The Official INDIEGOGO Press Kit: October 2nd- Nov 5th

INDIEGOGO LINK: IGG.ME/AT/GIRLONGIRLMOV IE

“It’s about defending our identity in the face of skepticism.”

–Jodi Savitz director/producer

Email: [email protected] Facebook.com/girlongirlmovie Vimeo Channel: vimeo.com/channels/girlongirlmovie Tweet @girlongirlmovie Pinterest.com/girlongirlmovie

www.girlongirlmovie.com

Contact: Jodi Savitz Phone: 954-415-1736 Email: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

Girl on Girl: an original documentary about lesbian visibility to launch $100,000 Indiegogo Campaign to fund first phase of production!

[BROOKLYN NY—OCTOBER 2ND, 2013] After garnering over 12,000 fans on Facebook, Girl on Girl director, Jodi Savitz, is reaching out to the public for support. Beginning October 2nd, Savitz will launch a 35-day crowdfunding campaign on the popular fundraising site, Indiegogo, with the goal of raising $100,000 to fund the first phase of production. So far, Girl on Girl has proven its worth through its growing international fan base, and its sponsorship from New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and Curve Magazine.

Unlike any documentary film to date, Girl on Girl focuses its lens on the lives of feminine lesbians, and invites the audience to discover what life is like for women whose identity is incessantly trivialized and stigmatized, both outside of and within queer spaces. Girl on Girl challenges assumptions of what society imagines a lesbian to look like and, for the first time, addresses the issue of feminine lesbians feeling invisible even after coming out.

The independently produced film features such ‘celesbians’ as Lauren Bedford Russell (The Real L Word: Season 3) and Huffington Post columnist and award-winning lesbian porn producer, Jincey Lumpkin (JuicyPinkBox.com), along with several other women from around the country, including New York, Florida, Utah, and North Carolina.

The campaign will go live on the morning of October 2nd. The goal is to spread the direct link to the Indiegogo campaign via social media outlets and blogs. The direct link is: igg.me/at/girlongirlmovie

For more information, sharable photos, and to download a press kit, visit www.girlongirlmovie.com/press. To contact the director, email [email protected] or directly at 954-415-1736. The Girl on Girl trailer, along with several other clips, are available on www.girlongirlmovie.com/trailers or directly via the film’s Vimeo channel, www.vimeo.com/channels/girlongirlmovie.

For release 9 a.m. EST, October 2nd, 2013

nd th • To raise $100,000 through our crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo between Oct 2 and November 5 : 35 days to fund the initial production phase of Girl on Girl: an original documentary.

• To produce, publicize, release and distribute a high-quality documentary film that highlights positive, diverse representations of feminine lesbian women. • To complete production by Summer, 2014. • To bring Girl on Girl to film festivals beginning in Fall of 2014. • To engage audiences from all walks of life and to market the film both to and beyond the LGBTQ community. • To play in both commercial and independent theaters and to achieve mainstream distribution in order to access the communities that need to hear the film's message the most! • To design an engagement program to supplement screenings of the film in schools, colleges, and LGBTQ youth centers, and to encourage productive and positive dialogues about 'invisibility' in general.

Never before has lesbian visibility been discussed on such a large scale. And never has it been so important to make the conversation happen. This is about introducing the world to a largely invisible portion of society— the lesbians that “look straight.” While out and proud, they still face the burden of invisibility on a day-to-day basis. Of feeling alone within the gay world, and lost within the straight world.

Without popular, positive representation, feminine lesbians will continue to remain a delegitimized population— and the LGBTQ community cannot afford to lose the faces of these women in the midst of a civil rights movement. The time for this documentary is now. If Jennifer Lopez can produce a television show on ABC Family about a lesbian- headed family, we know that there is a market for and momentum behind the subject matter.

Unlike any film to date, Girl on Girl is a groundbreaking documentary that covers new territory in the LGBTQ genre. By focusing its lens on the lives of feminine lesbians, Girl on Girl invites the audience to discover what life is like for women whose identity is incessantly trivialized, both outside of and within queer spaces. Girl on Girl lays the groundwork for a movement towards the redefinition of what society imagines a lesbian to look like and, for the first time, addresses the issue of lesbians feeling invisible even after coming out.

Girl on Girl is in the late stages of development/early production. While we have already conducted initial interviews, our ability to capture high-quality footage and sound has been limited due to scant funding. Using our available resources, we have scouted locations and decided on whom to focus our interviews on during the next stages of production.

With funding equal to or near our proposed budget, we can immediately move forward to production, plan our travel arrangements, and schedule to shoot on-location with a full crew and all of the necessary equipment. Funding will also allow us to assemble and put on-call a complete post-production team, and to conduct audience engagement programs simultaneously as a part of our initial marketing campaign. With a bulk of the details planned, the cast already secured and the locations identified, we could potentially complete filming in a matter of months and move on to post-production in under a year.

