MAMA BEARS Documentary Inaugural Newsletter!

—Before we get started, we'd like to extend our love to the people who lost friends and family members in the senseless massacre of so many people who were worshipping at the Sunday morning service in Sutherland Springs, Texas. We are heartbroken and we know that as women of faith, this has hit you particularly hard. Surrounding you all with love and light.

—We are heartened, however, to see the historic strides made in November's election. Check out this amazing list of wins.

—And a big shout out to two mama bears in the news: Sara Cunningham for stopping a screening of an anti-transgender film from being shown in her community and Kimberly Shappley for her nomination for "Activist of the Year" in this year's FACE awards. Congratulations to you both!

—We are happy to report that we now have a Director of Photography! Amy Bench will lend her considerable talent to make Mama Bears as visually stunning as it is socially relevant. Check out the beautiful short film she shot for the “Our 100 Days” series here. It's this type of visual poetry that made us fall in love with Amy's work.

—In other awesome news, we're proud to say we've received our first grant from the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation! They support LGBTQ-positive arts projects and were early supporters of Chavela as well.

—Cross your fingers for us! We have applied for fifteen other film grants, and will be applying to a few more before the end of 2017. We’re also planning on launching a sixty-day crowd funding campaign on IndieGoGo in winter 2018.

—We’re also close to launching our social media sites! In the next month or so Mama Bears will have Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram sites the public can visit to learn more about our film, as well as the myriad issues affecting the LGBTQ community. We will, of course, send them all to you in the hopes that you will “like” us. :)

Meanwhile, here are some photos from an early shoot we had in May 2017 when we caught up with the "Free Mom Hugs Tour 2017" and shot with Susan Cottrell, Sara Cunningham, and Laura Bethany Taylor!

CREW UPDATES:

—Most recently Daresha has been flexing her producer muscles for "Master Chef Latino," a new reality cooking show for Telemundo based in sunny Miami, FL. Once completed, she will return to her new home base in Atlanta, GA.

—Daresha's last film, Chavela, is on one hell of a roll! Last month it racked up two new prizes - the Jury Award for Best Documentary at the Tampa Bay International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and the Audience Award at the ReelQ Festival. After opening in NY and LA, the film has been rolling out in cities across the country. To see if it's playing at a theatre near you click here.

Here's a shot of her at the theatrical premiere of Chavela in Madrid; the film opened in ten cities in Spain!

—Laura has kept herself busy doing research for Mama Bears as well as working nonstop at her day job as a proofer / copyeditor. It’s been a busy fall, but she was ready to work, rested and revived after spending a week traveling around the South. She made it to Memphis, TN, for Elvis Week and even spent a relaxing night in a cabin in Alabama, where she was reunited with her one true love…Waffle House.