Tawny Foskett

NEWSLETTER 2 of 4:  July, 2024

"In this widowhood state, where I am now beginning to build a new life, after two years of lots of time alone with my cat (following two years of nearly every day being with Bunny) I’ve been making more efforts to be in community and be part of groups."

Continue Reading...  (coming later today! 7/8/24)

NEWSLETTER 1 of 4:  March, 2024

"I tried, several times, to write this newsletter in the last few years and then, well…my life fell apart"

Update:

I will now post edited versions of my quarterly newsletters on this area of the website.  To read the full version of the first for 2024 (and first in years!) Continue Reading...  

March 9th, 2024

Because of our films re-screening at Through Women's Eyes Festival (March 7th-10th) we've put together a ZOOM PANEL: Discussion, Reflections and Q&A with a good chunk of the Cast and Crew who made the film- back in 2010-2012!  So watch the film, and then come join us on zoom for an hour Saturday,

March 9th, 2024 / 3:45pm Pacific or 6:45pm Eastern, on this ZOOM link (which will be live then :-)

this March, 2024

I feel honored that the Through Women's Eyes film festival (which was one of our favs for Girls Who Smoke back in 2012 when we first began the festival circuit) has asked us to be a part of their 25th Anniversary Festival.  That takes place this March, down in Sarasota, Florida.  Producer Laurie Rud and I (director Tawny Foskett) are thinking to go and we'd love to see you there as well- or tell your friends!  the 2024 Through Women's Eyes film festival

December 2023:

As we wrap up this year, I'm also wrapping up my time as a member of this (first year!) of the Regen Cohort.  They are now preparing to start a new group this upcoming January.  Having already known Naomi - one of the two moderators, from my time in New York, it was for me the right influence at the right time.  See the website to learn more:  REGENERATIVE CREATION COHORT.  But if you are looking to bring artistic creations into the world, in a new way, in which your whole life is integrated, and you co-create with your (spiritual source) and make the journey the road, the process the product- it may be right for you too.  They also have quarterly free sessions, for those not able to be in the yearly group that begins in January.

August 2023:

There are a lot of exciting ideas I have for the Patreon page as it will reform, but while I rebuild my ability to "market" and be online, I have decided what makes the most sense (instead of months going by) is to go on pause.  In this time I will be working on the projects themselves; the documentary, the memoir, the "grief dance" and I shall return to you in a couple of months with ways you can support and follow those projects, that are both specific and potentially kinda cool too.

May 2022:

Some time ago Bunny and I made a Patreon- I think it was when we knew there was likely less than a year left for her and unemployment was ending... it was called: Bunny & Tawny's Bucket List Year. Well, we did some of the things, and then the support needed to go towards quality of life stuff; like helping with costs for our many medical trips to SF and helping with her dogs. Now (that she has "kicked the bucket") I've revamped the page into an artist page, because yes, I will try and make art from my broken heart. It's now called: Tawny re Bunny. It's something I always knew I would do, but that I had no space to think about while she was alive - that was just for spending every quality second with her that I was able to. Here is the page if it is of interest to follow or support me in this way: https://www.patreon.com/BunnyTawny

May 2022:

I made a couple media pieces for the Memorial & Celebration, which occurred May 7th, 2022, in lieu of speaking at it. Both videos are private on YouTube and Vimeo, but are available to those who may find it here, and have the interest to view. Both can be viewed on this website under Watch, then Videos.

Tawny's Eulogy and also Bunny & Tawny: Got a Feelin'

February 6, 2022:

Is the date that my beloved partner, girlfriend, lover passed away. We had our first date on January 7th, 2020 and quickly fell head-over-heels in love. Two-and-a-half months later we became "Pandemic Partners" too.  Three months after that she was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer. The following April, in 2021, she was deemed terminal and we were told there was "a 50% chance of more than a year". You can read her obituary I wrote here.

February 2021:

One of the most essential collaborations for the short film, Natasha & Sam, was finding the composer: 

Félix Tellier Pouliot.  In this 2-minute video, I feature a few moments of the 7 pieces of music he created for the film: https://vimeo.com/504606529.  Learn more about this wonderful Montreal-based musician on his webiste: https://en.felixtp.com/about

October 2020:

I'm volunteering in the 2020 election as a poll worker in my district, and also making calls to my adopted state of North Carolina.  As Jon Lovett of Crooked Media states, "This is our one ticket out, there are no other trains coming.  Let's all do what we can to keep our country a democracy!

I'm also happy to speak to anyone about the importance of their vote in the November 3rd election and can be reached via: theauteurtribe@gmail.com

July 2020:

I'm so happy to report that my latest short film, the experimental-narrative, Natasha & Sam now has

it's color grade complete and DCPs are being made for theater screenings.  I hope to be premiering

at film festivals beginning fall 2020.  For more on this short, see my films page.

Feb 2020:

My WICA (Women in the Collaborative Arts) mates and I were proud to participate, Feb. 29th, 2020,

in this years event, put on by Cooperation Humboldt with a workshop discussing the issues facing

women in a male-dominated industry, and how to navigate these obstacles.​

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winter 2020:

Across January-March I worked with local Humboldt activist, Maureen McGarry, to put on 2

fundraisers to raise money to help migrants trapped for months and years on end in over-crowded shelters, primarily in Tijuana, awaiting the legal process so they can become legal US residents.  We

raised hundreds of dollars for both Border Angels and then were able to give money through a fund

set up by Humboldt Area Foundation: Migrant Assistance in Baja.  And thanks to The Logger Bar, which hosted us in March, right before they closed for the pandemic...

