Rachel Talalay

punk or something quite like it

[racheltalalay]

Notes on Heaven Sent, Part 1

Below I have broken down scene 1 of the BBC-published script for Doctor Who S09E11 and annotated it with a combinations of notes, thoughts, and questions. This starts to illustrate the complexity of the script and the process of figuring out shots, set design, locations, production, etc etc. - the decisions/discussions that went into the details. Many of these are in a shorthand note form I might use to annotate the script on an early read, others contain more detailed explanations. 

What is the castle? References? Where will we find the spire footage – shoot/stock?

sunrise? 2nd unit shoot or stock footage? Practical or VFX?

2nd unit/stock for sky? 

We ended up taking a stock sky shot and animated the moving flare, rather than the more common moving clouds shot. (Note that the flare is moving in the wrong direction.) 

For the light sweeping in the room – find a room where we have access to windows where we can put lights on cranes and create the movement. Smoke will enhance this? 

We found these logistics in the Great Hall on the main floor of Caerphilly Castle, where the lighting could be controlled for the moving beams and they fortunately did allow us to use movie smoke. Lights were on lifts to provide enough height for the shadows to hit the floor to emphasize the movement. 

This could have been done with VFX as well. 

The Castle design:  Production Designer Michael Pickwoad suggested the look of Pierrefonds as it is Disney-esque fantasy, isolated, and complex. 

We location-scouted castles: Caerphilly, Cardiff, St Donat’s (William Randolph Hearst’s house/castle in Wales, now a  school), Castle Coch, Raglands, and Chepstow. Each had elements that could work, but we used only the first two — St Donat’s was a wish-list addition, but was ultimately difficult to shoot for the complicated scenes we were placing there. 

There’s a film production ‘joke’: “Montage is the French word for overtime”. 

What does this paragraph mean? How many shots? Where? This could shoot for a whole week…or more…  After much time discussion about breaking this into 10 or more shots in different locations, I pitched the idea of shooting stills (during our break while everyone important was at Comicon and we were starting to prep episode 12), so DOP Stuart, AD Scott, my daughter, and I went to Cardiff Castle and shot 200 or so stills of details in the castle. Well, Stuart did all the work, and Scott, Sophie and I talked to the docent and learned more about the Castle history. We were allowed access to non-public areas of the castle. The private prayer room is yet another spectacular area of the house. Magic words: ‘Doctor Who’. As it is, Cardiff Castle does a DW tour of areas used in the series.

We only used 2 or 3 of the shots in the episode, but the collection is amazing. 

We could only afford [time was a major limitation, because we had so many sets to build for the episode] to build two cog machines — one metal/brass and one ‘stone’. Conceptually, stone was used for castle locations and brass for Time-Lord technology rooms — the Teleport chamber and the Azbantium Wall room.

We were not entirely consistent with this, but that was my ‘concept’. Moving these contraptions around, keeping them working, etc, limited what was where – especially in the practical locations, where we also had to be careful not to damage anything. It was a particular chore to bring one to the Fireplace room on the top floor of a room in Caerphilly, accessible only by one narrow circular staircase. 

Which corridor?

Blood? — very not-Doctor-Who.

At this point, I  don’t have any idea who this is. Later I know and realize nothing can be given away.

My corridor of choice was at Cardiff Castle, but we were not permitted to use blood at this location. Must re-think.

Later we see this blood disappear, as if the area is re-setting.  

Traveling along the corridors — which ones? What details? — there was a great corridor in Caerphilly (no time, hard to light, ultimately did not use), instead Caerphilly had the best staircase. In 2015, all those areas have metal railings for health and safety. We were allowed into a non-public area of the castle that had not yet been fitted with these – this was a coup. Otherwise they need to be avoided,( limiting angles), or digitally removed, (limiting camera movement). 

Fantastic battlement corridors all around the perimeter of Cardiff Castle (priority to use these as they were majestically long, but also difficult to light).

Radial and circular corridor around teleport chamber must be built. No locations have circular corridors. The Radial corridor must be narrow enough that the Doctor cannot get around the Veil – “finally run out of corridor - a life summed up”. Radial corridor needs moving wall at the end – hence building it made most sense. 

I work with Scott to figure out time/locations/logistics – and what a splinter unit (2nd camera running around pickup up extra shots) could help with. It’s always about time-management. Always maximize shooting time. “Moving locations is not shooting”.

Photographic thoughts: Wider lens to emphasize movement. Lower angle, but only if we have a ceiling on the set.

