Run-Ins: The Awkward Moments that Connect Us All
Photo by Luis Quintero from Pexels
If you’re anything like me or my friends, then you’re very familiar with the awkward “run-in”. Like, running into the cute neighbor in the laundry room when you’re in your comfy clothes and the top knot you think is oh-so-cute, is really, oh-so-not. Or finding yourself stuck in a subway car with your former roommate who always left passive aggressive sticky notes on the fridge and who you were secretly hoping to never see again.
Pitch Her Productions, a New York based non-profit production company, working to promote, celebrate and uplift women in every area of film, uses their 2019 episodic lab, fittingly entitled, Run-Ins, to highlight those undesirable and awkward everyday encounters.
By using their platform to create work and opportunity for girls and women from all walks of life, Pitch Her works on projects, creating short films, music videos, and various visual narratives to offer women the opportunity to use their voices and visually tell their stories. Ultimately, Pitch Her strives to create more roles for women in front of and behind the camera; the very roles in which women and girls find themselves underrepresented.
To the tune of the organization, the Run-Ins episodic lab brings together filmmakers from all backgrounds and experience levels, giving them the chance to hone their skills and present it on screen. Each episode features a different Director and Director of Photography (DP), who identify as women, creating a well-weaved portrayal of voices and ideas.
Throughout the comedic series, written by Justine Neubarth, you’ll find characters, several of whom appear in multiple episodes, finding connections through unexpected encounters. Each episode can be viewed as part of one continuous season, but can also be seen as individual shorts. To achieve this visually, each director and DP team was tasked with creating a singular episode and making it their own.
Jaclyn Gramigna and Caitlin Machak, Director and DP of episode three, were not only in the unique position of being one of the first episodes to shoot, but also had previous experience working together. “[The process itself] was really interesting because coming in and directing something that I didn’t write and [having it be] a part of something bigger, it was really great to have the freedom to kind-of treat it like its own stand-alone short,” said Jaclyn in a recent interview.
Their episode, taking place on a subway platform, depicts two former lovers who spot each other across the platform and can’t help but reminisce about their time together in their youth.
Although filming on the subway comes with its own set of challenges, “the little things [that happened] on the day [of shooting] and having good people around was really freeing,” continued Caitlin.
The series has resulted in new opportunities for directors and filmmakers who are seasoned, up and coming, and those just starting out. Each crew even included a student filmmaker who worked as a Production Assistant (PA) on set. The relationships cultivated through the development of each episode might not have been possible elsewhere.
Unlike Jaclyn and Caitlin, Naiyah Ambros and Serena Kuo, Director and DP of episode six, had never worked together and developed a friendship through the process of shooting their episode. “It was a learning process for everyone and we were sort-of experimenting,” said Serena.
Their episode, taking place in a park where two frisbee golfing acquaintances become entranced in a competition of who knows whom, gave them the opportunity to take things to the next level. “I had this idea of playing with the competitive nature of the meet-up and how we [could] play with that,” said Naiyah, thinking back on the shoot. “I kind of wanted them to get the speed of it and the play of it. I would call out emotions…and find out what was funny and which parts they could milk.”
Naiyah had the opportunity to read several of the scripts before being paired with Serena for their episode. “I was originally going to do a different episode, so I kind of got a chance to understand how the connections between the characters worked,” said Naiyah, giving emphasis to the series and Pitch Her Productions’ overall goal of bringing people together.
The Co-Founders of Pitch Her Productions, Caitlin Morris, Gloria Muñoz, and Chanel Waterhouse, met while doing theater on the Gulf Coast of Florida when they were 14 and have been collaborating ever since. They started out as three friends who simply wanted to make art together. But this original goal turned into something much bigger.
While forming a non-profit wasn’t initially on their radar, doing so “stemmed from the idea of inciting real change. [Which] can be very hard [when] people are loath to listen to opposition,” said Caitlin. “But there’s something about art and about filmmaking and theater…that if done well and in a nuanced, creative, and passionate way, the hope is that it will touch someone and without them knowing it, their mindset will shift.”
Changing people’s minds is no easy feat and neither is the mission these women have for their organization. But building a community of creative women and giving them a platform to showcase their craft is the best place to start.
Pitch Her Productions has come a long way since its inception and it most certainly has a promising future ahead. With the company starting out “…like throwing this thing on the ceiling and seeing if it stuck, [Pitch Her Productions desires] to take more risks and experiment and find [ways] to elevate women in every way,” said Gloria.
“A goal in an ideal world,” said Chanel, “is everything we’re doing now, but on a much larger scale and [having the ability] to reach more people.”
Pitch Her Production’s episodic lab is about bringing women together and the sharing of opportunity. The opportunities that women, no matter how accomplished in the world of entertainment, still struggle to find. But sometimes, when we least expect it (and are maybe looking our worst), an awkward run-in could be the exact thing that changes your life.
Watch Pitch Her Productions’ Run-Ins series here.
Photos courtesy of Pitch Her Productions.
Katie Hands is a writer, avid tv and movie watcher, and wannabe whiskey connoisseur living in Brooklyn.