In creating this series we are drawing upon three years of research, enriching our project by the original scholarship it was based on. Our vision, along with our experienced professional Team, is to create an ongoing docuseries to educate, empower, and inspire a new generation of women designers.
INTRODUCTION
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
Bringing to Light Diverse Stories of
Women Designers from around the World
This unprecedented series tells the stories of how women around the world have made- and continue to make- major contributions to design. Our diverse selection of Designers touch on multiple design disciplines- past and present, and from around the world. We explore design in Fashion, Architecture, Furniture, Interior Design, Textiles, Landscape/ Garden Design, and Technology- from California and Latin America, to Europe, the Middle East, Japan, and China. These women have helped shape the look of everyday life in the twentieth century, but their work was often uncredited and unacknowledged. Our aim is to recognize the ground-breaking contributions these women have made to design and to inspire a new generation of women designers.
This open-ended DocuSeries, directed by prominent women directors, will bring our story up to the present and into the future. Join us and see the Women who made a difference.
The series will also employ a 'Social Strategy' across digital platforms to promote the series, which will serve as a resource for initiatives, scholarships, grants, etc. Transmedia storytelling is an innovative media programming trend. Instead of telling the story in a single medium, narrative elements are creatively coordinated across different media platforms (hence “transmedia”) to build a story world, engage a broader spectrum of audience, and provide them an enriching experience beyond pure entertainment. Young audience members, who are savvy entertainment consumers, can easily navigate multiple digital platforms. This 'transmedia edutainment' holds promise as an education and empowerment tool. This will insure a wide audience reach, strong viewer engagement, and a positive cognitive, emotional, and social impact.

WOMEN OF DESIGN:
THE RAY EAMES STORY
California Mid Century Artist, Designer, Filmmaker
"I never gave up painting, I just changed my palette."
“What works good is better than what looks good, because what works good lasts.”
In the intensely masculine world of midcentury design, the name Ray Eames was oftentimes omitted from exhibitions or referred to as "wife and assistant" to her husband Charles. But by all accounts, the Eames' 47 year partnership was a true collaboration in design. For several years, Ray also was the sole creator of work in several mediums, printed and woven textiles. The Eames' style of the 1940s and 1950s was progressive avant garde, where function intertwined with design.
"When facing a problem, we need to find a solution, but that does not mean we should change our design." Ray Eames
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
RUTH HANDLER
Inventor of the Barbie Doll
Co Founder of Mattel
…’the male designers were all horrified by the thought of…making a doll with breasts.’
In the early 1950's, Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel, Inc., had an idea of creating an adult doll after observing her daughter's fascination with adult paper dolls, whose clothing she could change. Until then, most dolls had been babies or children - which put their young owner in the role of nurturing mothers. She envisioned Barbie - which would appeal to what she saw as a young girl's desire to become an independent woman.
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
ZAHA HADID: WORLD ARCHITECT
Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid (1950–2016) revered and denounced in equal measure for the sensuous curved forms for which she was known. Zaha Hadid rose to prominence not solely through parametricism but by designing spaces to occupy geometries in new ways. Known for her highly expressive designs marked by sweeping fluid forms of multiple perspective points, she was considered a pioneer in contemporary avant-garde architecture styles. Her striking structures grace the skylines of major metropolitan cities- Beijing, Shanghai, Riyadh, Miami, while her product designs, including furniture, jewelry, lighting, and shoes, can be found in homes around the world. Intelligent and ambitious, she studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut before moving to London to attend the Architectural Association School of Architecture. The first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, Hadid served as a beacon for female creatives from different backgrounds. Professor Rem Koolhaas described her as “a planet in her own orbit.”
Galaxy SOHO, Beijing China
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
REI KAWAKUBO
Japanese Fashion Designer
Rei's designs are worn by Bjork, Tilda Swinton, Kanye West, and Justin Timberlake. Her brand is well known for its partnerships with Nike, Moncler and Louis Vuitton.