Lighting thoughts: Graphic hard shadows of German Expressionism. Minimal smoke so that nothing looks soft – avoid romanticism of castles. Creepy, scary only. But the corridors in Cardiff are too high up and too long to light from outside the windows. Does that make this idea impossible? (Ultimately not at all, because Stuart had a plan, but these are my early considerations). 

Lighting: besides the sunlight (or simulated sunlight), what are our sources? No fire or torches or electric lighting. We can light the sets through the windows, but will it be enough? If it is to be scary, we want dark. But not too dark, that scares broadcasters. And what about the nighttime? How many moons in this location? Where are we, anyway? What colour is our night? Blue feels wrong, even though it invokes cold. Ultimately we decide the confession dial sides are reflecting orange into the night sky. And the Doctor is on Gallifrey, another  orange reflection. And it’s the Doctor’s torture chamber and the Time Lords want it to evoke hell.

I spend time staring at shadows and light in each castle location we scout. I look like I’m zoning out, but I am gathering ideas. Stuart and I are trading images. 

I used this image as reference for lighting the corridor outside the garden - you may notice that much of the lighting makes no sense. I had to push for that. 

Monitors cannot be mounted in the practical locations. How to solve this? How big are they? Is this old or new technology? How much should it fit in with castle look?

Design concepts for this? (the art department came up with concept art) Moveable to shot? Ideally practical as much as possible to save £’s of burn-ins. They end up on moveable bases and mounted on joints that can be angled to shot. This was critical because there were times when we had to see them through windows or pan from them down the hallway, etc. 

We need the ‘human’ shadow on the door — how will we show this shadow and not reveal in any way that it is the Doctor? His silhouette is distinctive, should we set up the shadow to be like the Veil? This ended up being quite easy, but I had to ask the questions and test ideas. 

Production note — this is just the 1st scene and less than 1-½ pages of the script! We already have more questions than can be answered and more time for 2nd unit that I think we can afford. This alone could take a week to shoot. I also worry how long this will take on-screen. What is the audience thinking now?

Tone - How creepy is this? How much geography are/should we be giving away?

Editorial - we probably spent more time debating what to use in this scene than in any other scene in the episode - including the epic ending montage. This is because we ended up with a lot of varied material which was completely non-standard for a Doctor Who opening, so much discussion of how to draw the audience in, prepare for this totally different type of episode, but not lose them to itchy remote fingers.

Coming soon: Questions answered…well, some of them … and kind of answered. 

[racheltalalay]

reblog for #GallifreyOne screening

[haruspis-deactivated20220412]

doctor who | heaven sent (november 28, 2015)

“Doctor. You are not the only person who ever lost someone. It’s the story of everybody. Get over it. Beat it. Break free.

Doctor, it’s time. Get up, off your arse.

And win.”

[jaimelannistre-archived]

There’s this emperor, and he asks this shepherd’s boy: how many seconds in eternity? And the shepherd’s boy says: there’s this mountain of pure diamond, it takes an hour to climb it and an hour to go around it. Every hundred years, a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on the diamond mountain. And when the entire mountain is chiselled away, the first second of eternity will have passed. You must think that’s a hell of a long time. Personally, I think that’s a hell of a bird.

heaven sent, written by steven moffat & directed by rachel talalay, first aired on 28 november 2015

[entreat]

Handomeido Shoppu Custom Omanjuu Review

I’ve always been a huge fan of Ensky’s omanjuu series of mascots. Unfortunately, they’ve never made them for series that I’m especially a fan of, which led me into my foray of making custom omanjuu. Although I found a supplier on taobao, I was apprehensive due to the fact that I’d require a service to help me order (meaning there would be proxy fees and extra time delays) and in addition to the MOQ being a lot higher than I wanted. Thus, I was delighted to find Handomeido Shoppu, a service which hand makes small orders of custom omanjuu!

Keep reading

[scriptscribbles]

[racheltalalay]

Two q's in one, sorry (I feel like I'm cheating!): 1) Have you read Paul Cornell's adaptation of Twice Upon a Time? If you have, what did you think? 2) What are the chances that a full 90-minute cut of the episode will be made/released?

1) I have not read it. 2) I think there’s minimal chance of a longer edit of TUAT, but I have nothing to do with these decisions. 

[racheltalalay]

#Hashtag

[Marshall McLuhan 2018-style]

(I was angry so I took it out on poetry)

This revolution will be televised.

