Jean Strauss

Time 2021-01-12 13:07:32

Web Name: Jean Strauss

WebSite: http://www.jeanstrauss.com

ID:164793

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ADOPTED: for the life of me Jean Strauss has chosen several paths in her life, from athlete to author, from legislative activist to documentary filmmaker. With her first feature documentary she combined her passions of activism and storytelling into a film that touched the hearts of a lot of people - and affected adoption reform.ADOPTED: For the Life of Me, follows Dave, a fifty-two year old adoptee as he embarks on a journey to find his birthmother. His saga, with its unexpected and moving epiphany, illuminates the impact secrets can have over an entire lifetime…Visit the film's website: ADOPTED: for the life of me!The PBS version and the award-winning feature film about the impact of secrets in closed adoptions in America are both available in the store! HELP SUPPORT Jean s next films! OPPORTUNITY! You can help support two new feature films. "JOAN LIND: America's Sculler", tells the story of the first U.S. woman to ever medal in rowing in the Olympic Games. As the birth of women's international rowing takes place against the backdrop of the Cold War, Joan Lind, a flag girl from Long Beach, doesn't win a gold but sets the gold standard for women's rowing in America, a legacy that continues to this day.And in 2017, when the state of New Jersey released birth records to its adopted citizens for the first time, it marked the culmination of the forty year journey of Pam Hasegawa to change an entrenched system of secrecy. "Citizen Adoptee", the third and last feature in my adoption trilogy, is currently in post production. Its not just a film for members of the adoption constellation, but is for anyone who feels that a single citizen has no voice within our political system. For anyone wishing to help out, know that your assistance is what makes these films possible! It's easy. Just click on the PayPal "Donate" button and make a donation. If you want to make your donation a recurring one, click on the box - if you leave the box unchecked, it will be just a one time donation. Either makes a huge difference! 100% of your support is used for making these films, providing funds for equipment and rights fees and outreach. You'll be listed on the website as one of our sponsors - but more importantly, you'll be supporting the production and broadcast of films to help educate communities about why adoption reform is so critical.You can either pay online, or you can send a check to:Jean Strauss/Silver Tandem Productions771 Podunk RoadEast Brookfield, MA 01515 Our Amazing Supporters: At the top of the list, I need to make a big shout out to Theresa Reynolds, who for years has been a monthly supporter to my films. I can't tell her enough times how her continued support made not only financial but an emotional difference. THANK YOU!And the following organizations and individuals are also key to these films coming to fruition:The American Adoption Congress **********Gloria AdamsEunice AndersonGretchen Anderson!Naomi Baran **Shannon BarkettPaula Benoit ++Terry Bracco *Nicole Burton **Theresa Carroll *Concerned United Birthparents *Tom CountrymanJoe and Camille DeGironimo *George and Barbara Drapos *Mickey Duxbury ++Robert EdwardsAnn Fessler *Besty Forrest ********Judy Foster *Lynn Franklin *Peter Franklin **Michael Grand *Mary Gauthier ++Fred Greenman **Robert HafetzPam Hasegawa * ++Carolyn HoardHeather Hofmeister *Kelly HotchkissTheresa IversonMimi Janes *Jean King **Beth KozanAlison Larkin ++Holly LysneRoberta MacDonald *Susan Marsh *Betsie Norris *Penny Partridge *Adam Pertman ++Ronnie PhillipsMirah Riben ++Karen RittenbachElizabeth Samuels *Priscilla Sharp *Audrey Vliet Simpson *Rachel SmithElizabeth SteenValerie Oren StewartGaye Tannenbaum *Carol TreventiNancy Verrier **Major Gifts++Gifts in Kind Filmmaking How do you become a documentary filmmaker?Pick up a video camera, figure out where the 'on' button is, have something you really want to say before you die, and get started...Okay. Maybe it's not quite that simple. But it does begin with just these two elements. After that, its years of figuring out what all the other buttons are for - and what's a powerful way to tell the story that's bursting to get out so that your audience will stay in their seats.There's so much competition for people's attention these days because there are so many more outlets for those of us who are outside the mainstream media of major networks. The Shift from DSLR back to camcorder?? After almost two years of working with DSLR's, with the release of the Sony VG900, flawed though it may be, floods me with a sense of relief. I think that quirks and craft of working with cameras that are built primarily to shoot great stills can, particularly for people who are buying them off the shelf without the benefit of a lot of mentoring, lead to anxiety-ridden filming. At least for me. And so I am thinking about shifting 'backward' to move forward. The idea of working with the glass I've bought for my Canon's, but using a video format, is something I certainly want to try. I always have to laugh at how all these numbers and code names can dominate the language used when talking about film. I don't mean f-stops and iso's, but more GH2, 7D, Mark III, NEX VG30 - these little buzz acronyms conjure images, of