Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Rainin

Hi Jen, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

About 15 years ago, I married the love of my life, Franco Stevens. She shared that like me she never saw anyone like herself growing up. There were no gay characters on tv, in movies, or in the history she learned at school. There were no out gay people in her small town in Maryland. She didn’t even know it was possible for a woman to be gay and she didn’t figure it out until after she was married.

When Franco came out, her family turned their backs on her. She lived in her car and worked three jobs, trying to figure out how to live as a lesbian. She wanted a lifestyle magazine like the Cosmo and Self magazines her mother and sisters read, but although there was a wall of magazines for gay men at the bookstore, there was only one for lesbians…and it was porn. So she decided to start a magazine herself. Of course, nobody would give her any money so she took out 12 credit cards in one day, cashed them out, and bet it all at the race track. She won big and Curve went on to become the best-selling lesbian magazine in the world for over 30 years.

Franco has spent her life living her truth, building community, and making the world safer for LGBTQ+ women. When I heard her story, I thought it would make a great movie. So I started writing a screenplay. But as I researched for the film, I struggled to find queer women’s stories. That’s when I felt called to tell her story as a nonfiction film.

Making AHEAD OF THE CURVE cracked me open. I fell in love with filmmaking and with working alongside my creative partner, Rivkah Beth Medow. Rivkah and I then started Frankly Speaking Films to tell mesmerizing stories about strong queer women and nonbinary people. Our next film was the Oscar shortlisted HOLDING MOSES, and we now have a full slate of projects in various stages of development.

The other significant impact of making AHEAD OF THE CURVE was that it underscored the deep need to champion and highlight LGBTQ+ women’s culture and stories. Franco and I started a nonprofit, the Curve Foundation, to honor and amplify the authentic voices of generations of queer, lesbian, and trans women of all races, abilities and socioeconomic backgrounds. It is the only national nonprofit that champions LGBTQ+ women’s stories and culture.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

There have been lots of challenges!

Rivkah and I are committed to living our values, so it’s important to us to cast authentically and to hire women, LGBTQ+ and nonbinary people on our projects. In a field heavily dominated by men, that’s sometimes a challenge – particularly when we film outside of major metropolitan areas. So we’ve embraced a mentorship model to make sure we provide training to early career professionals so we can increase the pool and move toward more equity in the field.

An obstacle we faced that was particular to AHEAD OF THE CURVE was that the story changed about two thirds of the way through production. Franco initially agreed only to tell the historical story from the time she was outed until the name-change with the magazine. But then she got a call from then publisher, Avalon Media, saying that the magazine was about to fold. That sent us off on a different trajectory that ultimately made for a more current and urgent story. It also required a completely new approach and a lot more filming. But it was totally worth it in the end.

While taking part in a documentary film lab at Film Independent, we were matched with several industry professionals to provide advice and guidance. As we sat down with one of those advisors, she warned us not to aim high with our “little lesbian film.” We were particularly shocked as this advisor was a queer woman! It stung, but ultimately lit a fire under our feet to prove her wrong. We have hustled like lezzie John Travoltas for the last few years and it’s paid off with wide airline distribution, a fantastic run on Starz, and now the Netflix deal.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

While making AHEAD OF THE CURVE, we spent time with a group of LGBTQ+ students at UC Merced. I will never forget when a 19-year-old woman shared that her mother told her that if she’d known her daughter would be a lesbian, she would have aborted her. Her mother erased all of the rest of their relationship because of her queerness. But we’re not comfortable putting all of the blame on her mother. This is a systemic issue and she is a product of our system. It’s our responsibility to shift our culture so that no one ever feels that way again.

The latest research shows that 28% of Gen Z adults (ages 18-25) identify as LGBTQ+. This new generation will ultimately be a force for change. But they need our help. Unfortunately, as we learned at UC Merced, it’s still not safe for many young people to live openly. LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers. For LGBTQ+ young people of color, those numbers are even higher.

The best way to protect those kids and all of our futures is to ensure that all queer women and nonbinary people are accepted and valued. We know that through media, we develop our understanding of the world and everyone’s place in it. We know that belonging to accepting communities and having positive role models increases our sense of self-worth. That’s why Rivkah and I develop, direct, and produce projects that dismantle patriarchy, disrupt heteronormativity, and diffuse the fear-driven actions that divide us one scene at a time. We are on a mission to entertain with stories that transform audiences.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.

When it comes to making films, I believe that what most people think of as risk-taking is actually opportunity. When you “take a risk” by doing something differently, you have the opportunity to create deeper impact. And if it doesn’t work the way you hoped, you still learn something. A dear friend of mine who passed away recently shared his wisdom about failure with me in a way that influences me daily. He saw the word “FAIL” as an acronym standing for First Attempt In Learning. Reframing risk and failure in that way creates a safe space for exploration and experimentation. It also makes it safe to share your “failures” as learnings with others so that we all grow together.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://franklyspeakingfilms.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/franklyspeakingfilms/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FranklySpeakingFilms
• Other: https://curvemagmovie.com

Image Credits

for image of Rivkah Beth Medow in purple and Jen Rainin in grey stripes, photo credit Barak Shrama