Elizabeth Weitzman
Thursday, February 6, 12 pm, Sandler Family Campus
Leon Family Gallery tour includes lunch, free with RSVP at JewishVa.org/BookFestival
Curious about what Funny Girl, Smart Girls at the Party, and Wonder Woman have in common? Ever wonder who Anna May Wong is, and what she did that Betty Davis, Salma Hayek, Mary Tyler Moore, Barbra Streisand, and Shonda Rhimes also do?
Elizabeth Weitzman is the one to ask. She’s the former senior film critic at the New York Daily News, who was also named one of New York’s Top Film Critics by The Hollywood Reporter.
Weitzman’s cast of gritty groundbreakers rocked the entertainment industry in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Their bold moves, against all odds, inspired her to collaborate with illustrator Austen Claire Clements on the book, Renegade Women in Film and TV.
When she visits Tidewater, Weitzman will lead a discussion and gallery tour of illustrations from Renegade Women in the Simon Family JCC’s Leon Family Gallery, and share her fascination with fascinating women. A seasoned film critic and champion storyteller, Weitzman will also reveal what she learned from these women, including the burden and breakthroughs they experienced and overcame.
Business professionals, business creatives, and anyone interested in the ‘why’ behind famous and unknown entertainment industry icons, will want to hear the stories she’s ready to tell.
Every “Renegade Woman” in her book of illustrations and riveting reads, was a first. They created or produced groundbreaking and relevant content, addressed prejudice and abuses, and reflected cultural diversity. Such collective girl-grit radically changed modern entertainment, not just on the big screen. For example, there’s Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls on YouTube. Before Netflix and You Tube, Barbara Walters’s crafty moves outside the studio got her a seat in a network anchor chair. Leslie Visser was the first female NFL sports analyst and Super Bowl, Final Four, World Series network reporter. Superman’s kryptonite has competition from Patty Jenkins, who created Wonder Woman as a universal character who can be all things at once: badass, smart, vulnerable, and funny.
Find out what keeps Renegade Women up at night—and what they all possess regardless of family background, skin color, sexual orientation, and birth year when Elizabeth Weitzman visits Tidewater.
RSVP required to jewishva.org/bookfest. Contact Patty Shelanski, Arts + Ideas manager, at pshelanski@ujft.org with questions or for more information.
Elizabeth Weitzman’s visit is part of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival, held in coordination with the Jewish Book Council.