successes and failures, seen through a two by three inch lcd screen. I know what the vision is that I have for the type of camera I'd like to work with. I don't think its made yet - at least not for the cost bracket I'm in. But the industry is moving closer to it. It's a camera that would have easy control of gain and white balance with filters for sunlight and auto focus with interchangeable lenses, with dual card capacity, a nice even weight. I've shot enough now to know that the reason it doesn't exist is because there are some problems in providing AF, in providing beautiful images with shallow depth of field, perfectly lit, with manual easy to use controls on a small lightweight but sturdily built camera body - well - we actually expect a lot. These machines have moved so far in the nine years I've been doing this. It's not so much a dream anymore - its almost here... The Shift from MiniDV to DSLR HD I waited two years, figuring some of the bugs I was hearing about would get sorted out. Wouldn't you know, I finally bought a Canon 7D only to have the new generation of HD DSLR's announced just three months later. Ah well. Still, many of the issues that exist for shooting 'film' with what is basically a professional still camera continue to exist. Its interesting that one of the biggest complaints people have is sound - and I find that working with the 7D has forced me to have better sound than ever. Its one of the silver linings of making this shift. I thought I would just get the camera and play with it, and bit by bit make the shift, but after the first day of shooting with it at Antietam battlefield, I decided to commit wholly to using the camera and becoming proficient at it. It's been three months, and I'm still 'not there' with proficiency, but feel its the only way to really make the change. Dive in and you'll ultimately learn how to swim. Of course, maybe I shouldn't be using it for a new feature film while I'm learning, because mistakes are going to get made (and have been made) but so be it. The footage that IS good is much much better.There's more to think about, more to learn, but that's half the fun. I never quite got 'ISO, f-stop, shutter speed' before - now there's no choice but to understand it. Every day I learn something new - one day, hopefully enough of the work with the DSLR will feel like second nature, and I won't even have to think. I'll just know. Learning to use the 7D makes me all the more appreciative of the skill and talent that great photographers (and filmmakers) bring to their work. I wish I hadn't waited so long to dive in - but at the very least, it means there's a lot of problem solving that's been done which I am the beneficiary of. Onward! FESTIVAL SPONSORS The people who helped launch "For the Life of Me" in festivals across the country:Elise and Holden LewisNicole BurtonPam Hasegawa and NJ-CARE (New Jersey Coalition for Adoption Reform and Education)Roberta MacDonald and NC-CAR (North Carolina Coalition for Adoption Reform)Eliot and Karen TokatLarry NewmanDenise Carroll and Nikki TidwellAnne BlairCatherine Craig and Peter DaultonSissy and John BatemanWayne Meath and FamilyPatty Collingsand Jon StraussOur festival success wouldn't have been possible without them! FESTIVALS! SCREENINGS! For the Life of Me (feature and short screenings):Texas Tech, Dept. of English, Lubbock (Oct. 18, 2010)Flatland Film Festival, Lubbock, TX (Oct. 17, 2010)Miami, FL, Community Screening (Sept. 23, 2010)Minneapolis, MN, Community Screening (Sept. 23, 2010)New Jersey Int. Film Festival (JUNE 13, 2010) ***Rochester, NY (May 21, 2010)MIT, Massachusetts (April 29, 2010)Kent Film Festival Connecticut (April 22-25, 2010) **Women's International Film Festival, Miami (March 27, 2010)World Feature Premiere, Cleveland International Film Festival (7:30 March 26, 11:40 a.m. March 27, 2010)American Adoption Congress, Sacramento, CA (3-18-2010)Sedona International Film Festival (February 24 & 26, 2010)Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX (2/9/2010)Smogdance Film Festival (1-24-2010) *Special Screening, Cartegena, Columbia (1-4-2010)Special Screening, McMurdo Station, Antarctica (12/1/09)Denver, Colorado (11-8-2009)Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival (11-7-2009)*Audience Award for Best Picture** Sleeping Giant Award for Best Documentary*** Honorable Mention, Best Documentary 2020 Pandemic Posted on September 1st, 2020 Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments My birthmother, Lee, died on July 8th. I wasn t there at her side. No one, save amazing medical personnel, was with her. Welcome to America 2020.After she was born in August of 1934, she spent a year and a half in a Depression orphanage, one of those rooms filled with cribs where people would walk through and pick out a child, like a puppy farm. I was in awe she could survive it to be alone for that long, without a forever family. That she then died alone seems particularly cruel. