Hot Docs 2017 Profile: Beth Levison
“I think the biggest challenges we face are the assumptions that we just “deal with the money” and the general lack of understanding of what we do contribute day in and day out to the creative life of films.”
I had originally reached out to the 32 Pills team with the intention of profiling director Hope Litoff (which I did, and you can it read here), but the first person I heard back from first was producer Beth Levison. After a little back and forth, and learning more about the work she does as a producer and as a founder of the Documentary Producers Alliance (more on that later!), I didn’t want to do anything but keep talkin’ producin’! [Editor’s Note: if this isn’t already the name of a podcast about producing, please, someone start it. You have my blessing.]
32 Pills: My Sister’s Suicide documents the fascinating life and mental illness of artist (and Hope’s sister) Ruth Litoff as well as Hope’s struggle to come to terms with her suicide. Beth was there to make it all happen.
As I stated in our profile of Hope, 32 Pills is a film so moving and so beautiful that it goes beyond documenting the life and death of Ruth and becomes a piece of art itself. I really cannot recommend it enough!
32 Pills will have its World Premiere at the 2017 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival and will be broadcast on HBO sometime in late 2017 or 2018.
You can see 32 Pills: My Sister’s Suicide at this year’s Hot Docs, screening at 9:30pm on May 1st, 1:45pm on May 2nd, and 3:30pm on May 5th and May 7th. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND HOW YOU GOT INVOLVED WITH FILMMAKING.
Beth Levison: I’m an independent director/producer living in New York City with my husband and two crazy sweet boys. In college I saw Woody Allen’s Crimes And Misdemeanors and from it suddenly had the idea that I wanted to be a documentary filmmaker. The rest is history. I got my first job at National Geographic TV in DC, then moved to New York to work for ABC News, and then for about another 15 years worked between PBS and HBO — always with my eye on documentary film. In 2008, my friend Laura Brownson asked me to partner on a film with her about the poet and performer Lemon Andersen and I knew it was time to take the plunge. Since then—and with the amazing success of Lemon—I’ve focused almost entirely on independent film work.
TELL US A BIT ABOUT 32 PILLS. WHEN AND HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED?
BL: It’s kind of a funny story. I was producing a big project called The Trials Of Spring, which consisted of a feature-length doc about women human rights defenders in Egypt and six short films about women and their fights for human rights in Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, and also Egypt. I was ground control for 2 ½ years while we had teams working in conflict zones — it was right after the “Arab Spring.” The project was huge and incredibly stressful and… in about 2015, we hit a point where we needed to take a brief hiatus. No sooner did we make that decision than I got a call from Hope Litoff, the director of 32 Pills, that she needed help getting her film off the ground. We decided to work together on a trial bases for six weeks to complete a proposal and budget and shoot a trailer. I loved the material (I have a passion for films about artists), Hope, and the whole team (DP Dan Gold, Sound Mixer Sean O’Neil, and the editing team of Toby Shimin and her AE Joy Reed) and decided to stick with it. I had no idea that it would turn into a conflict zone of a whole other dimension and shape.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM WORKING ON THIS PROJECT?
BL: I loved the chance to work with my amazing team. This film required a lot of support and there’s no question that everyone gave what they could. Although it was sometimes excruciatingly difficult, it was also a life experience going through the journey with Hope and making this film. I learned a lot — about families, mental illness, and addiction — that has definitely changed me as a person.
WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE AS THE PRODUCER OF THIS FILM?
BL: In many ways, 32 Pills proved very destructive for Hope. As a result, I found myself facing real ethical challenges during its making. In producing this film, was I producing Hope’s demise? She always said that she didn’t want to stop, but should I have put my foot down? And, how much could/should I share once the going got tough? It proved to be a very isolating experience and at times, an ethical Pandora’s box!
IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES CHALLENGES PRODUCERS FACE THAT AREN’T OFTEN RECOGNIZED BY THOSE WHO ONLY SEE THE FINISHED PROJECT?
BL: I think there’s so much that producers do that isn’t recognized or seen, probably because we do so much and it’s different on every film. So, it’s case by case on any given project. At the same time, I think the biggest challenges we face are the assumptions that we just “deal with the money” and the general lack of understanding of what we do contribute day in and day out to the creative life of films.
THESE UNSUSTAINABLE CHALLENGES ARE PART OF THE REASON YOU HELPED TO FOUND THE DOCUMENTARY PRODUCERS ALLIANCE (DPA), CORRECT? TELL US MORE ABOUT THIS GROUP AND WHAT YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH!