Rei Kawakubo is known for her avant-garde designs and ability to challenge conventional notions of beauty, good taste, and fashionability. She started the brand Comme des Garcons ( コム・デ・ギャルソン) in Tokyo in 1969. The name translates roughly as ‘like boys’. The label's debut show during Paris Fashion Week in 1981 was widely panned by critics who wrote that the clothing was ‘unrefined’ due to Kawakubo's use of distressed fabrics and unfinished seams. Comme des Garcons is known for fusing the masculine with the feminine, for example by combining traditional menswear tailoring with feminine printed fabrics or ruched details. Kawakubo designed clothes with a modus operandi more familiar to conceptual art than to fashion. Despite her radical approach, or maybe because of it, Comme des Garcons is today a great success, commercially as well as artistically. Comme des Garcons is a red carpet darling and brand of choice for many celebrities including Bjork, Tilda Swinton, ASAP Rocky, and firm favorite of Kanye West, Pharell Williams, and Justin Timberlake. The brand is also well known for its partnerships with artists as well as for its collaborations with brands such as Nike, Moncler and Louis Vuitton. “Creation takes things forward. Without anything new there is no progress. Creation equals new.”
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
DR. GLADYS WEST
Inventor of GPS
"Design is Vision. More than just Fashion, it includes Technology, Science.
Be Curious. Study, Put in the Work, and Look what you can Create."
Dr. Gladys West invented the GPS or the 'Global Positioning System', the technology that makes cell phones, cars, and social media function. She finally received the recognition she deserves by being inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame by the US Air Force.
The 87-year-old scholar knew as a child that she did not want to work in fields, picking tobacco, corn, and cotton or in a factory, like her parents did. She said, “I realized I had to get an education to get out.” And that she did, studying math at Virginia State and graduating top of her class. In 1956, West began to work at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, where she was only the second black woman ever to be employed. There, she collected data from satellites, and that job is what eventually led to the development of the Global Positioning System. In 1986, West published “Data Processing System Specifications for the Geosat Satellite Radar Altimeter,” a 60-page illustrated guide, which was based off data created from the radio altimeter on the Geosat satellite, which went into orbit on March 12, 1984. West’s humble character is part of why many people were unaware of her role in the development of the device for decades. She said, “When you’re working every day, you’re not thinking, ‘What impact is this going to have on the world?’ A Richmond native, she still finds it hard to fathom how her technology has evolved into a widely known and useful system.
READ MOREWOMEN OF DESIGN:
GERE KAVANAUGH
Multidisciplinary 'Environmental' Designer- Graphics, Furniture, Dinnerware,
Fashion, Textiles, Wallpaper and Interiors for Galleries and Stores
Asked, "What do you like to design?" she replied, "Anything I can get my hands on."
Gere Kavanaugh's “Radically Upbeat, Distinctly West Coast Style" didn’t just come out of California. The prolific designer is originally from Memphis, Tennessee, but has lived and worked in Southern California for most of her professional life. She received a Master’s Degree in design from Cranbrook Academy of Art where she was the only female student in her graduating class. She then worked for General Motors, designing the interiors of the company's Tech Center. She then came to Los Angeles to work with architect Victor Gruen. In 1974, she started her own design firm, Gere Kavanaugh Design, a multidisciplinary office creating environmental design, interior design, graphic design and new product development. Kavanaugh has designed furniture, dinnerware, lighting, textiles and wallpaper and the interiors of galleries and stores. In the mid 1970s she established Geraldine Fabrics. She has taught at Southern California Institute of Architecture, Otis College of Art and Design and Art Center College of Design.
"When I came here to California, it was absolutely completely different. You could do anything you wanted to out here. You just did it! But, you had to be responsible for it, and you had to make it work."
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
APRIL GREIMAN
A pioneer in computer graphics
“I felt like as soon as you’ve given it a name, it’s dead.”
In 1984, April Greiman bought her first computer, an Apple Macintosh 128K, and in 1986 she produced Does it Make Sense? – Design Quarterly magazine #133 – one of the earliest examples of published computer-aided graphics. It’s the kind of image that might have broken the internet if the internet was a thing in 1986. Instead, the giant fold-out poster arrived to Design Quarterly subscribers by mail and proceeded to crack the graphic design community wide open. Some critics found it to be thoughtless, self-indulgent, and lewd. Others hailed it as a radical advancement in the then-nascent field of digital design. By the mid-’80s, Greiman was used to the heated debates and spirited industry chatter that her designs tended to incite. This pioneering work of the ‘70’s and 80’s was instrumental in fostering the reluctant acceptance and use of advanced technology in the design process. Designer April Greiman highlights the graphic design revolution of the 1970s and 80s. Computer graphics was one of the most important developments in graphic design, which was initially reviled, has become the standard in the graphics industry. Greiman was Head of the Design Department at Cal Arts, and now teaches at USC Roski School of Art and Design.