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it.My sister Sue donned hazmat gear and went in to be with her the week before she died. She stroked her hair and joked with her. But it wasn t very intimate. No skin on skin. No kiss on the cheek or holding of hands. Lee bore twelve babies and eight survived to adulthood. We lost Bobby, but she deserved to have her seven remaining children in a circle around her, her 15 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren, too. Thirty-seven of us in all (so far) exist on planet Earth because of her. We didn t get to say goodbye and she didn t have us holding her hand.She had Covid-19. I don t know if that s what killed her, but I do know it s because of Covid-19 that she died alone. It didn t have to be this way. I will feel forever sad and guilty even that I wasn t there. It s a story that s being lived by thousands of people, millions if they have family s the size of mine.The pandemic is like 9-11. It s too big to get our arms around it. There is too much sadness and fear and devastation, and there are too many stories,   and each one is important. I am simply aghast that the USA, my country, sweet land of liberty and all, with all the resources at our disposal, with the education we ve invested in for our citizens, with the hard work our parents and grandparents did over their lifetimes, struggling through the Depression, two world wars, and my generation let this happen? It s disgusting. Shameful. All people had to do is wash their hands and wear a mask. Was that so much to ask? October 2019 Posted on October 29th, 2019 Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments It s almost been a year (literally!) so it s not news that I did not win the election to become State Rep for the Worcester Fifth District. But I would do it all again in a nanosecond. The people I met in my community, throughout the eleven towns in our district, were amazing. I feel bonded to them. And so very grateful. Many donated not only hours but days to the effort. If I feel any regret at not earning the seat it is for them because it was their seat too and so many hoped for change.To those who supported this effort, through time and treasure and encouragement, they are the real lifeblood of any campaign. Citizens. Americans. Willing to pound pavement, knock on doors, make phone calls, reach out to strangers, neighbors, to discuss our present and future. For many, such actions are way outside their wheelhouse so courage is involved, and certainly perseverance.Will I run again? Should I? Not sure when the path to victory is unclear. But we ve got a lot of lawn signs! Important issues to fight for! Friends! If I do it will be because of all those people who joined together in 2018 to make something happen. Though we didn t win an election, we found kindred spirits in our rolling hills, a sense of belonging, of not being alone. And THAT is gold.While 2018 was all about the election, 2019 has been about other things. Friends. Love. Loss. Life. Losing Margie Cate devastated a thousand people. She was that loved. https://www.row2k.com/features/2665/In-Memoriam Margie-Cate/#.Xbgr3-8Mv3o.twitterBeing there with her at the end of her fierce battle was one of the most poignant, heart wrenching, magnificent moments I ve ever witnessed. She gave each of us new friends, a parting gift, so we will not traverse the future without her. Together, those who loved her, will make her immortal through memories shared, stories told, and aspiring to the heights of dignity, humor, integrity, and courage she displayed her whole life.I continue to write, to film, to edit. Creativity is a sustaining force. Even if work remains unshared, it provides a daily goal of examining life. In travels this year, I was often reminded what a privilege it is to have the time to pursue the mind-expanding joy of such work. So many people never have such an opportunity in their entire life.As Margie taught us this year never take the time for granted January 2018 Posted on February 7th, 2018 Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments What a wild year 2017 was, filled with so many experiences and emotions with becoming a grandmother at the top of my list of highs 2018 dawned with three major events: Filming the enactment of Missouri s Adoptee Rights Act on January 2nd was monumental. The Show Me State was one of the last places I ever thought would pass access legislation. It was incredible to watch people I filmed a decade ago finally able to have that simple piece of paper (at the ages of 85 and 75!).Second, I have at long last completed the film on the most significant US women s single sculler in history. This has been one of the most meaningful projects in my life and as I wait to see if KISS THE JOY: the story of Joan Lind Van Blom is chosen by festivals, I can t wait to share her story with the world.And last (but not least) I have decided to run for office. Running for State Representative of the Worcester 5th District is a dream, born during over a decade of filming and working with legislators from coast to coast. To have the privilege of serving my community, the way I have witnessed others serving their own, has been in a desire for years. There is much to learn and much to do. A new chapter. No matter the outcome, there will be new friends made and knowledge gained and maybe a chance to make a difference January 2017 Posted on February 11th, 2017 Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments FINALLY. After an over three and a half decade battle, citizens adopted in New Jersey now have the right to receive their own original birth certificates. I stand in awe of the long-standing effort. The tenacity and resolve of Pam Hasegawa and many many other people in NJ-CARE is a testament to the power of citizens (and legislators) to right a wrong. My first film, The Triumvirate , was going to be the only documentary I ever made on adoption. Then Pam asked me if I would come to New Jersey and make her group, NJ-CARE, a short public service announcement (PSA). That request changed my life forever and led to my documentary advocacy work creating films, from shorts to features, to help legislators and citizens understand what adopted citizens and first parents and adoptive parents go through when secrecy is imposed upon their lives forever. In honor of the historic enactment of the New Jersey law, I have decided to put all my adoption films online for free in perpetuity. This will include not only what s been done, but also what s next. There are many films I haven t yet had a chance to cut (Rhode Island, Missouri, to name just a couple) and there is a feature in the works on New Jersey. Citizen Adoptee will take a while (I have the film on Joan Lind Van Blom to finish, and since my filming in NJ goes back to 2005, well, its going to take a little bit). But when it is completed, it will be available for all.Fifty films are already available for your viewing at the ADOPTEE FILM CHANNEL. A dedicated website is also in the works. Congratulations NJ-CARE! Bon apetit ALL! November 2015 Posted on November 28th, 2015 Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments Sometimes, there is so much to say, I end up saying nothing. I have spent the three months since Joan died in silence, trying to organize footage and images and interviews from the days we spent working on her film – and yet in truth I have spent a great deal of time staring off into space. It is daunting to tell the story of someone who was so special to so many people. Joan was a unique individual who touched many lives, as a racer and teammate, as a teacher and administrator, as a friend, as a wife and mother. Some days its feels impossible to capture her spirit, her wit and elegance, to do justice to her trust to tell her story. I find myself waiting for her nod of approval. But I know its time. I keep thinking of how she described her race in Montreal, the words that kept running through her head. This is it, this is it, go for it. I feel that way about cutting her film. June 1stI wish for many things this holiday season. Peace on earth. A 32 TB Pegasus2 R8 Thunderbolt 2RAID hard drive. And another year with Joan Lind Van Blom. She made this planet a better place – and made 2015 a sacred and special time. March 2015 Posted on March 17th, 2015 Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments I am making a film that has nothing to do with adoption for the first time in almost ten years. The subject is one of the women I’ve admired most in my life. Joan Lind Van Blom is an extraordinary athlete, the very first woman ever to earn an Olympic medal for the United States in rowing. She did this in a spectacular race in the 1976 Games, the first Olympics to include women’s rowing. Her silver medal was nearly a gold and this against East Germans and Russians, in the worst lane on the Montreal course, in a cross wind, up against the rocks. For the last four decades, she has been an amazing ambassador for the sport, for both men and women. Setting the bar for all who would follow, Joan s story underscores how far women can excel when given a chance to compete. Joan Lind Van BlomLong Beach, 2015As I begin this endeavor, I am reminded of the privilege that filmmaking affords. I am getting to tell the story of an idol of my youth, to immerse myself in a sport that long ago defined me – at least to myself. My camera lens is trained upon a magic athlete, who continues to inspire all in the rowing community to this day. What joy! November 2014 Posted on November 5th, 2014 Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments Governor Pat Quinn lost his re-election bid in Illinois yesterday. He had come into office by replacing Rod Blagojevich, and then winning one term on his own. And somewhere in there, he signed HB 5428 the bill that would provide Illinois adoptees with access to their original birth certificates.Governor Quinn did this for a number of reasons. Representative Sara Feigenholtz, an eight term representative, had made it clear that this bill was the most important piece of legislation she would ever champion and she needed him to sign it. Other key legislators played a role, most notably Senate President John Cullerton, and Speaker of the House, Mike Madigan. So politics may have played a role but I d like to think Governor Quinn signed the bill into law because he knew it was the right thing to do.This past May, he celebrated the fourth anniversary of that signing in Springfield and then in July, he signed yet another bill to help adult adoptees. He has championed adoptee rights more than most in his position across the country. I hope he can feel me standing up to salute his service today (as he has so often very quietly stood up to salute those who have served our country). Thank you Governor Pat Quinn. Adoptees, whether they are from Illinois or not, will remember the good work that you did. Thank you for your service and for your compassion as a human being. May others in power follow your example September 2014 Posted on September 3rd, 2014 Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments 2014 is the year of fourteen. 