Maxine Grossman is an upcoming writer, producer and actress. She has written three pilots for original series, multiple comedy sketches, a spec episode for The Mindy Project and produced many short films. Maxine even had a part in Oscar winner Shape of Water. We also share a love for cannoli. Maxine is hardworking and has an amazing personality. Check out my Q&A with her below: What is your dream project? My dream project would be to work on something feminist, and socially and historically significant. I don't have anything off the top of my head that I would want to work on that's been made because, that's the exciting part! I'd love to make it. What do you think is the key to telling a good story in today’s day and age? The key to telling a good story in this day and age is authenticity and openness. Audience members are demanding more real and accurate representations of characters on television. They want to see themselves on screen, and the only way to show that is to have the characters be as real and authentic as they are. The next, is openness. Audiences connect with characters that are honest and open with their feelings and stories. Of course, we still need the conflict and character arcs, so they can't be too self aware, but they do need to be emotional and have passions and be open in their stories about those things. It creates true empathy with the audience when they can identify with what the character is feeling. How do you define success? I define success through my ability to challenge someone's perceptions. My goal in life is to be a voice for those who would otherwise not be heard. I want to challenge the world to think differently and realize that their bubbles are not the be all, end all. Education is key. So for me, success is the ability to connect with others, educate them, and help show them another way of perceiving the world. Learn more about Maxine here and give her a follow on Instagram @MaxineGrossman.
And that's another award season in the books! I feel like this season just started, but sadly it came to an end with the 90th Academy Awards last night. I hosted my 3rd annual Oscars Party, so I'm slowly coming down from that high (it was a blast for those wondering). So much has happened in Hollywood and around the world in the past six months courtesy of a variety of movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp as well as discussions about gun control and gender equality. In terms of the films that were nominated, I wasn't head over heels for any of them. It was a bit of a shit year. If I had to pick the one that I liked the most, it was Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri. Frances McDormand took home the coveted Best Actress award and it was well deserved. Her speech, however, had me scratching my head when she got so excited after calling on all of the female nominees to stand with her. Check it out: The winners were pretty consistent with previous award shows - Gary Oldman won Best Actor, Sam Rockwell won Best Supporting Actor, Allison Janney won Best Supporting Actress, and Guillermo del Toro won Best Director. Speaking of Guillermo del Toro, Shape of Water won 4 of the 13 Oscars that they were nominated for. They took the hardware home for Best Picture, Production Design, Best Director and Best Original Score. It definitely fits in with inclusion theme with the whole human woman falling in love with a fish person. It's more than that though. Shape of Water is what I visualize when I think of an Oscar worthy movie. The cinematography was unreal and some of it happened to be shot in my hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. I do have to say that the show overall, despite being the biggest night in film, was underwhelming this year. I didn't hate it, but it didn't wow me either. Host Jimmy Kimmel was alright, but not spectacular. I think the greatest Oscars host of all time is Billy Crystal. Kimmel's monologue didn't suck, I just felt like it was missing something. The show was full of compassion and wasn't in your face when it came to discussing the issues I mentioned at the top of this piece. That I loved. For a full list of the winners, click here.
Now I need to go clean up what's left from the party and count down the days until next year's Academy Awards. |
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