• There is a HUGE NEED and AUDIENCE for Girl on Girl • In only 5 months, our Facebook page has flourished, with over 10,000 likes, and an active comment feed. • Girl on Girl has WORLDWIDE relevance- fans come from over 20 countries, including Pakistan, Kenya, Indonesia, Algeria, Bangladesh, and even Nigeria! • Outside of the US, our largest fan base is located in the UK. • Girl on Girl challenges the assertion that ‘passing is a privilege’ by presenting feminine lesbian invisibility as a problem worth talking about and worthy of a solution. • Girl on Girl is a niche-oriented and commercially viable film. Let’s face it, with a title like Girl on Girl, even the most unsuspecting moviegoers’ interest will be peaked. • Girl on Girl has the potential to fundamentally impact society’s reception of LBTQ women, through commercial distribution and academic circulation.

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT PLAN Engagement programs for adolescents can prompt educators to acquire the film as a tool to discuss sexism and the objectification of women, and to open the floor for teens to discuss the complexities of sexuality and gender presentation. This sort of conversation would cultivate LGBTQ visibility on a larger scale, validate the identities of both lesbian and heterosexual women and girls, provide positive role models, and engage more youth in guided conversations about the LGBTQ community. Working with select high school teachers and college professors, we plan to create age/level-appropriate supplemental materials to prompt discussion and to engage students in relevant conversations after viewing the film.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PLAN With sufficient funding, we will build an interactive Girl on Girl website and/or application, including a discussion board, resource directory, community events listing, and an interactive application that would allow women to chat with other members of the community. Using a platform similar to a dating site, the application would help ‘invisible’ lesbians find and connect with other women like themselves, ultimately cultivating an international network of women who can support, advise, and simply communicate with one another through a safe and secure website. We also plan to bring screenings and talk-backs to communities throughout the United States and, with luck, throughout the world!

Lauren Bedford Russell, best known for her appearance on Season 3 of "The Real L Word," and her jewelry line, Lyon Fine Jewelry, is back to talk about the challenges of not being taken seriously as a lesbian, even after achieving celebrity status.

A former lawyer, turned lesbian porn producer, Jincey Lumpkin spends her days producing films, writing her sex column in the Huffington Post, and simply representing our community as an out, audacious, sex- positive, feminine-lesbian advocate!

Ashleigh, Destini, and baby Saibra. This very modern, “Fosters-like" family (*ABC FAMILY SHOW) navigates raising a toddler and planning a second pregnancy in a not-quite-so-liberal American town.

Follow Celina as she deals with the ups and downs of joining a new LGBTQ college campus community, and learns that even in New York, one's identity can be challenged.

Lyndi, a former member of the United States Air Force, came out before the appeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and faced the possibility of being dishonorably discharged- until her femininity left others believing that she couldn't possibly be gay.

After Karen accidentally came out while on a phone call with her mother, she spent three years facing isolation from her family, homelessness, and having to drop out of school. With a renewed sense of self, Karen establishes herself and proves her resilience in the face of skepticism and negativity.

For over 25 years, Kris has embraced her femininity while living life as an activist and social worker. In the 1980s, she lived in an exclusively lesbian-feminist community, practicing the woman-identified-woman lifestyle which excluded men from all aspects of their society. She has experienced the true diversity of the lesbian community and witnessed its evolution

JODI SAVITZ Director/Producer/Director of Photography

Jodi Savitz is an independent documentary filmmaker based out of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She grew up in Plantation, Florida, and was lucky to feel safe and supported enough to be open about her lesbian identity as a teenager. She has been out to her family and friends since she was 14 years old, and has been extremely passionate about LGBTQ politics and activism ever since. Jodi graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Theatre and Gender Studies, and a passion for film. She produced her first film, Yo Soy Así, in 2010. Jodi's goal is to fill a void in LGBTQ women’s programming, and to create valuable media resources for the LGBTQ community and beyond.

LAUREN SAVITZ Associate Producer; Marketing, Contracts, Communications

Lauren Savitz is a straight ally of the LGBT community. Aside from working on Girl on Girl, she is a student at City University of New York's School of Law. Lauren is experienced in marketing and public relations, having worked at the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Public Library over a combined eight years. She is a proud feminist and advocate for equality.

