“Generation Startup” directors Cynthia Wade and Cheryl Miller Houser shared their thoughts on starting their own companies, why it’s important for young people to pursue their business dreams, and the opportunities for female filmmakers with Women and Hollywood.
Wade won the Academy Award and 16 film awards for her HBO documentary “Freeheld” about a dying policewoman fighting to leave her pension to her female life partner. In 2013, Wade received her second Oscar nomination for her award-winning HBO documentary “Mondays at Racine” about a hair salon that caters to women undergoing chemotherapy. Her feature length doc directing credits include “Shelter Dogs” and “Living the Legacy.”
Miller Houser started her career developing and producing feature films, including David O. Russell’s first movie “Spanking the Monkey,” winner of the Sundance Audience Award. She has produced several award-winning social issue documentaries including PBS’ “Children of Darkness,” a film about children with mental illness that was nominated for an Academy Award, and Showtime’s “Trust Me,” which centers on an interfaith camp in rural North Carolina founded the summer after 9/11.
“Generation Startup” opens September 23 in NY, September 30 in LA, and October 7 in Detroit.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
CMH: “Generation Startup” is about recent college graduates building startups in Detroit, but at heart it’s about young people who are building character by pushing themselves far outside their comfort zone. They flounder, fail, then figure it out by doing. In the process they grow into much more aware, sensitive, confident people.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
CMH: I greatly admire anyone who has the guts to take risks and isn’t deterred by the fear of failing, which holds most of us back. I was drawn to following recent college graduates who had the courage to move so far outside their comfort zone so young, especially since the years right after college are already full of such uncertainty as people are figuring out who they are and what their place in the world is. I embarked on this film about six months after launching my own production company, which had taken me decades to get up the courage to do. I finally got up the courage to walk away from a secure, well paid job because I was fed up making programming I didn’t always love, and was determined to become master of my own destiny and only tell stories that I was excited about — stories that would inspire me, and hopefully inspire viewers.
CW: As an independent filmmaker, I have had to launch and grow my own company. I am an entrepreneur like the characters we followed. This is what drew me most into the story and characters — I have been in their place, and still often work without a road map.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
CMH: I hope that after seeing this film people will be inspired to move outside their comfort zone and take risks in their lives. Realistically, most viewers aren’t going to leave the theater and start companies, but I hope everyone will think about ways they can be a bit less safe, a bit less conventional in both their professional and personal lives. That is how we grow, stretch and evolve as people.
I definitely hope that “Generation Startup” will inspire women and minorities to explore the startup world, where — like the film industry — the gender and racial gap is also huge, and also encourage people who are hiring in tech and startups to diversify their teams. Through Dextina Booker, who grew up in poverty and graduated from MIT with a degree in mechanical engineering, we portray first-hand the experience of what it feels like to be a minority in a mostly white male world. At a time when only two percent of female African Americans are engineers, Dextina is a trailblazer who is “playing the game to change it,” as she says. And Kate Catlin, who works at app development firm Detroit Labs, is on a mission to bring more women into tech. They are both incredibly inspiring female role models.
I also hope that educators and parents will leave this film with a more open mind about how they guide their students and children. Our society tells kids from a very young age that they should take the safe, secure path. Kids should be encouraged to think big — to explore a range of interests and discover their strengths and interests. Our country was built on entrepreneurship and innovation. Millennials are the least entrepreneurial generation in decades; we are at a 25 year low in terms of entrepreneurship among 18 to 34 year olds. This has grave consequences for the future since young companies generate two thirds of all new jobs.
CW: I want people to think about how they can make their own dreams real.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
CMH: The enormity of the film was the biggest challenge. We followed many different characters over a year and a half, never knowing where their stories were going to lead. They were all working around the clock and never sure of their schedules and lives from day to day, so wrangling them was never easy. And then we had to whittle over 200 hours of footage down to a 90 minute film. That’s always a challenge, but even more so in this case because we follow 6 characters whose stories don’t intersect and had to craft their interweaving story arcs into one cohesive narrative.
CW: It's a multi-character film, so following the challenges of several entrepreneurs and the trajectories of their companies meant that we often had to make fast decisions about who to be with on a particular shoot day. Another challenge: there are so many great stories to tell in Detroit. I would have loved to have included more stories about entrepreneurs at large in the city.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
CMH: PwC Charitable Foundation provided the majority of the funding. They strongly believe in spurring entrepreneurship, and in the power of entrepreneurship to drive economic rejuvenation of economically depressed cities, a big theme of our film. They also support what Venture for America is doing, for the same reason. UBS joined along the way. They also do a lot around supporting young entrepreneurs and Venture for America.
PwC Charitable Foundation and UBS were incredible funders because they took huge risks with a follow doc — you have no idea where the stories are going to end up, or even if you will have a film at the end — and gave us full and unbridled editorial control.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
CMH: The best advice I received came from my closest friends — a handful of amazing women — who pushed me to start my own company. I didn’t have the confidence that I could do it, or was just too afraid of failing to take the leap. They worked me over for years, alternating between cheering me on and giving me a big kick in the butt until I finally worked up the courage to do it thanks to their support and encouragement.
I don’t remember the worst advice because I try to leave all negativity behind.
CW: The best advice I received in this business is to think through where you want the film to go at the start of production, rather than waiting until the film is finished before figuring out its primary audience and its path. It’s always best to have a defined audience in mind, and to specify outreach and distribution goals early on.
The worst advice? The times when people told me that the film I was working on had no future. It’s often hard for some people to see the value of a project until it is fully realized, so it’s wise to not listen to the naysayers and instead trust your instinct and inner vision.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
CMH: My advice to female directors is the same as advice to any female tackling any kind of challenge: Don’t let people tell you no, or that you can’t do it, or that you shouldn’t try because it’s too hard or because the odds are against you. It may still be easier for men — though it’s hard for them too — but I believe, perhaps naively or idealistically, that if you are talented and work really hard, anything is possible.
CW: Be the director. Own the set, locale, or post-production room. It’s too easy to weaken your position as the director by not fully commanding the position. Your crew wants you to lead.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
CMH: There are so many! Given that females are grossly underrepresented as directors, it’s amazing how many extraordinary movies are directed by women. It is so limiting to pick just one. Since “Generation Startup” is a documentary, I will narrow the field to docs.
One of my all-time favorites is Lucy Walker’s “Wasteland,” an inspirational film is about garbage pickers at the world’s largest garbage dump. They turn garbage into art working alongside artist Vik Muniz. “Wasteland” is a testament to the transformative power of art and the strength of the human spirit.
CW: I love Kathryn Bigelow’s work. She is badass. I hope someday to make a film like “The Hurt Locker” or “Zero Dark Thirty.”
W&H: Have you seen opportunities for women filmmakers increase over the last year due to the increased attention paid to the issue? If someone asked you what you thought needed to be done to get women more opportunities to direct, what would be your answer?
CMH: People often tend to hire people who are like them, so if more women were in the position to make hiring decisions, that would help.
CW: I don’t think that the opportunities match the talent out there. Recent efforts like Free the Bid in the advertising space are really important. There should be more transparency in who is being interviewed versus who is getting the work: I’d love a reporting system in which companies had to account on the gender and ethnicity of the directors that they interview, accept bids from, and hire.
It’s one thing to throw a woman director’s name into the ring to diversify the bidding process, but given the terrific talent of many female directors out there and the fact that a very small percentage of female directors are helming narrative features and commercials, there is still a great gender disparity in terms of who is interviewing for the job — and who is actually being hired for the job.