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
RUTH E. CARTER:
American Costume Designer for Film and Television
One of the most sought after and renowned costume designers in the world; known for the Black Panther, and two Academy Award–nominations for Malcolm X (1993) and Amistad (1998)
Ruth Carter wowed audiences and dazzled critics alike with her Black Panther costumes inspired by traditional African tribal wear merged with a contemporary look delivering fashion, function and incorporating technology. Her designs create authenticity, ownership, and empowerment for the characters and viewers, cementing her as one of the preeminent voices and experts on Afro-futurism. Her costumes tell stories so intriguing and memorable that they influence music, fashion, culture, and film-making and help us to understand ourselves better.
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
ROSA GRENA KLIASS:
Brazilian Landscape Architect
One of the most significant practicing designers in the history of modern and contemporary landscape architecture in Brazil
Rosa Kliass's characteristic is her decorative use of forms, colors and textures of plants and flowers, with an emphasis on tectonic elements (walls, floors, volumes, pergolas, waterfalls, mirror fountains and swimming pools). One of the most significant figures of the 2nd generation of landscape architects in Brazil. architects in Brazil. In 1969 she traveled to the U.S. to study, but a turning point in her creative career when she returned to Brazil. Kliass not only made a large contribution to Brazil’s urban landscapes in the 20th century, she also participated in countless redevelopment initiatives. She was born of a multicultural, Jewish, half-Brazilian, half-Polish family. Graduating with a first degree in architecture from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo and a Master of Arts in Urban Planning from the same faculty, she became a landscape architect by practice. She established Rosa Grena Kliass Landscape Planning and Projects Ltd. and was the founder of the Brazilian Association of Landscape Architects in 1976. Her works mostly comprise the designing of large-scale public urban squares and avenues.
Her most notable projects include the landscapes of international airports in Brasília and Belém, and the renovation of the Anhangabaú Valley. The refurbishment of São Paulo’s Vale do Anhangabaú in 1991 marked the return of landscape architecture and public civic space in Brazil. The project reconnected two sections of downtown Sao Paulo long divided by highways and infrastructure by creating a large pedestrian space elevated above the street. Kliass formed a group of landscape designers in city hall, and convinced the mayor to form the Department of Parks and Green Areas of the City of São Paulo.
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
ANNI ALBERS
Woman of Bauhaus- Textile Artist
To Albers, "there is no medium that cannot serve art."
Anni Albers was a textile designer, weaver, writer, and printmaker who inspired a reconsideration of fabrics as an art form, both in their functional roles and as wallhangings. In 1922, she was an early Bauhaus student and her experimentation with color, shape, scale and rhythm. Abstract crisscrossing geometric patterns were characteristics that lasted throughout her career. Her work in printmaking was also experimental as she would "print lines multiple times, first positive then negative", [and print] off-register…She would explore the limits and possibilities of her tools.
In her functional textiles, she experimented with metallic thread and horsehair as well as traditional yarns, and utilized the raw materials and components of structure as the source of design and beauty. Her decision to be an artist and going away to an art school that embraced modernism and where the living conditions were rugged and the challenges immense was a rebellion to her affluent and conservative upbringing in Berlin.
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
JAE LEE & YVONNE CHAN
Immersive Interactive Design
New Frontiers in Design
Jae Lee & Yvonne Chang are architecture graduates from Cornell, whose passion to make small scale accessible design drove them to take the leap into immersive interactive design. Their first project was the Scratchbox Project, an installation that allows for the innovative and creative expression of ideas. After that, they formed Public Matter, an organization which strives to test and prove the correlation between spatial design and human behavior by using design as a tool to create and measure change and impact. Jae and Yvonne's third venture, Wildrence, was birthed out of their desire to create interesting design for interaction and play. It was founded not only to create, but inspire people who are willing to step out of their comfort zone. For the storytellers of the world, Wildrence is the premier experiential space and consulting studio that gives both creators and audiences one of a kind, end-to-end experiences. Designing with layers of adventure, storytelling, and sensory engagement, seeking to build an inspiring world. The Mist, the first project under the design studio, is an enchanting physical space located in Lower East Side of Manhattan that is designed to fully immerse those who visit in a journey through five individual environments. The space is thoughtfully curated and magically interactive. The space can be booked to carry out immersive performance and game play, the first of which is called Refuge.