This revolution will be social media-size.

Tweeted, insta’d, tumbl’d [not dry].

This revolution is “We, the People”,

Not I, the ego, the narcissist, the bigot.

This revolution is under-age.

This revolution is an LP, not a 45.

In it for the long haul.

Not a shopping mall,

Not a drowning fall.

This revolution will not give you a thigh gap.

Nor on-line porn, nor a six-pac.

Not super-lashes,

Not fake news flashes

Not rose-colored glasses.

This revolution is “We, the People”,

Not I, the ego, the narcissist, the bigot.

It will not take place in a dying Hollywood.

Not in #MeToo or #TimesUp.

It will not be on Netflix,

Amazon Firesticks,

Nor Top 10 Picks.

This revolution is not digital.

This revolution is Whole Earth and Flat Earth

And round.

It is US, hand in hand.

This revolution is the moon around the sun,

No hoax, false hopes, quack-fads, rip-offs.

No flim-flam scam man.

This revolution is “We, the People”,

Not I, the ego, the narcissist, the bigot.

The Doomsday clock ticked another second.

This revolution reckons.

This revolution. This turning in circles.

Is US.

[with apologies to Gil Scott-Heron]

[scriptscribbles]

“Where there’s tears, there’s hope.”

[zeanmacfarlane]

Black Hole - Zean Macfarlane

http://zeanmacfarlane.com/

[whovianfeminism]

A #MeToo Moment Unfolds At Gallifrey One

This article contains descriptions of sexual harassment and mentions of sexual assault, as told by panelists at Gallifrey One.

On the final day of this year’s Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles, fifteen women stepped on to the main stage for a monster of a panel titled “Gallifrey Waits No More.” Actors Sophie Aldred, Lisa Bowerman, Camille Coduri, Jessica Martin, Chase Masterson, Wendy Padbury, Jemma Redgrave, and Dee Sadler; writers Jenny Colgan, Sarah Dollard, and Rona Munro; script executive Lindsey Alford, costume designer Hayley Nebauer, and director Rachel Talalay joined writer and podcaster Deborah Stanish for a discussion about the changing landscape for women in the entertainment industry.

What occurred over the next hour was an experience that was simultaneously harrowing and cathartic as a #MeToo moment unfolded on stage. Nearly every panelist revealed a story of sexism, discrimination, harassment, or assault from their careers — some of which they were discussing for the very first time. Cast, crew, and fans were brought together in a shared moment of grief and solidarity. It was truly an exceptional moment that was unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed at a convention before.

The panel began with a broad conversation about what more could be done to support the careers of women in entertainment. Lindsey Alford shared her story of working with the rest of Doctor Who’s production team to ensure that she could keep working on the show while she was pregnant and raising her young children. It was a wonderful illustration of how to support working mothers.

Hayley Neubauer has a young child as well — her husband could occasionally be seen at the back of her panels during Gally with their baby in tow. When Alford was done speaking, Neubauer revealed that last year, while she was looking for a new job after her time on Doctor Who, she had been denied a job because she was pregnant. The entire audience gasped in shock. Rachel Talalay jumped in to point out that that decision was patently illegal. Still, Neubauer was told by the person who denied her the job that she would be “grateful” not to be working once she had the baby. Neubauer wondered why that person felt they could presume to make that decision on her behalf.

The mood in the room had noticeably shifted. But Neubauer wasn’t done. She explained that because of the nature of their work, anyone who works in costuming is often with actors as they are putting on or taking off their costumes. Most of those actors are professional during these moments — but some are not. Neubauer said that many of the women she knows who work in costuming have #MeToo stories, and that they all are watching as each new revelation comes out, waiting to see if the predators that they know about will be exposed.

Jemma Redgrave and Camille Coduri expressed their shock and rage at what Neubauer had revealed. That was part of what made this panel so powerful. Cast and crew were brought together in a place where they could share and hear each other’s stories. Barriers that isolated them were broken down.

Redgrave had stories of her own to share. She told the audience that when she was cast in her first film, she was told to lose weight. And when she went out to dinner with the director, he actually took her menu away and ordered her a plate of crudités. 

Sophie Aldred had a similar experience. She had struggled with eating disorders as a young woman. After “Dragonfire” aired, she was told to lose half a stone (approximately 7 pounds) before the next season of Doctor Who was to be filmed. She was so furious that in the intervening time, she actually gained weight to spite them.

