Justin Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 All, I received the following correspondence today from Shannon Powers, a casting director. In reviewing pending members today, I noticed that one appeared to be from a person casting for a documentary about widows. I emailed an explanation to her regarding my inability to approve her account, and received the reply below: "Hi Justin... I totally understand and thank you for your response. I hate stalking and leaving messages... I am not a widow, however I am a helper and by working on the projects that I do... I save lives. Emmy Nominated this year for Intervention I am really proud of the life-changing and heartwarming transformational projects I work on. i would be so very grateful if you could put the word out for me and individuals can reach out to me if they like. I am having a hard time reaching those women under 30 and newly widow. Here is the following: A Major Cable Network is seeking women under the age of 30 who were recently widowed (within the last two years) and would like to share their story. This project will not only be heartwarming, inspirational, compelling and uplifting...it will also be life-changing not only for yourselves but for everyone who your story reaches near and far, By sharing your story you may be able to reach healing in such a powerful different out of the box way in addition to helping other women who are going through the very same situation. We would love to talk with you if love and life was cut short because of illness, military, accident, saving someone else, heroic etc... we would be honored and grateful to hear any story you would like to share. If this is you or someone you know... Please email: Shannon @ clockistickingpr@gmail.com to set up a time to speak." I have no personal knowledge or connection to Ms. Powers, but here is a link to her Internet Movie Database profile: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2286596/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 . My goal is not to encourage (nor discourage) anyone, but just to pass along the information. Take care,Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portside Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 If the director really wanted to do something not only "heartwarming, inspirational, compelling and uplifting" but also filling a need that has been woefully ignored, she should produce a similar product highlighting young widowers. If one thinks there are slim resources in the US directed to young widows and/or single mothers, one should check into what is available for men in similar circumstances. I'm not counting TV programs or movies where the protagonist is a widower - those are pure fiction and have no bearing on real life. There is damn near nothing. Similarly, the scientific/medical literature also has very little for us. Just an idea - Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrskro Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Mike; I read this and thought along the same lines. What about the young widowers? I read somewhere that the numbers are skewed something like 7 to 1 widow to widower, but still why exclude them? I would think its equally as important to get their stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 I agree! I actually included this line with my initial email, before I knew the entire focus of the documentary: "Obviously, I do not know the scope of your project but I encourage you to not forget about the widowers out there, too. We are fewer in number, but no less in need hearing our voices heard." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calimom Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 I'm wondering if the cable channel is a female directed one like "Lifetime Television for Women" or something like that? Which would explain why men might not be of interest in this project. Not saying that anyone should or shouldn't involve themselves in this, but when I hear buzzwords like "transformational" or "powerful", my guard goes up. Anyone who's newly widowed or vulnerable would be wise to think well and hard before making contact. There IS a wonderful documentary out there made by a ywbb member, Elizabeth T. Titled "Young Widow, Naked in the Memorial Playground", it features widows and widowers interspersed with on-the-street interviews with random people about their experiences and perceptions of widowhood. Way back, I went to a Bago screening of it, and our take on it was that it was a well done indie effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TofinoMan Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Fake email address. I tried it 3 times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 Fake email address. I tried it 3 times. Perhaps there is a technical issue? It is the address that I have been using to correspond with her. (Again, I want to state that I do not endorse or not endorse the project; I am just passing along the information.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lost35 Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Pardon me, but "inspirational" my ass. Why is this even on here? Predatory and underhanded is more like it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nonesuch Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 The text of her message sounded awkward and peculiar to me, and had a couple typos. If she majored in journalism in college, it ought to be better worded than it was. The best assumption I can make is wanna-be film maker. Worst is some kind of scammer looking for a widow who's received a large insurance settlement. "I'm a helper." Is that a thing, now? This professional film maker has a picture of her bust line as the avatar for her twitter account. She is also connected with "mariagereboot." Yes, spelled like that. https://twitter.com/kittypunch1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quixote Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Smells predatory. Maybe it really is a pitch for a show, but (if it's anything) I'd be willing to bet that it's some reality tv thing where drama is the order of the day-- even if it didn't exist prior to editing. Under thirty and women only gives off a somewhat prurient vibe, too. Each to their own, but involvement in something like this doesn't sound very helpful for someone deep in grief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serpico Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 This professional film maker has a picture of her bust line as the avatar for her twitter account. No she doesn't, I looked :-[ https://twitter.com/shannonrpowers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nonesuch Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Found it for you, Serpico. Check my last post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TofinoMan Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Even her Twitter handle is nasty. Kittypunch1 and she expects to be taken seriously. And the shot of her is meant to look trashy. I'm usually way too trusting and get called gullible by my friends. But she or he posing as a she sure gives me a bad gut feeling. Why not a phone number to call like a true business instead of an email only. Generally a legit business is quick to say hey call me at 555 555 5555. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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