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
BARBARA MARY QUANT
Original Designer of the Mini Skirt (and Hot Pants)
Quant had one distinct advantage over previous designers: she was a contemporary of her clients, rather than of an older generation. Convinced that fashion needed to be affordable to be accessible to the young, she opened her own retail boutique, Bazaar, on Kings Road in 1955, with the help of Plunkett-Greene and former solicitor Archie McNair, introducing the "mod" era and the "Chelsea look." The best-selling items were white plastic collars used to brighten up black dresses or T-shirts and black stretch leggings. In her quest for new and interesting clothes for Bazaar, Quant wasn't satisfied with the range of clothes available and decided that the shop would have to be stocked with clothes made by herself. Knee-high, white, patent plastic, lace-up boots and tight, skinny rib sweaters in stripes and bold checks, which came to epitomize the "London look," were the result.
Along with trendy fashion shows and window displays, she secured her reputation through the production of original clothing, sold in affordable boutiques, for the new youth-orientated market. She became an instrumental figure in 1960s style, she is deemed one of the most influential women of this free-love era with its liberation of women illustrated through color and fashion. Quant was one of the original designers of the miniskirt and hot pants and popularized the Mod style. This fun look was synonymous with the changing times of the 1960s and is still very much a part of many looks in the 21st century today.
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
ANN LOWE: Fashion Designer
(of Jackie O's wedding dress)
"I love my clothes and I'm particular about who wears them," Lowe once told Ebony. "I am not interested in sewing for... social climbers. I do not cater to Mary and Sue. I sew for the families of the Social Register."
Ann Lowe was referred to as a "colored dress-maker," when in fact she was Society's secret fashion designer. Inspired by a trip to Paris, Ann Lowe designed Jackie Kennedy's ivory silk-taffeta wedding dress. Part of a lineage of seamstresses, at age 16 she took over her mother's dress company in Montgomery, Alabama. She faced constant racial discrimination while working for America's most elite families, including the du Ponts, the Roosevelts, the Rockefellers, and, of course, the Kennedys. When Lowe arrived in Newport to hand-deliver Jackie's gown, a staff member told her to enter through a service entrance in the back. She reportedly countered, "I'll take the dress back" if she had to use the back door—and walked right in.
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
JULIA MORGAN- ARCHITECT (1872-1957)
Of her 700+ California designs, she's best known for Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA
Julia Morgan described as "America's first independent, full-time woman architect", seized opportunity after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The disaster destroyed much of the city’s housing and there was an urgent need for reconstruction which created opportunities for visionary designers. Julia Morgan's designs caught the eye of publishing tycoon, William Hearst. Through a strong, but long-distance bond, she designed the renowned Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California (1919-47).
WOMEN OF DESIGN:
CALIFORNIA'S DESIGNING WOMEN
Creating the Art of the Everyday
The Women who made California a Leader in World Design
"I was a California designer. Definitely. All my ideas really came from California- from the nature of California, from the lifestyle of California."
This 'ensemble' episode highlights the contributions of California's Designing Women that made CA a leader in world design, beginning in 1897. These pioneers often went unacknowledged and uncredited although their work remains obviously recognizable through the objects they created that we use in our everyday life. From architecture and fashion, to dinnerware, to furniture, rugs and lamps, graphics, computers and technology, California leads the way.
THE DESIGNERS
Ray Eames was born in Sacramento, California, in 1912. In 1929, Ray and her mother moved to New York where Ray studied painting with abstract expressionist Hans Hoffman at the Art Students League. In 1940 she enrolled in the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where she soon became part of the team collaborating on designs by Charles Eames, the head of the Industrial Design Department, and the aspiring architect/designer Eero Saarinen. Ray and Charles were married in 1941 and moved to Los Angeles where she both collaborated with Charles and worked on her own, mainly creating printed textiles and graphic designs (notably covers for Arts & Architecture Magazine).
Designed Jackie O's Wedding Dress
“I love my clothes and I’m particular about who wears them,” Lowe once told Ebony. “I am not interested in sewing for… social climbers. I do not cater to Mary and Sue. I sew for the families of the Social Register.”
