to talk about the power of technology. And way of talking about the Jewish of course nobody over there had personal experience? While I was just ďŹ nishing the reproduccomputers and I’m coming from Marin saying, “Personal computers are going to tive rights ďŹ lm I got a call out of the blue that change the world and unite students all over Steven Spielberg’s foundation, the Righteous Persons Foundation, and the world and world peace...!â€? the Bronfman Foundation and I sort of had my bubble wanted to bring together 40 burst. But it was the ďŹ rst time It’s one of the young Jews who were not I had this vision of computers greatest ironies necessarily engaged in their connecting people. So then I Jewishness but were successwent to Cal and made ďŹ lms of the 20th century ful in the world. So I went to there. And I was a waitress that a Jewish Utah and I was blown away. and a professor’s assistant Because Ken and I had talked and I kept running out of woman created the a lot about Judaism and I money and the way I would had been bat mitzvahed but pay for my ďŹ lms was working ultimate shiksa! I never felt like I belonged. in technology. I had a job at Which is how most Jews feel. Web magazine designing their website and I was given the opportunity to And none of the people who were in this found the Webby awards. This was before Utah group went to temple. They were all the Internet boom. It was a very exciting doing interesting things but none of them felt time with this new medium and I was so they had a space to delve into this conversaelectriďŹ ed by it. And the ďŹ rst Webbys was a tion about Jewish identity in the 21st century. lot bigger than we thought it was going to But we all exploded in conversation and it was so inspiring! And I wanted to replicate be. I was like 26. It was very surreal. that experience for hundreds and thousands of people. That same weekend, Ruth Handler, It became a huge celebrity event. It the creator of Barbie, died and there was a big was the social place to be, right? obituary about her in the New York Times. It’s so funny to think about now. Yeah. And I knew that she was Jewish but they But the Webbys were a really great way to didn’t mention that in the whole obituary. celebrate people. I think this comes from And I thought, they buried the lead! my upbringing. My parents were always very supportive of me. They always told Left it out entirely. me when they were proud of me. And I It’s one of the greatest ironies of the think the Webbys were a big way to say 20th century that a Jewish woman created to so many people, “Good job!â€? It looked the ultimate shiksa! And she’s the most like a really fun celebrity thing but it was popular doll on the planet. And that will a lot of work. The magazine shut down. be my way into this very difďŹ cult subject. I spun the company off. We had to raise tons of money through sponsors. It was a At least half of your new ďŹ lm is about very complicated production. I had Alan your personal story—your relationCumming [hosting], sold-out shows at ship with your father, his illness and the Opera House, 30 sponsors. As fun and death, and the birth of your second sexy as it sounds, it was incredibly hard daughter. work. I worked like 70-, 80-hour weeks. We actually cut a whole movie that had And then the Internet crash happened. All nothing to do with my personal story. But the sponsors went away. I had to restrucI realized I wasn’t talking about emotional ture my whole staff. And then the crash connectedness and how could I do that? of 9/11 happened and I think everyone So then I started the very difďŹ cult process started to rethink what they wanted to of weaving in my story, which was the do with their lives. And I knew I wanted hardest thing I’ve ever done. to have children. And I wanted to get back to ďŹ lmmaking. So I approached Planned I think the personal aspect makes the Parenthood Golden Gate about making a movie come alive. It gives it heart. short ďŹ lm that would activate my generaYeah, it was too much head. It was too tion about [reproductive] choice. And it got into Sundance and did really well. We made left brain! a whole activist kit with ways people could Tell me about your recent appearance get on the Internet and inuence elections. And it was like a light bulb went off. I could at TEDxNASA [an event sponsored by NASA and modeled after the TED— combine my passion for ďŹ lmmaking with Technology, Entertainment, Design— technology to make social change—that’s conferences]. what I want to do! Another great thing I gave a talk called, “The Single Most about this reproductive rights ďŹ lm is that it Important Thing You Need to Understand played all over the world without me. As a About the Power of Technology.â€? working mother I needed to work less and make more impact. Filmmaking would alWhich is? low me to hopefully make the world better You can turn it off. ✚ while I was being a good mother. Let’s talk about your ďŹ lm ‘The Tribe.’ What inspired you to use Barbie as a
Tiffany Shlain will answer questions from the audience at the Sept. 17 screening of Connected at the Sequoia Theater in Mill Valley. For more information, go to connectedtheďŹ lm.com.
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