Beyoncé sings about it. Feminists fight for it. Little girls dream about it. And men? They secretly already know it…
Women are taking over.
Sure, we may have had our ups and downs throughout history, but the shift is happening. And with it, fairytale dreams of rocking glass slippers are transforming into real-life tales of shattering glass ceilings.
For Indie filmmakers, Marti Hines and Jasmin Greene, it’s only the beginning.
When they first stepped out into the world of Hollywood, they quickly learned the all-too-real truth that the gender gap is alive and well. Only 27% of producers are women, 13% are writers, and 13% are directors. Add the color of their skin, and these numbers diminish even further.
Of course, that wasn’t going to stop them.
“After years of working for men,” says the duo, “we decided to open our own door.”
And with it, came their aptly named company, Dique Pic Productions. DPP was born because overall, every picture in Hollywood has men in the principal positions – both behind camera and on screen in the smartest and most challenging roles.
In other words, no one was telling their stories. And it was time to change that.
But, before all this could happen, the scene had to be set.
Greene, while navigating the worlds of Hollywood, love, a writing career, and discovering where she belonged, decided to take a leap and buy a one-way ticket to Berlin, Germany. Shortly thereafter, she found out her mom had been diagnosed with cancer; and in learning the art of pulling elements from her own story, she was suddenly faced with the most difficult script she’d ever have to write.
Yet still, she persisted.
Meanwhile, Hines had paved her own path as an event producer, and in time founded Wanderluxxe, a luxury experience brand that curates all-access, full-service excursions. Much of her work has been tied to film festivals with activations at Cannes, Tribeca and Sundance, to name a few. She also spent years working behind the scenes for big name entities like The Sundance Institute and the Oscars. All this made her transition into film producing a seamless one, and eventually, she would cross paths with a familiar face from college: Jasmin Greene.
Now, the DPP pair is teaming up to bring her narrative to life.
die Expats (pronounced “dee Expats”) explores love, loss and lust, identity and modern relationships. It is a story of four people in search of reclaiming a sense of self while navigating life as expats in Berlin – all told through Jasmin Greene’s uniquely off-beat and quirky, Millennial lens.
Staying true to their empowering beginnings, they hired a crew consisting entirely of women to shoot on location in Berlin.
“It was beautiful to see,” says Greene, who had just had a baby and was breastfeeding on set throughout the entire process of the film.
“Women are capable of anything,” she goes on to say. “We are strong, we are resilient. We literally have the ability to bring life onto this earth. When you feel defeated, when you get a rejection, it’s not a sign that you need to stop pursuing your dreams. Use each no, each hurdle, as motivation to kick ass and show the world what a woman is made of."
To learn more about the film and other projects these lady bosses have in the pipeline, visit www.dpicproductions.com.