Ann Lowe was referred to as a “colored dress-maker,” when in fact she was Society’s secret fashion designer. Inspired by a trip to Paris, Ann Lowe designed Jackie Kennedy’s ivory silk-taffeta wedding dress. She was part of this lineage of seamstresses, where at age 16 she took over her mother’s dress company in Montgomery, Alabama. She faced constant racial discrimination while working for America’s most elite families, including the du Ponts, the Roosevelt’s, the Rockefeller’s, and, of course, the Kennedy’s. When Lowe arrived in Newport to hand-deliver Jackie’s gown, a staff member told her to enter through a service entrance in the back. She reportedly countered, “I’ll take the dress back” if she had to use the back door—and walked right on in.
Inventor of GPS
Dr. Gladys West invented the GPS or the ‘Global Positioning System’, the technology that makes cell phones, cars, and social media function. She finally received the recognition she deserves by being inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame by the US Air Force.
The 87-year-old scholar knew as a child that she did not want to work in fields, picking tobacco, corn, and cotton or in a factory, like her parents did. She said, “I realized I had to get an education to get out.” And that she did, studying math at Virginia State and graduating top of her class. In 1956, West began to work at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, where she was the second black woman ever to be employed. There, she collected data from satellites, and that job is what eventually led to the development of the Global Positioning System. In 1986, West published “Data Processing System Specifications for the Geosat Satellite Radar Altimeter,” a 60-page illustrated guide, which was based off data created from the radio altimeter on the Geosat satellite, which went into orbit on March 12, 1984. West’s humble character is part of why many people were unaware of her role in the development of the device for decades. She said, “When you’re working every day, you’re not thinking, ‘What impact is this going to have on the world?’ A Richmond native, she still finds it hard to fathom how her technology has evolved into a widely known and useful system.
Woman of Bauhaus
Anni Albers was a textile designer, weaver, writer, and printmaker who inspired a reconsideration of fabrics as an art form, both in their functional roles and as wallhangings. She went to the Bauhaus as a young student in 1922. She was brought up in Berlin, in an affluent household and was expected simply to continue living the sort of comfortable domestic life enjoyed by her mother. She rebelled by deciding to be an artist and going off to an art school that embraced modernism and where the living conditions were rugged and the challenges immense. She entered the weaving workshop because it was the only one open to her, but soon embraced the possibilities of textiles. At the Bauhaus, Anni experimented with new materials for weaving and became a bold abstract artist. In her functional textiles she experimented with metallic thread and horsehair as well as traditional yarns, and utilized the raw materials and components of structure as the source of design and beauty.
Iraqi born 'World' Architect
Tokyo (and Paris) Fashion Designer
“When I came here to California, it was completely different- absolutely completely different. You could do anything you wanted to out here. You just did it! But, you had to be responsible for it, and you had to make it work.” When asked, “What do you like to design?” she replied, “Anything I can get my hands on.”
Gere Kavanaugh, a prolific designer originally from Memphis, Tennessee, has lived and worked in Southern California for most of her professional life. She received a Master’s Degree in design from Cranbrook Academy of Art where she was the only female student in her graduating class. She then worked for General Motors on the interiors of the company’s Tech Center following which she came to Los Angeles to work with the architect Victor Gruen. In 1974 she started her own design firm, Gere Kavanaugh/Design, a multidisciplinary office creating environmental design, interior design, graphic design and new product development. Kavanaugh has designed furniture, dinnerware, lighting, textiles and wallpaper and the interiors of galleries and stores. In the mid-1970s she established Geraldine Fabrics. She has taught at Southern California Institute of Architecture, Otis College of Art and Design and Art Center College of Design.
Born in the city of Saitama, Japan, she studied fashion at the prestigious Bunka Fashion School in Tokyo. With this solid apprenticeship under Mr. Miyake himself, Chisato started her own line in 1990, a collection that made its catwalk debut in Tokyo at the Japan Fashion Week that same year.
Her signature style was soon celebrated with her innovative and luxurious textiles, intricate beading, embroidery, appliqués and prints of her own design. Graceful, elegant and fun at the same time, she has always been proudly international at heart, with a particular penchant for all things French. She chose Paris as the destination for her first free-standing shop outside Asia.
…”they [the male designers] were all horrified by the thought of…[making] a doll with breasts.”