TATE PHILLIP Production Coordinator; Production Assistant

ALICIA HABERMAN Sound Mixer; Production Assistant

MARIA PIÉN Composer/Music Supervisor

Maria Pién is a singer-songwriter/composer living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She released her debut album, La Vuelta Manzana in 2012. She is now producing and recording her second album, to be released in 2013 through the independent record label Elefante en la Habitación! http://mariapien.com/

KARA ALI Secondary Composer

Kara Ali is a singer/songwriter currently residing in New York City. With an acoustic sound that straddles R&B, rock, and folk, she has released two EPs and is currently working on her next album project with producer Robert "LB" Dorsey. http://www.karaalimusic.com/

HANNAH ZISMAN Intern; Research, Development, Communications

MATTHEW SEIG Advisor: Media Specialist NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship Letters to Girl on Girl (PRESS HAS PERMISSION TO PUBLISH FROM THE FOLLOWING QUOTES)

“Dear Jodi,

…. This is an issue I face EVERY day, and I'm actually about to click on and write my weekly HuffPost column about my femme invisibility. I'm seriously just so OVER explaining to everyone on a daily basis that I am a lesbian who they say ‘doesn't look like a lesbian.’ So frustrating!”

- Jincey Lumpkin

Dear Jodi, My name is K. I am a seventeen year old girl living in Oklahoma. And I am gay. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the trailer to your documentary and I cannot wait until it's finished. See, I am a very feminine girl. And coming out to my parents was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. We don't talk about it anymore and I'm not allowed to see my girlfriend… My mom told me that even if it was true, she'd never accept it. I'm just very appreciative of your documentary of other feminine lesbians. Maybe if I can get my parents to watch it, they'll see that I'm not lying when I tell them I'm gay and still love the color pink. Thank you so much. You are my hero and you have my full support. <3 ______

“Hi Jodi -

… In all honesty, I never believed that this would be something I would worry about or even have to think about after coming out to my friends and family - yet it is something that is consistent in our daily lives... forcing those feelings of anxiety and sweaty palms associated with coming out in the first place. All in all, I could not be happier that you are taking a look at an issue that I feel like both the straight and lesbian community tend to avoid or not pay attention to…”

“Hi there!

“I feel like I have quite a story to tell as a womyn of color who has recently shaved off all my hair, for one of many reasons including that I felt "too femme" & invisible. … Many times when I had long hair I remember lesbians saying, 'You’re the last girl I would think is gay," which hurt to say the least.

…As a femme that generally likes femmes, it has been difficult mentally and emotionally when I try to figure out how to attract other femmes as a self-identified femme myself. I’ve even started to ask myself if I have ever simply been a trophy to a girl. Thank you for bringing these topics about femme invisibility into the conversation! “

Hi Jodi, I received your "Girl On Girl" flyer at NYC Pride yesterday and it was the most relevant thing I have ever read. I'm very feminine and I feel as though that causes people to take my sexuality less seriously...Reading your flyer gave me a lot of hope because I now know there are other feminine lesbians that are attracted to feminine women just like me.

…Sometimes I find myself wishing I was very masculine just so my parents would confront me and ask if I was gay and I could say yes… Anyway, I basically just wanted to thank you for the movie you're making, as it means very much to me that I am not alone in what I am going through. I'm hopeful to know that there are other women who are just like me. What you are doing is very powerful and I respect and admire you. D

Hi Jodi!

I am 23 years old, born and raised in Portland, Oregon. Being a young, feminine, lesbian in Portland, or in the Northwest for that matter, can be very challenging because of the identity I portray. After watching your trailer, I found myself nodding my head agreeing with all of the women and the portrayal of feminine lesbians. Portland is a very "butch" lesbian community and it is very difficult to meet other feminine lesbians. My image does not match up with the norm lesbian image I knew growing up. When I go out at night with all my friends, I constantly get hit on by only men. I feel like I have to have something very obvious and visible in order for anyone to know that I am a lesbian. When I mention to men that I'm gay, most are shocked and in denial. Exactly how you described. Most are very surprised and then become more interested because I am an actual "feminine lesbian". I don't understand it, and that's why I am such a big fan of this project.

Hi Jodi,

“… The following is a list of my favorite comments upon finding out I identify as a lesbian. "It is a great loss for the straight world" " Maybe you just haven't met the right guy" " I'm sure it’s just a phase" "I know that you find me attractive, maybe you just need to give it a shot" …and my favorite "you look nothing like a lesbian".

My girlfriend is femme too. She is charismatic and a magnet of energy and beauty. We have been the catalyst opening the floodgates for questions, curiosity and at times fantasy.

Your documentary focuses on a fascinating topic - one that I have never seen covered before - so naturally I am very thrilled to see this in the works! “ ______

“My name is Chi and I am a 23 year old Lesbian. I grew up in a Christian household with Nigerian parents, so coming out was very difficult for me. I have always been very outspoken. I am constantly berated for being gay. Straight men often become hostile and want to talk to me about "what the Bible says" once they find out I am gay and not interested in them. I used to say I was bisexual...and I tried to be. I figured that if I was bi I could sort of fit in more. It was a waste of my time. I realized I was gay when I kept searching for "something more" while in bed with men...I always felt empty …I want to inspire and touch others to be comfortable in their own skin.”

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