My other creative outlet is knitting; aside from being fun, it is my antidote to the film business: I have full creative control, there is no development process, and I can self-finance.
I made a film about adolescence and what going through it is like for a specific group of girls. Adolescence is always about wanting desperately to be individuals, and also about wanting desperately to fit in. For every teenager it's about finding that balance.
I learned, viscerally, something that I knew intellectually: that I cannot protect my daughter from the difficulties as she may encounter in her search for her own identity, and that she will be OK. She has a sisterhood to share the experience with, in addition to her family.
I made the transition to directing documentaries with the great help of my Co-Director on The World According to Sesame Street, Linda Hawkins Costigan. She was a gracious teacher, and a wonderful collaborator.
I'm still producing scripted features, and I am already working on a new documentary project with Norman Lear and Lara Bergthold. It is about the Declaration of Independence and the relevance of the document today. And it will be fun and engaging - I promise!
For every teenager there are issues that make finding it hard. These girls are totally unique and totally like every teenager everywhere - in the world. They illuminate, beautifully, the universal search for identity that we all have. I hope that people come away from the film with a better understanding of themselves, and compassion for others.