In 1957 Ruth began the development of Barbie, envisioning an adult doll that would appeal to a young girl’s desire to become an independent woman. Ruth Moskowicz Handler was born in Denver to Russian Jewish immigrants. In 1938 she and her husband, Elliot Handler, moved to Los Angeles. Wartime restrictions cut off supplies he used to make acrylic furniture, but after the war the couple’s company Mattel Inc. initially flourished with the sale of 11 million plastic ukuleles. Barbie went on to become the world’s best-selling toy for several decades– 15 million were sold in 2011 alone which made it the most universally distributed example of California design.
Original Designer of the Mini skirt, and Hot pants
Pioneer of Computer Graphics
“I liked getting into the Web environment because you really had a space and you could move things in space or access information spatially…I never talked to a client about a ‘home page’…It was like a ‘home space’.”
Designer April Greiman highlights the graphic design revolution of the 1970s and 80s. The proliferation of computer-aided graphics inspired the pioneering work of April Greiman. Computer graphics was one of the most important developments in graphic design,, which was initially reviled, has become the standard in the graphics industry.: In 1984, April Greiman bought her first computer, an Apple Macintosh 128K, and in 1986 she produced Does it Make Sense? – Design Quarterly magazine #133 – one of the earliest examples of published computer-aided graphics. This pioneering work was instrumental in fostering the reluctant acceptance and use of advanced technology in the design process. Greiman was Head of the Design Dept at Cal Arts, and now teaches at USC Roski School of Art and Design.
Brazilian Landscape Architect
Rosa Grena Kliass is a landscape architect, garden designer in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The Designers that made California a Leader in world Design
California’s Designing Women: Creating the Art of the Everyday“
“I was a California designer. I mean, all my ideas really came from California- from the nature of California, from the lifestyle of California- definitely.”
This ‘group’ episode highlights the contributions of California’s Designing Women that made CA a leader in world design, beginning in 1897. These pioneers often went unacknowledged and uncredited although their work remains obviously recognizable thru the objects they created that we use in our everyday life. From Architecture and Fashion, to Art Deco dinnerware, to furniture, rugs and lamps, graphics, computers and technology, California leads the way.
“I’m not a designer. I’m a revolutionary!”
THE VISION
THE TEAM
PJ LETOFSKY- Creator, Producer

As founder and CEO of MAV12, a hybrid consulting and creative agency, he works within the corporate, government and NGO fields, building brands and businesses through strategy, fundraising, content production, film, tv, digital, social media, technology and leveraging influencers and celebrities. Gene has launched brands, produced commercials and films, raised and delivered millions of dollars in ROI. He works with emerging companies to prominent and diverse Fortune 500 clients such as Disney, Paramount, DreamWorks, 20 th Century, Universal, Sony, Ritz Carlton, Mercedes Benz, Toyota, SAP and Microsoft to name a few.
Gene also serves as the Managing Partner of The Cornerstone Collective, a design and procurement firm, specializing in luxury hospitality.
On the philanthropic side, Gene served as Global Chairman of the Strategic Alliances Committee for the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), a global entity of entrepreneurs in over 64 countries. He forged relationships with the UN, G20, B20, NYSE, the White House, State Department, Fortune 500 companies, the media, foundations, and universities. He also represented the U.S. on the G20 YEA (Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance), a global network of industrialized and developing nations championing the cause of entrepreneurship and economic development.
GENE LIM- Executive Producer
Jeanine’s credits include over forty feature films throughout the U.S., Mexico and overseas. Her television credits include Denis Leary’s comedy series Sirens (Fox Television), the Sarah Silverman Program pilot for Comedy Central (Viacom), and Robot Chicken and Morel Orel for Cartoon Network (Turner Broadcasting). Her documentary work includes the
award-winning PBS/BBC series Travels, Hands Across the World (Sony Music Initiative), and several pilots for the Documentary Channel. Jeanine has served on the review committee for the International Documentary Association’s IDA Awards, has been a guest speaker at UCLA’s Graduate Director’s class, the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. She is adjunct faculty for graduate creative producing at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. She is a member of the Director’s Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, the International Documentary Association, Film INDependent and Women in Film.
JEANINE ROHN- Producer
LARISSA JAMES- Editor, Producer, Director
Cinema Completions International – CEO/President
Having earned a reputation as a highly bondable producer, Donna served as CEO and President of Cinema Completions International, a motion picture completion bond company. Under her leadership CCI guaranteed Academy Award nominated films such as THE HOURS, CROUCHING TIGER/HIDDEN DRAGON, TRAFFIC, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, MATRIX, etc.