I had the honor to teach at my alma mater for my undergraduate degree, Humboldt State University,

in the fall of 2019.  I taught two courses in film production: Filmmaking III and Cinematography.

I was proud to receive my MFA in Film Production, from Concordia University in Montreal, after successfully defending my thesis and presenting my short film, Natasha & Sam, to my defense team (pictured here), including my advisor, Jean-Claude Bustros, film professors: Roy Cross and Michael Yaroshevsky, and Montreal-based award-winning documentary filmmaker (and fellow Film Fatales member) Juliette Lammers.

We are so thrilled that THE JOYFUL VAMPIRE TOUR OF AMERICA will make a stop here in Arcata, CA Sunday, June 23rd.  Screening in the main hall of The Minor Theatre at 4:30pm with a Q&A and after

party to follow.  This screening is being co-produced by WICA.  Writer, Actress, Producer and amazing women-in-film advocate, Naomi McDougall Jones will be here in person, along with their RV and documentarian, Kiwi Callahan. Don't miss out!  For more: BiteMeTheFilm.com

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June 22nd, 2019, the day before we held the Bite Me screening, we had an intimate discussion in the round, with two dozen fellow artists, about the challenges and lessons learned with Bite Me's Writer, Actress, Producer, Naomi McDougall Jones and WICA members: Maria Matteoli, Cassandra

Hesseltine and Tawny Foskett, at The Creamery in Arcata, CA. Naomi shared much of what she was

thinking about while doing final edit's on her now released non-fiction book:

The Wrong Kind of Women, inside our revolution to dismantle the gods of Hollywood.

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Our nickname for ourselves is WICA (Women In The Collaborative Arts). This image is from our

first gathering, Sept. 2018, at Richard's Goat.  We are 4 filmmakers who cheer each other on, and

support each other's projects, and we produce various events each year which draw in the

community. We all also choose to live 'behind the redwood curtain', on California's rural north coast.

(left to right are the founders of WICA):

Laura Montagna, Maria Matteoli, Tawny Foskett, and Cassandra Hesseltine

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I'm so delighted to have been selected as one of the 3 judges for this year's festival.

HIFF is the oldest student-run festival in the world.  I helped with the festival each year, while

a student at Humboldt State, from which I graduated in 2004.

52nd Humboldt International Film Festival

• The Minor Theatre, Arcata, CA

• April 19th-23rd, 2019

This photo, taken by Dan VanZant, who also served as Sound Recordist (from Day 1 on set of my

current film, Natasha & Sam) will be one of 30 photographs featured in

NYWIFT's Women Calling the Shots Photography Showcase exhibit:

• Tuesday, July 24th, 2018

• at the Whitebox Gallery (329 Broome St, NYC)

• from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Admission is free.

Again this summer, I had the chance to teach at the HFF (University of Television and Film, Munich),

for the cinematography class my friend, Sanne Kurz, takes on, which is comprised of the new crop of

6 students.  This year I did a one-day masterclass which included directing actors, yoga, a sense walk,

and open discussions about the set, preproduction, casting and more.  Sanne's cinematography

students each become directors on a short film that goes through all stages of production, and is

shot on 35mm, then developed by hand, and finally edited by the directors.

​February 9th-11th, 2018 we shot what I expected to be some "practice scenes" from my feature

script,​ Natasha & Sam (see the post below).  However, such an amazing group of collaborators came together; from actors who gave weeks of their time to explore with me, to a dream crew that signed

on solely from interest in vision of the project and my promises that it would be a fun, sane, creative

and respectful environment.  Working in the beliefs of remembering "the obstacles are the road"

and trying to do less and do it better, we ended up with what will actually be a full on short,

proof-of-concept film, based on my feature.​

As part of my research, and as well for my thesis, I’ll be doing a production I’m calling Rehearsal /

Sketch. Primarily filmed as a documentary, this will witness myself as director and local actors

developing and rehearsing key scenes from Natasha & Sam

(my dramatic feature in development) and then showcasing the final product of those scenes.  

All the while we’ll be exploring new modes of being on set and collaboration, which are less

hierarchical than the standard Industry practice and in service of the female gaze.  This rehearsal

work will primarily be comprised of improvisations used for rewrites.  

From working in Montreal with local actors, who can be any ethnicity or height, etc. I’ll hone in on

both the characters, the story and my directing practice.

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(Note: this evolved to be the narrative short, Natasha & Sam)

Co-teaching & Crowdfunding talk

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I had the honor to co-teach a summer workshop with my friend, Sanne Kurz, at the HFF in Munich

where she is on the faculty.  The workshop was for her cinematography class, as they stepped into

the shoes of a director and made a short film on 35mm.
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On July 3rd, Sanne and I presented on Crowdfunding at the HFF and hosted by Münchner

Filmwerkstatt e.V. for a local audience of filmmakers.  Sanne and I shared what we have gleaned

from the 5 crowdfunding projects we have been involved with or initiated, and methods and actions

that lead to success in this endeavor.  

June 2017

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Watch the 2-minute profile video I made of  Desirée de Jesus, a Public Scholar at Concordia

University and PhD candidate, whose research is on girlhood in contemporary cinema.

May 2017

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I became a proud new, honorary member of the Montreal chapter of Film Fatales.

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Film Fatales

February 2016

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I collaborated with Farid Yahaghi, for a 16mm projection, with digital projection, on: 

REEL / UNREEL
at the MFA Studio Arts "Open Studios" Exhibition at Concordia University