Eileen Maxson,
Your Weekend Forecast, with Nora Gamble (also Untitled (Cinderella+++) on The Sugar Caneletter)
December 3, 2016
How did you find out about Joanie 4 Jackie and how old were you at the time?
I was 21 or 22 at the time, and found out about J4J one of three ways (or from all!) – through Vinyl Edge, a record store, then in the suburbs of Houston, TX. The owner had some of the earlier chain letters on VHS together with band videos. This was also around the time that I started going to screenings at Aurora Picture Show, a microcinema in Houston, which also would have introduced me. OR I was taking a video class from filmmaker Jenny Stark at University of Houston. She introduced me to a lot of film and video makers and works.
What interested you about the project?
Women making and sharing their movies in an alternative community.
At the time you participated in Joanie 4 Jackie did you consider yourself a filmmaker? What was your relationship to making movies?
I was beginning to. I started making videos around that time. I was going to school for photography, which then grew into videos. Cinderalla+++ was made as media critique assignment in Jenny Stark’s video class at University of Houston.
Do you have any specific anecdotes or memories associated with your movie?
I remember shooting “Your Weekend Forecast” in the bungalow that I lived in next door to Aurora Picture Show, Andrea Grover and Carlos Lama. It was, in retrospect, an idyllic and formative time for me as a maker.
What did you think/feel about the Joanie 4 Jackie at the time? And now, in retrospect?
I admired, and still admire, the makers who contributed to, produced, curated and are now archiving the project. The project created a sense of belonging for me to a community, and a feeling of commonality with those involved which endures to the present.
What institutions, groups, people, publications and movements were inspiring you at the time of your participation in J4J?
Aurora Picture Show, Andrea Grover, Jenny Stark, Cinematexas, NYUFF… to name just a few
What do you do now – professionally and otherwise? Are you still involved in filmmaking?
I’m an artist and educator, yes.