Based in Los Angeles with offices in London and Sydney, CCI underwrote completion bonds for movies. Smith green-lit new business and spearheaded strategic planning, managerial insight; guided by an extensive network of relationships with Hollywood studio executives, producers, filmmakers and creative talent. Donna has the honor of being appointed a United States Film Ambassador to China and serves as a Women In Film trustee.
DONNA SMITH- Executive Consultant
Timoner's first scripted feature, MAPPLETHORPE, starring Matt Smith - which she, wrote, directed, edited and produced through her production company, Interloper Films, over the last 12 years, premiered at the TriBeCa Film Festival in competition in 2018, taking home the 2nd Audience Award.
Timoner's most recent career achievement awards include: The Rogue Award (Ashland Film Festival, 2015), The No Limits Award (Sarasota Film Society, 2015), The Auteur Award (Kodak, 2017), and the Maverick Award (The Audience Awards, 2017).
Timoner has also produced & hosted BYOD (Bring Your Own Doc) for thelip.tv, creating 300 episodes with top documentary filmmakers over five years. She is the Founder & CEA of A TOTAL DISRUPTION, an online network dedicated to telling the stories of entrepreneurs & artists who use technology to innovate the way we live. Subjects include Amanda Palmer, Shepard Fairey, Russell Brand, Moby, Jack Dorsey, Kevin Systrom, Tony Hsieh etc. Timoner has released two master classes for filmmakers, LEAN CONTENT & HOW TO MAKE A GREAT DOCUMENTARY (IN MY OPINION.) In 2014, Ondi gave a popular TEDxKC talk entitled "When Genius and Insanity Hold Hands" about why she tells the stories of "impossible visionaries."
Current projects include WeTalk, her traveling talk show celebrating the women shaping our culture across arts, entrepreneurship, government and technology; a feature-length documentary about the Opioid epidemic through the eyes of an artist; and a nature series for Disney Digital. She is executive producing several films and series.
Timoner is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the DGA, the PGA, the International Documentary Association, Women in Film & Film Fatales.
ONDI TIMONER- Director, Producer, Cinematographer
Svetlana also directed the genre film "Deadly Switch" starring Dylan Walsh, Teri Polo and Danika Yarosh, currently on Netflix, and she received the Grand Prix du Public at Films de Femmes for her short autobiographical film "No War" and Best Documentary at LA Shorts Fest for her blend of narrative & documentary styles for "Yours Sincerely, Lois Weber."
Svetlana's background is in cinematography. She is known for her work on many critically acclaimed documentaries, including OSCAR® Winner "Inside Job," OSCAR® Nominated "Facing Fear," the Cannes Official Selection "Red Army," and the Sundance US Documentary Special Jury Prize-winning "Inequality For All." In addition, she was the first cinematographer on films such as OSCAR® Winner "O.J.: Made in America" and Sundance documentary "Miss Representation", setting the look for those films.
Svetlana has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2019.
SVETLANA CVETKO- Director, DP

CHRISSY JEAN DODSON- Story Producer
Jule learned the art of storytelling on major motion pictures including HEAT, FRENCH KISS, BAD BOYS, THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS, DISCLOSURE, THE JACKAL and MOONLIGHTING, which won 3 Academy Awards plus 5 nominations, and won 13 Emmy Awards plus 44 nominations.
She is a member of the TELEVISION ACADEMY and EDITORS GUILD. Committed to inclusion, she has volunteered for many years to promote diversity as past President of ALLIANCE OF WOMEN DIRECTORS, and as former Co-Chair of the PRODUCERS GUILD POWER OF DIVERSITY MASTER WORKSHOP, and teaching the Workshop in Amman for the Royal Film Commission of Jordan. She is a founding member of the PGA Women's Impact Network, and a member of the PGA International Committee.
She loves great stories, well told. She's committed to inclusion. And yes, she will go to the ends of the earth!
