W Is For Paula Wagner

Oh thank God, it's FRIDAY!!! I've got my youngest nephew's First Communion tomorrow, but tonight will be movies, beer and pizza. A triple ace night in my book. Anyway, enough about my weekend and on to the W day for A to Z.

Paula Wagner got her start in the early 70's in New York as an actress on Broadway, then became a talent agent at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles when she and her then husband, set designer Robin Wagner moved out there. For 15 years she repped some of the industry's biggest including Sean Penn, Liam Neeson, Kathryn Bigelow, Oliver Stone and the couch jumper himself, Tom Cruise. In 1993, she joined with Cruise to launch Cruise/Wagner Productions and together they produced the Mission Impossible films, which have earned more than 3 billion worldwide. They also launched many of Cruise's other films like The Last Samurai, Vanilla Sky and Spielberg's War of the Worlds.

When she and Cruise bought into United Artists, she served as the studio's CEO from 2006 to 2008, a very rare occurrence for a woman in Tinseltown. She has since gone on to form her own production company, Chestnut Ridge Productions, which not only develops projects for film and television, but also for theater. In October 2012 CRP launched The Heiress on Broadway with Jessica Chastain and David Strathairn.

Paula is quite active in the realm of academia as well. She serves as adjunct faculty at Carnegie Mellon University and at Loyola Marymount. This coming fall, she will teach a course at UCLA entitled From Stage to Screen. Wagner also lectures at various universities her recent engagements included USC, Harvard Business School and my own alma mater DePaul University here in Chicago. In addition to her academic duties, Wagner currently serves on the boards of the National Film Preservation Foundation and Film Forum New York.

She has accomplished so much and continues to blaze trails for women in cinema.

Have a great weekend! I'll "see" you tomorrow for X, Very Hard Letter for sure.

V Is For Amy Vincent

Happy Thursday, yo! I'm finally feeling better. My sinuses yesterday made my face puff up like I'd been hit several times by Mike Tyson.  It was not pretty. Anyway, I spent my day yesterday caught between sleep, the internet and trying to watch a couple of TV shows I've been hearing about but never had time to watch, Arrow and Red Widow. Turns out, I did not like either of them. At least now I don't have worry about trying to find space on my DVR.

It's V Day here on the A to Z and my girl this time is making it in a man's world. I'm talking cinematographer Amy Vincent. You know her work from the Oscar nominated film Hustle and Flow. from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Good Life, Mr. Brooks, Black Snake Moan, I Heart Huckabees, the unfortunate Footloose remake as well as Zookeeper and Eve's Bayou.

She got her start in the late 80's working the camera for such films as Heathers, 18 Again!, Who Is Harry Crumb?, Freeway Maniac and Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. Amy is one of the few female members of the American School of Cinematography.Her work has garnered her some terrific recognition as well. In 2001 she was given the Women in Film Vision Award for her outstanding work in advancing the presence of women behind the camera and in 2005 she won the Sundance Award for Best Cinematography for Hustle and Flow.

I can't believe how close to the end we are getting to this year's challenge. I haven't had much time to visit a lot of the blogs on the list so I am going to keep right on going until I finish the list. I did not finish last years list, I gave it a good try, but I failed spectacularly so my goal is to try and finish the list this year. I hope the links will stay up on the site for the rest of the year.

U Is For Liv Ullman

It's Hump Day and we're getting in to VHL's of the A To Z aka the Very Hard Letters.U being one of them. Today I'm spotlighting Liv Ullman, actress, director and yes, another fellow Sagittarian. We are such creative folks.

Liv began her career on the stage in the 1950's, but did not become well known until her collaborations with famed Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. The Passion of Anna, Cries and Whispers, Persona and Autumn Sonata would become some of her most famous films. She has been nominated for nearly every acting award and has received several Lifetime Achievement honors. She won the Golden Globe for her role in the 1971 film, The Emigrants.

Her directing career started in 1992 with the film Sofie. She went on to direct the Bergman composed film Faithless, which garnered a nomination for the prestigious Palm D'Or. In 2009 she directed Cate Blanchett in a stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire for the Kennedy Center. Her upcoming directorial project is Miss Julie starring Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell and Samantha Morton.

In addition to her acting and directing, Liv has chaired several film juries including Cannes and Berlin. She is the co-founder of the Women's Refugee Commission and a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. In 2005 King Harald V of Norway made Ullman a Commander with Star of theOrder of St. Olaf, an honor granted to very few women.

N And O: The Twofer Trilogy Is Complete

The final day of doubling up and I am caught up with all of you, my fellow awesome A To Zers. High fives and fist bumps! I can't believe how quickly this month is flying by. I've been amazed at how well-received my theme has been and I have gotten tons of page views each day. I'm happy to have have been able to share the stories of these amazing women.

And speaking of...

N Is For Ve Neill

Ve Neill is a giant in the make up effects arena, a seven time Oscar nominee with three Academy Awards to her credit. She has received four Saturn Awards as well, working with such legends as Stan Winston (Batman Returns) and Rick Baker (Interview With A Vampire). Among her most notable works are Beetlejuice, Mrs. Doubtfire, Ed Wood, the Pirates of the Caribbean films, Sweeney Todd, Austin Powers in Goldmember, The Hunger Games and The Amazing Spider-man. 