14. That s how many states to date provide access to original birth records for adopted citizens. It s wonderful yet also sobering. Its taken so much effort to get to this place and there s still so far to go. I stand in awe of those who have navigated the sluggish and tricky waters of reform.Sad to think that states sealed adoptees birth certificates with such ease, often with little or no record of who was involved or why. Bills passed in silence. No one fought on behalf of the children being adopted, there was no impassioned testimony about what this might do to them, just a quiet closing of doors, a creation of vaults, and generations of stone-faced clerks taught to say you have no right to this information , a monotone inhumane response stretching out forever.What past legislatures did in an instant has taken decades to undo. New Jersey sealed records in 1940. When those children of the sealed era grew up and asked for the piece of paper that the state held on the first chapter of their lives, it took 34 years to finally reverse. Young people who began the effort are now white-haired. And even with victory, there was a need to compromise. What made the ink on the New Jersey bill palatable was the knowledge that going there would be no more sealed records going forward.Not every state has been as complicated a battleground as New Jersey but all of them have required tenacity, courage, and enormous amounts of personal time. On the surface, it sounds so easy. If a law is unjust, change it. If it were just that simple.2014 has felt like a tipping point. Washington, Ohio, Colorado, New Jersey all enacted or passed laws this year. Connecticut has inertia. Illinois passed an additional statute. And Pennsylvania has looked hopeful all year long. But like so many other battleground states, as votes draw close, old and antiquated fears and foes appear. This may not be Pennsylvania s year but one day it will be.For if the history of the adoption reform movement suggests anything, its that perseverance works. The stamina required is daunting. The cost, in terms of human time, personal expense, coping with attacks from within and without, the discouragement its impossible to quantify. Applaud the people in the trenches doing the work. Their efforts are for more than a simple piece of paper. They dignify us all.2014. It could be a tipping point. It s definitely a year to celebrate! APRIL 2014 Posted on May 23rd, 2014 Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments Last June, as I was filming testimony of NJ-CARE members during an Assembly hearing, my primary camera failed. I was filming Susan Perry at the time, and I remember thinking – well, New Jersey isn’t going to pass access legislation while Governor Christie is in office, and Susan Perry is one of the most important voices out there so there will be lots more opportunities.Susan taught us many things. One of them is, we can never foresee the future.Shortly after her testimony, she was diagnosed with fourth stage melanoma. She passed away less than a month ago. If she had access to her own birth information, it’s quite possible she would still be alive.And somehow, Governor Christie is finding his way to ‘yes.’ So in May of 2014, New Jersey will see the light at the end of its very long tunnel of adoption reform. Secrecy in adoption will end – and Susan Perry will have played a significant role in that. While I don’t think she’d be happy that adult adopted citizens will have to wait until 2017 to access their birth certificates, or that redactions were a necessary compromise for the passage, I have to believe she would be thrilled about eliminating the secrecy for future generations. Her advocacy alongside the NJ-CARE team will save lives and provide both equality and dignity for adopted citizens going forward.Susan and I both had cancer scares mid summer 2013. Mine ended up just being a lot of tests and good news. Susan’s experience was far different. I just reread the last emails between us. As she cheered the good news I’d received, I kept prodding her to consider doing a film. She would have been a natural filmmaker with her storytelling gifts, with her laugh, and with her wisdom. But Susan was very clear about what she intended to do with her time: spend it with her husband, her daughters, her grandchildren – and her two newly found sisters, who arrived bearing love and kindness last fall.Mid winter, I sent Susan and Ty the very first copy of my new film, A Simple Piece of Paper, about adoptee access in Illinois. I don’t know if Susan felt well enough to even watch a few frames – but it made me feel good to know she was its first audience, in spirit.The film now goes out into the ‘ether’, as it premieres in twenty states on PBS this week, and will hopefully air in every state in the Union through the summer and fall (see www.asimplepieceofpaper.com/find-pbs-screenings.php for the schedule). I wish she were here so we could talk a bit more about about writing with pictures, and the impact films can have. She had the most important gift of any storyteller: an intense passion coupled with a compassionate mind. I am imaging the films she would have made, stamped with her own special wisdom and wit. I will always regret that I didn’t capture her testimony last June. Her words were so powerful. They will always be powerful…

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