I’ve felt more opinionated about fashion trends lately. I love statement sleeves – short and long, but you’ll never catch me in a tee with a cold shoulder. I believe that one day thousands of women will wake up and wonder why they spent so much $$$ on clothes with holes. Too many women look alike these days – what ever happened to expressing your individuality through personal style? As you can imagine, I’m not a fan of distressed jeans either.
When iTunes featured Hello, My Name Is Doris as their movie of the week, I immediately removed it from my wish list and rented it. Now that the Gilmore Girls revival is behind us, I had a chance to sit down and enjoy watching the movie this weekend.
Leading lady Sally Field is believable as a kooky data entry clerk in an advertising agency. I’m all about watching movies and TV shows that portray the media industry! As soon as she meets John (Max Greenfield), the new art director, she falls in love with him despite their age difference. I can’t blame her. I mean, have you seen him?
Director & Producer Vanessa Gould and Reporter Bruce Weber
What do you consider a newsworthy death?
Well, the New York Times’ obituaries section is not limited to celebrities and politicians, as there are many ordinary people doing extraordinary things and their stories deserve to be told in print and online. By flipping to the obits section, you can access history from the perspective of a skilful reporter who wrote a retrospective about a person who led a meaningful life. That’s something worth reading.
After job shadowing a movie critic at The Globe and Mail during high school, I was intrigued by the movie Obit, as it promises to offer a behind the scenes look at The New York Times. Thankfully, Vanessa Gould’s movie is insightful and engaging and you don’t need to be a journalist to enjoy this documentary at Hot Docs. After all, the obits are written for everyone. One of the reporters communicated this effectively when he said that their challenge is to craft an entertaining piece about history for people who don’t know history.
Name: Kelsey Miller
Best Known For: Big Girl: How I Gave Up Dieting And Got A Life (2016)
Education: Film & Television, Boston University
Employment: Senior Features Writer, Refinery29
Professional role models: David Sedaris & Tina Fey
How did spending years in therapy help you write a memoir?
The work I did (and still do) in therapy enabled me to grow up and live my life, without which there would be no memoir. I also never would have been able to write about my problems and difficulties without first sorting through them and working my ass off so that they weren’t the controlling force of my life. It’s a lot more complicated than this, but the short version is that I went into therapy feeling like one big problem — I was composed of trauma and disorder and dysfunctional experiences. Therapy doesn’t erase those things but it helped me realize that I’m not simply the sum total of my [problems]. Those things are in me and a part of me, but I don’t have to sit around and wait to be fixed and perfect in order to move forward with my life. I always thought you had to be All Better with a capital B in order to write a reflective memoir. Nope. You just get on with your life and your goals, issues or not.
Do you think your theatre training has helped you become a better storyteller?
Man, I sure hope so. I’d like to think my parents’ investment in a decade’s worth of theatre training paid off somehow. I’d always enjoyed storytelling and have huge admiration for good storytellers. (My mom and dad are both incredibly funny and I used to wish I could crack up a dinner table the way they could.) I haven’t done theatre in ages, but there are certain lessons that will always be with me: finding your intention in a scene, showing and not telling, etc. Those are all good instincts for writers as well.