That wasn’t Aldred’s only story. When she was rehearsing for a one-woman show, a director attempted to pull down her pants. Dee Sadler had a similar story. While filming a scene for a movie that required her to be in a shirt and underwear, the director called her over and pulled down her underwear so another man could take a photo of her bare bottom.

The room came to an absolute standstill when Wendy Padbury took the microphone. She had never told anyone this story before. When she was 16 or 17 years old, she was asked to sing for an American producer for an audition. She was taken to a soundproof performance room. The producer played the piano while she sang her prepared piece. When she was done, he asked her to come around to the other side of the piano. He was masturbating. She immediately turned to leave the room, but he had locked the door. Thankfully, he unlocked the door when she asked him to do so, and she fled.

Photo credit: Joy Piedmont

This is both the power and devastation of the #MeToo movement. One person steps forward to tell their story and prompts another to share theirs. Sometimes, they just needed a boost of courage and a sense of solidarity to feel safe enough to share their story. Several of the women on the panel said they hadn’t thought about what had happened to them until they heard other women share their own stories. It is harrowing to share and hear these stories — but there’s something reassuring about realizing that we’re not alone.

You could see the shock, anger, and devastation on each of the panelists’ faces. Over 1,550 people were packed into the room at this point, and every single person was transfixed by what was unfolding on stage. The silence was only broken by the sound of a few quiet sobs as people in the audience wept.

On the stage, moderator Deborah Stanish noticed that the panelists seemed to forget the audience was there at times. Their panel discussion became a conversation among women — and they could have been ANY women — about their experiences.

There was grief and anger at this panel, but there was also a sense of hope and healing. The women talked about the relief they all felt at being able to talk about these issues together. And they advocated compassion for each other and for themselves.

And this brilliant panel was full of ideas about how to create change in the future. Sarah Dollard noted that programs designed specifically to promote the careers of women and POC writers and directors can help increase the diversity of the talent pool. Talalay added that those programs are only effective if participants are guaranteed jobs at the end. Otherwise, companies can take credit for “promoting diversity” without providing tangible results.

Chase Masterson noted as well that women often aren’t able to speak up because doing so could put their careers at risk. Studies have shown that women producers and directors hire more women crew members. And when more women are represented in all levels of a production, that can transform the culture and provide additional support for women to speak up about harassment.

Rona Munro said that we also need to think about the kinds of stories that movies and television are telling about women. She said that nine times out of ten, when someone writes a “strong female character,” that character is basically exactly the same as a male character. “Strong female characters” also rely extensively on violence and the use of weapons to establish their “strength.” She told the audience that “womens’ actual experiences are not seen as heroic. Womens’ actual lives are seen as sad and depressing. I want to start a campaign for telling womens’ actual stories and demonstrating how brilliant they are.”

To that point, Redgrave talked about how important her role as a lesbian woman is on the BBC show Holby City. From the fanmail she receives, she knows just how important it is for viewers to have that kind of visible representation — to have unique and interesting roles for women of a certain age, to show a lesbian woman on-screen, to show her in a relationship, and to show her interacting with other women in interesting ways that don’t revolve around men.

And as powerful as the panelists’ stories were, they admitted they were all limited in their perspectives. Nearly every single panelist was white (Jessica Martin revealed during the panel that she has Filipina and Burmese ancestry). Although Pearl Mackie was invited to Gallifrey One and would have been on that panel, she had to cancel her appearance after she was cast in a play in London.

Jenny Colgan and Masterson both highlighted the lack of women of color on the panel and made an explicit call for future conversations to include marginalized voices — including more WOC and LGBTQ voices — in order to represent a truly intersectional vision of the #MeToo movement. Dollard also noted that it was on all of us to demand that more women of color be hired to work on Doctor Who. In this show’s nearly 55 year history, not a single woman of color has ever been hired to write or direct a televised episode.

Dollard also pointed out that only the most splashy stories that feature the most high-profile abusers or victims get the most media attention. Even these panelists had a stage on which to share their stories. The vast majority of victims of sexual harassment or assault do not have that same platform.

Statistically speaking, there were likely many people in that audience who have experienced sexual harassment and assault. Had you asked every member of the audience who could also say #MeToo to stand, hundreds of us would’ve been on our feet. The #MeToo moment is happening all around us, from the top echelons of the entertainment industry to the hallways of your local convention. And even if we couldn’t all be on that stage, there was a sense of recognition and validation in that moment.