She got her start in the late 70's serving as a makeup artist on films like Kingdom of the Spiders, The Dark and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Ve is currently a judge on the popular Sy Fy series Face/Off, which young make up artists compete for prizes and the means to establish themselves in the next level of their careers. She also has a scholarship named after her at the Cinema Makeup School.

O Is For Jeannine Oppewall

Jeannine is another intriguing woman behind the scenes in Hollywood. She is an art director, a four time Academy Award nominee for her work on the films L.A. Confidential, Pleasantville, Seabiscuit and The Good Shepherd. She came to the film industry in an unusual way. While studying medieval history at Bryn Mawr College, she discovered the work of Charles and Ray Eames, furniture designers and filmmakers. While on a visit to the office of Charles Eames, she got a job answering phones. Eames was impressed with her enthusiasm and taught her everything he could.

Her career began as a set designer on Brian De Palma's 1981 thriller Blow Out. She scouted locations, built sets and designed interiors. She is known for her tough attitude and her impulsive thought process. Many consider her work absolutely brilliant. Actor Jeff Bridges was so impressed with her replica of Charles Howard's (owner of Seabiscuit) ranch house made from fir planks, that he attempted to buy it and have it shipped to his Montana property.

She also is big into education and has served as artist in residence at the prestigious Mount Holyoke College.

J And K: A Twofer

Well Imaginarians and A to Z ers, I'm finally back. YAAAYYY!! After a long, arduous battle with our cable company and our media gateway as the box is referred to,  I am finally back on the internet and able to do some posting. I'm also hoping the A to Z team and my fellow challengers will forgive my absence and think of it as a rain delay, albeit a three day one.

I'll be cheating a bit and doing twofers this week in order to catch up. So without further ado, let's get this challenge back on track.

J Is For Junie Lowry Johnson

Junie is a casting director with over 120 titles to her credit including the TV shows, True Blood, Deadwood, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, The Killing, Big Love, In Treatment, Prison Break, NYPD Blue, and the Star Trek series Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. Her latest project is the ambitious new SyFy series Defiance.  There has been little on television that Junie has not affected with her brilliant perception on who would be perfect for what roles. She has also worked her magic in film on pictures like Bruce Almighty, La Bamba, Grosse Point Blank and Forces of Nature. She has also been responsible for the cast of one of my fave monster movies, Abominable.

For her work she has garnered 41 nominations for Casting Society of America Artios Awards and Primetime Emmys. Of those noms, she has won 8 Emmys and 9 Artios. She has blazed a trail for women who want to work behind the scenes in Hollywood. and certainly left a mark. The actors make the roles their own, but we would not even see them in these roles had it not been for Junie's work. Like Patrick Stewart as Jean Luc Picard, Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse and Ian MacShane as Al Swearengen.

K Is For Kathleen Kennedy

Kathleen is one of the very few truly powerful women in Hollywood. As a producer, her resume includes a vast array of blockbusters from Poltergeist and E.T. to Jurassic Park, Twister and The Sixth Sense. She has also worked on several Oscar contenders like Schindler's List, Seabiscuit, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Lincoln.

She co-founded Amblin Entertainment with Frank Marshall and Steven Spielberg in 1981. She is also one of the rare female producer to reach the billion dollar mark in total box receipts with her films grossing more than 11 billion dollars. She formed Kennedy/Marshall Productions with her husband Frank Marshall in 1992 where she remained as president until October of last year when it was announced that she would take over the reins at Lucasfilm.

Kathleen currently serves on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a position rarely afforded to a woman. She also served as co-president of the Producers Guild of America. In 1995, Kennedy was the recipient of the Women in Film  Crystal award and in 2007 received the inaugural Paltrow Mentorship award for her work with the next generation of female film makers.

I'll have two more ladies tomorrow. It feel great to finally be back on track.

H Is For Gale Anne Hurd

I can't believe it's Tuesday already. My day was a total blur yesterday. I literally worked until I dropped. I hate those days, especially when I'm running on three hours of sleep. Ugh...So here we are on the H Day of the A to Z. Man, we are cruising right along. You can check out all of the incredible challengers by clicking on the link at the top of my side bar. 

If you haven't been by the Imaginarium before, welcome. I tend to run on, get snarky and talk about anything and everything. And to all my faithful friends, yes I know I've been very bad and haven't gotten back to you, but you know I'll tag you all back as soon as I can. Thank you for sticking with me, I don't know what I would without you.

Moving on to H. And today's rockin' lady is my girl, Gale Anne Hurd. She is one hell of a producer, currently responsible for one of my all time favorite shows, The Walking Dead. She got her start with one of the geniuses of the film world, Roger Corman and his New World Pictures. In 1982, she formed her own production company, Pacific Western Productions, and produced some the 80's biggest blockbusters: The Terminator, Aliens (one of my all time fave films ever) and The Abyss.

She's a force to be reckoned with in the male dominated world of sci fi and action, one of a very few women who have successfully produced huge moneymakers. Her resume also includes Tremors, Terminators 2 and 3, Armageddon and The Incredible Hulk. Gale's latest project is AMC's The Walking Dead, cable's highest rated show ever, which has been signed to a fourth season. It's Season 3 finale was the most watched drama series telecast in basic cable history. Hell to the yeah.

In 1998 she received Women In Film Crystal Award, which is given to women, who through the excellence of their work, help to expand the role of women in the entertainment industry. Gale has kicked open the door for the women who come after her, proving that action and sci fi are not just the realm of men.