOT A BUG’ PODCAST
"Several high-powered women in the Valley agree, and have backed Schuler’s new proposed pilot called “Makeshift Society.” It’s the story of a Silicon Valley rising tech star named Alex, who spurns her bro boss’s advances, becomes an industry pariah, and winds up in a co-working space where she amalgamates her own Silicon Valley crew with those around her.
In the story, Alex had always dreamed of starting her own company, but never quite had the courage until she was pushed. Yep. Sounds like the Silicon Valley I know: I took a newborn baby fundraising for Pando after my job was giving away while I was in labor.
We invited Schuler on our podcast to tell us more about her journey and her project."
PAGING DR. SCULLY: POPULAR SHOW STILL PORTRAYS TECH AS A BOYS CLUB
"That last point is especially important, I think, because despite #meToo and #TimesUp, media representation of women (especially black, Hispanic, Latinx, lesbian, queer, trans women, and most especially women in STEM) is really lacking. While Anderson’s Dana Scully arguably paved the way for the success of characters like Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan, Firefly’s Zoe Washburn and Kaylee Frye, as well as more contemporary characters I love, including The Expanse’s Dominque Tipper as Naomi Nagata and Mr. Robot’s Darlene, shows like Silicon Valley and The Big Bang Theory still perpetuate the notion that STEM in general and tech in particular is a “boys club” and that “adorkable misogyny” is harmless and humorous.
As Marykate Jasper writes in The Mary Sue, “This sort of portrayal has some scary implications, since — as [The Big Bang Theory series creator and narrator] McIntosh points out — in the real world, misogyny and sexual harassment aren’t harmless. They push women out of politics, out of certain industries, and off of social media platforms."
And it can make women even less likely to consider careers in their fields in the first place or make them even more likely to leave because of the toxic environment. It’s one reason Serena Schuler is creating Makeshift Society, her pilot about a woman tech entrepreneur who strikes out on her own after enduring harassment.
I’m encouraged to see more powerful women characters in the Scully mold on television — the aforementioned Naomi Nagata and Darlene Alderson, but also Chloe Bennet’s Daisy Johnson, Elizabeth Henstridge’s Jemma Simmons, and Ming-Na Wen’s Melinda May on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And I can’t wait to see Schuler’s Makeshift Society bring even more amazing, inspirational women to the small screen. I hope these characters will do as much as Dr. Scully did to encourage girls and women in technology and STEM fields — because if you can see it, you can be it."
MAKESHIFT SOCIETY USES COMEDY TO TELL AN IMPORTANT STORY ABOUT WOMEN IN TECH
A new TV series takes a funny-because-it’s-true look at a female founder’s journey to success in Silicon Valley.
"These female founder stories from Silicon Valley are dramatic and fascinating — and they haven’t been told before."