Credits include:
DIRECTOR - THE AMERICAN; BLACK GIRL MAGIC; GO PUBLIC: WHAT DID YOU DO TODAY?; PASSION; comedy tributes for the Thurber Awards JOE KEENAN: MY LUCKY STAR and ALAN ZWEIBEL: THE MAN...THE MYTH...THE LEGEND... starring Billy Crystal, Rob Reiner, Larry David, Buck Henry and Garry Shandling;
PRODUCER - Emmy Award winner GIRLS ON THE WALL (Story Producer, Editor); ERASING FAMILY (Exec Producer); THE COOLER BANDITS (Producer, 2nd Unit Director); THE HOLLYWOOD COMPLEX (Producer, Editor); THE OFFICER'S WIFE (Producer); FLOCK OF DODOS (Exec Producer); and Independent Spirit Award nominee MAYOR OF THE SUNSET STRIP (Co-Producer, Editor).
EDITOR - PRIDE (FX), TRUST ME, I'M SICK (web series), SAVING FLORA; Emmy Award winner WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?; Emmy Award-nominated THE MARINOVICH PROJECT; Emmy Award-nominated A SOLDIER'S SWEETHEART; SXSW Audience Award winner TAKE ME TO THE RIVER (Editor, Writer); HAM: A MUSICAL MEMOIR; MARIAH; ONE NIGHT STAND; POLISH BAR; BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*;
JULIE JANATA- Producer, Director, Editor

She and partner Simon Joyal have offered the use of their beautiful Los Angeles studio for meetings and events.
leslie shapiro joyal, ASID
SHAPIRO JOYAL STUDIO
Our Meeting Space
Schreiber was honored with the Best Dramatic Cinematography Award at Sundance for the film November, directed by Greg Harrison starring Courteney Cox. She also shared the Best Cinematography Award at Sundance for My America… Or Honk If You Love Buddah, and she garnered an Emmy nomination for Best Cinematography on the acclaimed Celluloid Closet for HBO.
Schreiber has filmed countless features most recently, Mapplethope, lensed in New York, for director Ondi Timoner, Moving Parts for director Emilie Upczak, photographed in Trinidad, and Kepler’s Dream, filmed in New Mexico for director Amy Glazer. Schreiber’s television work includes ABC’s The Family with Joan Allen and Alison Pill, the FX show, Better Things, starring and co-created by Pamela Adlon, and DP on the series, The Comeback, with Lisa Kudrow.
She photographed numerous Sundance premieres including: The Nines, Motherhood with Uma Thurman; and Loverboy directed by Kevin Bacon, with Kyra Sedgwick, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon and Marissa Tomei. She’s also shot: Serious Moonlight with Meg Ryan, Tim Hutton, Justin Long and Kristin Bell (Tribeca), Everyday, directed by Richard Levine, with Helen Hunt, Liev Schreiber, Brian Dennehy, Carla Gugino and Eddie Izzard (Tribeca); as well as Neil La Bute’s Your Friends and Neighbors, with Ben Stiller, Catherine Keener, Aaron Eckhart, Amy Brenneman, Jason Patric and Natasha Kinski.
Schreiber taught advanced cinematography at the American Film Institute in 2010-2011 and has guest lectured at all the film schools in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. She also served on the board of the ASC for seven years, was on the foundation board of Women In Film, is a huge supporter and member of Film Independent, IFP and IDA, and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Schreiber enjoys shooting documentary, including the critically acclaimed film Eva Hesse, directed by Marcie Begleiter, and also shot additional photography on Woody Allen for PBS’ American Masters, as well as Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, and HBO’s Paradise Lost 2 and 3, directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky.
NANCY SCHREIBER- Director of Photography ASC
ASTRID CHEVALLIER- Graphic Designer, Key Art

BARBARA BESTOR- Consultant

SHEILA TEPPER- Consultant

JUDIE GREGG ROSENMAN- Consultant

PAT KIRKHAM- Consultant

MARIA TURNER- Leica Photographer
IT'S NOT A WRAP YET...
Women Of Design illuminates what by now should be abundantly apparent: that women have deserved an equal place both in the design studio and as design entrepreneurs. But this story doesn’t end here: the contributions to design made by women then, and now, will merit the equal attention that we will give them. Right now we are building a sterling production team with whom we will create an ongoing stream of compelling episodes dedicated to the world’s remarkable women designers.
Part of the Mid-Century Modern section of the
California’s Designing Women 1896-1986 exhibition
at the Autry Museum, Los Angeles, 2013-14.
Photo: Larry Underhill.
CONTACT
PJ LETOFSKY
E-mail: pjletofsky@gmail.com
GENE LIM
E-mail: gene@mav12.com
JEANINE ROHN
E-mail: jrohn@jigsawpictures.net
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