On September 15, 2020 NYWIFT and HBO presented a virtual screening of the HBO Max original film, Unpregnant followed by a conversation with director, Rachel Lee Goldenberg. The conversation was moderated by NYWIFT Board President, Jamie Zelermyer.
About the Film
In Unpregnant, 17-year-old Veronica (Haley Lu Richardson) never thought she’d want to fail a test—that is, until she finds herself staring at a piece of plastic with a blue plus. With a promising college-bound future now disappearing before her eyes, Veronica considers a decision she never imagined she’d have to make. This never-taken-lightly decision leads her on a 1000 mile hilarious road trip to New Mexico over three days with her ex-best friend, Bailey (Barbie Ferreira) where they discover sometimes the most important choice you’ll make in life is who your friends are.
Unpregnant is streaming now on HBO Max.
Panelists
Rachel Lee Goldenberg is an Emmy® award-winning producer, director and writer. She most recently directed MGM’s Valley Girl, a musical remake of the 1983 cult classic, that The Hollywood Reporter called “A totally bitchin’ guilty pleasure.” Previously, she directed a number of television episodes and feature-length films including episodes of The Mindy Project, Looking for Alaska, I’m Sorry, Divorce, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, Man Seeking Woman and notably, the meta Lifetime feature A Deadly Adoption starring Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig. In 2014, while serving as the White House liaison for Funny or Die, she won a Primetime Emmy® award for producing Between Two Ferns with President Obama. Her directing work at FoD includes Snackpocalypse starring Michelle Obama; Mary Poppins Quits with Kristen Bell (promoting minimum wage increase); and Modern Office starring Christina Hendricks (advocating workplace equality for women), to name just a few. She began her career directing B movies for a Roger Corman-esque company called The Asylum, where she was able to delve into many different genres and earn her 10,000 hours. She currently resides in Los Angeles.
Jamie Zelermyer is the President of the NYWIFT Board of Directors and has been a New York based Producer and Production Executive for the past 20 plus years. She produced IFP Week 2019, a signature program of the Independent Feature Project (IFP). Most recently she was the Program Manager of Made In New York: Pilot Competition, a program founded by The Mayor’s Office of Film Media and Entertainment to tackle gender inclusivity in the television industry. Jamie Executive Produced the two winning half hour pilots and Executive Produced season 1 of the winning show entitled Half Life starring Larisa Oleynik and Nancy Giles. Prior to this she produced Ratter starring Ashley Benson and Matt McGorry which was released by Sony Worldwide in March 2016.
She was the VP, Physical Production at Focus Features / Rogue Pictures for six years ending in November 2012. At Focus she oversaw such movies as Admission, One Day, Jane Eyre, Sin Nombre and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Prior to Focus Jamie was a Line Producer and Production Manager working on films such as Igby Goes Down, Boys Don’t Cry and You Can Count on Me. Over the years, she has had the privilege to work with a number of notable directors including Steve McQueen, Lone Scherfig, Kenneth Lonergan, Cary Fukanaga and Kimberly Pierce. Jamie is on the board of New York Women in Film and Television, and is an adviser on NYWIFT’s The Writers Lab, a program for female writers over 40 funded by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman. She is a graduate of Bard College.
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