BL: Yes! Five NYC-based WOMEN colleagues (Nina Chaudry, Marilyn Ness, Dallas Brennan Rexer, Ann Rose, and Beth Westrate) and I formed the DPA a year ago to advocate for documentary film producers and make the field more sustainable for us. We have some specific goals — we feel we should be paid for our work, that our credit should not be “sold” when a big funder comes in, and that we too should be included in film festival dossiers, listings, grant announcements and the like. But we also see systemic problems in the industry — that there aren’t enough development funds out there for filmmakers, that budgets acceptable to buyers aren’t realistic for the makers, and that because of the accepted economics of documentary filmmaking, the field isn’t diverse enough. So, we are advocating on behalf of the sustainability of producers but also — and importantly — the field at large.
With the DPA, we now meet bi-monthly with a growing number of NYC producers and are trying to encourage positive change in the documentary field. Heck, to learn more about us, here is our white paper, here is our Facebook page. We encourage all documentary producers to meet collectively and organize alongside us! We are already working towards some really exciting change.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR FILMMAKERS, AND THE FILM COMMUNITY IN GENERAL, FOR IMPROVING THE PRODUCER’S ROLE IN DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING ?
BL: Filmmakers: Recognize the value and role of the producer and try your best not to ask them to work for free.
Industry: Please do not list a film in a festival — or that it’s receiving a grant — without including the producer’s name. Let’s put an end to giving away a producing credit to a funder and find a new credit that works for all for that funder—let’s not strip the hard-earned credit off the producer’s back. Let’s work together — with funders, broadcasters, distributors — to create new sources for development funds so that producers can get projects representing fresh ideas, untried approaches, and new voices off the ground.
TELL US WHY YOU ARE A FEMINIST AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO YOUR FILMMAKING.
BL: I don’t know why I am a feminist. I just am. Women are ½ of the world’s population, are entitled to equal rights and control over our own ideas and bodies, and are essential to life on earth. Women have a place in filmmaking wherever they find it — behind the camera as directors, producers, editors, DP’s, sound women, and sales agents (to name a few roles) and in front of it, too. The more women in film — and the more people of color, for example — the more representative the field is of who we are.
WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE WOMEN WORKING IN THE FILM INDUSTRY?
BL: OK. This is a tough one. There are SO MANY amazing women in film. I’m going to name some really targeted ones:
- The core women on my 32 Pills team: Hope Litoff, Toby Shimin, Joy Reed, and Sarah Wainio. Couldn’t have made the movie without them.
- Gini Reticker, the director of The Trials Of Spring (who is a filmmaker, feminist, and fantastic person all in one) and Laura Brownson, with whom I made my first film and to whom I’m forever connected.
- My DPA gals who in the past year have really shown me… that there are so many ways to shine and that the universe needs all the stars we can get.
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE ABOUT FILMMAKING YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
BL: Filmmaking is like going to war. Choose your partners wisely.
IF YOU COULD HOLD ANY GUINNESS WORLD RECORD, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
BL: I’m so sleep deprived right now that I wouldn’t mind getting the Guinness World Record for the longest/best night’s sleep?
IF YOU HAD A TALK SHOW, WHO WOULD YOUR FIRST THREE GUESTS BE?
BL: I’m too sleep deprived for that one! Okay, off the top of my head… Madonna, Rei Kawakubo and Flo Jo.
IF YOU HAD ONE EXTRA HOUR OF FREE TIME A DAY, HOW WOULD YOU USE IT?
BL: Ohmm Shanti. Yoga!
WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW/NEXT?
BL: I have a pretty full plate! I can’t disclose all of my projects right now as some of them are still under wraps, but I’ll name one! I’m thrilled to be co-producing a film called Personal Statement by first-time filmmaker Juliane Dressner about three kids from under-resourced Brooklyn schools who not only aim to get into college, but who also mentor their classmates through the college application process. I just finished consulting on a film called In The Land Of Pomegranates by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Hava Beller. I look forward to these films screening in Canada!
RECOMMEND ONE #MUFFAPPROVED FILM FOR OUR BLOG READERS:
BL: A filmmaking friend and I were just talking about Jennifer Dworkin’s 2002 film Love & Diane. It’s really a masterpiece of verite filmmaking.
Check out the DPA’s white paper and like them on Facebook!
You can also follow 32 Pills’ official website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for up-to-date info on the film.
Lisa Gallagher is the Producer of The MUFF Society in Toronto and a member of the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema venue staff during the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival. She is a lover of cats, carbs, and laying down.
Follow her on Instagram and Letterboxd.
