An Interview with Melissa Silverstein

A feminist voice in the wilderness

Melissa Silverstein is a marketing consultant, writer and blogger. Fed up with the male domination of the entertainment industry, she set up her company Women and Hollywood to focus on bringing attention to the films, TV shows, theatre and other entertainment that highlights women and their contribution to the culture. She is fequently quoted in the worldwide press, and has become an authority on issues relating to women in Hollywood. Her feminist perspective on this depressingly male-dominated industry makes her a fresh and interesting lone voice in the wilderness.

The Basics

1.    Name

Melissa Silverstein                                                                                                                                            

2.    Web/Blog address if applicable

Women and Hollywood (www.womenandhollywood.com)

3.    Where do you live?

a.    Are you from there originally?

b.    Where else have you lived?

I live in Brooklyn, NY and grew up on Long Island. 

4.    What is your living situation?

a.    Partner?

b.    Kids?

I live with my dog, Duke.

5.    Job?

a.    How long?

b.    What other jobs have you had?

I've been a freelance marketer and writer for a couple of years. Before that I worked on a documentary. I have also produced events and have worked at several women's organizations in the States, The White House Project and the Ms.Foundation for Women. Before that I had a brief career in the theatre business.

The Tough Ones

1.    Summarize your entire life in 10 words or less.

Spends way too much time absorbing popular culture - TV, films, books, internet.

2.    Tell us what your typical day is like currently.

I wake up and read my Google reader and try to find some things to blog about. I take my dog to the park. I tweet, blog and deal with emails in the morning. Then I go to the gym and in the afternoon and evening I work on client projects. Some days I go to screenings.

3.    Tell us about the person that has had the most profound impact on your life:

a.    During the last five years

b.    From the very beginning

a) During the last five years - my best friend Andrea - who went through breast cancer.

b) From the very beginning - it's got to be my mom and dad who taught me to be an independent thinker, and I think have regretted how independent I have become.

4.    What is the greatest trauma you have ever experienced in your life and how did that impact you?

I've been pretty lucky and have not had any huge traumas in my life. I think that the death of my grandmother in my first year of college almost 24 years ago changed the course of my entire family in a profound way. Even before my grandmother died my father who grew up very traditionally jewish in Brooklyn was having a spiritual crisis. His mother's death sent him over the edge and he embraced jewishness in a very religious way and has become more and more religious over the years. My family, I have two sisters, my mom and my dad are all observant jews and I am not. I could never go there in either an intellectual or spiritual way. So suffice it to say I am very different from my family and it has been quite a challenge for us over the year, especially between me and my dad.

5.    What is the greatest joy or achievement you have ever experienced in your life and how did that impact you?

Watching my nieces and nephews grow up is awesome and knowing that I don't have to raise them is even more awesome.

6.    Let's pretend your life is a blank slate for 1 year - no partner, kids, job, baggage of any sort. You can reinvent yourself completely and take a year to do exactly what you want without any consequence to your current life. How would you spend that year?

I actually have been reinventing myself over the last couple of years through my blog and my marketing business. It's been really hard, especially in the recession, but I have been building my platform and my reputation and I am optimistic that I can make a go of this.

7.    What (if anything) are you able to do better now than at any other time in your life?

Trust myself and my abilities.

Rapid Fire

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