So, how do we move forward? Colgan told the audience to keep talking about #MeToo and the lack of representation for women. Padbury talked about how hard she worked throughout her life to foster her daughters’ and granddaughter’s ability to speak up and change the world around them — and how important it is to keep fostering those abilities in young women.

Aldred asked the audience to share their stories and to listen when others share their stories. Dollard reminded the audience to be allies for each other and to stand up in the moment when you see something awful happening, if it is safe for you to intervene. Coduri was personally in favor of giving harassers a good slap. And if you’re not comfortable doing that, well, Coduri seemed ready to take names and take justice into her own hands.

Talalay ended the panel by reminding us of the Twelfth Doctor’s final words: “Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be kind, particularly in the context of #MeToo. I don’t think it means that we just have to be nice. I don’t think it means that every interaction needs to be sweet and pleasant, or that we can never say a harsh word to one another. I don’t think it means that there can never be conflict.

I think that being kind means that we have to fight for justice. It means that we have to work to build a world in which we are all respected and valued. It means that we have to stand up for one another and fight to keep each other safe. And it means that we have to be willing to speak out and hold each other accountable when we witness discrimination, harassment, and abuse.

To me, being kind means that I am less interested in protecting people from hard, uncomfortable conversations than I am in protecting the women who are bravely telling their stories and fighting to hold their harassers accountable.

Stanish reflected on Twitter after the panel that as hard as it may have been to witness this conversation or read about it afterwards, it was even harder for those women to live it, saying: “These amazing women didn’t owe us their pain and anger but they shared it with us anyway. Let’s make it worth something.”

When that panel concluded, I felt a sense of solidarity and purpose akin to what I felt during the Women’s March. The audience gave the panelists a standing ovation, and people were openly weeping and hugging as the lights came up and the stage cleared. It sparked a conversation that continued into the hotel lobby and onto Twitter that evening — one that will hopefully continue in the weeks and months to come. And hopefully, when this topic is revisited during next year’s Gallifrey One convention, we’ll have some tangible results to show for it too.

Note: This piece has been updated with a correction to Sophie Aldred’s story.

[racheltalalay]

Read this. 

[kaanashimi-deactivated20181120]

Be a voice for all those who have prisoned tongues, for the people who had to grow up way too young.

Halsey, A Story Like Mine (via elixirous)

[racheltalalay]

Asking a quick question on behalf of a number of fans: are you able to tell us when and where Jenna's scene was filmed? There's some debate over whether it was filmed while she was working on Victoria, some time later, and whether she came down to Cardiff or if it was shot elsewhere (being green screen you could have filmed it anywhere, of course). Thanks!

We filmed on the roof at the BBC offices in London (in July, if i remember correctly) on a weekend during Victoria shoot. We recorded the sound in the Top Gear Offices. 

[racheltalalay]

Post-Punk Warrior? #WIFTV

On Monday night, #WIFTV honored me as 2016 Woman of the Year. I’ve had some requests to post the speech I gave at the event, so here it is.  

Trigger warning: feminism included. 

“I’m not very good at rules. So my speech is a bit longer than the others. But I have things to say. We all do. Because it’s our time to speak up.

But first, the thank-you segment. [cut for anonymity] 

And to all the incredible hands that have propped me up for some many years, shoulders that absorbed my tears and backbones for inspiring me. Heroes. We all need heroes. And all of you are those.

I’ve never considered myself a Woman-of-the Year type. I’m more the Tank-Girl post-punk feminist Warrior.

But Woman of the Year? I like it. Yeah.  Especially because it reminds me of one of my inspirations, the original trouser-wearing maverick, Katharine Hepburn, 

who was a feminist before the word trended, and then un-trended, and trended and untrended….

Feminist in the pure sense — not the much maligned misunderstood man-hating sense — Standing for Equality: Equal Pay. Equal Employment. Equal Rights.

And it reminds me of the interesting but flawed film Katharine Hepburn made with Spencer Tracy in 1942 — the film named for the NEW ME - the film entitled “Woman of the Year”,

As a teen, I loved the Tracy/Hepburn collaborations - their crisp combative dialogue and her righteous independence.

But somehow I knew that the ending of Woman of the Year was a disappointment, but I couldn’t remember why.

So I went on that inter-web thingy and learned some amazing facts about why the film is the perfect microcosm of Hollywood.

per Wikipedia

“The film’s plot is ostensibly about the relationship between Tess Harding, an international affairs correspondent, chosen “Woman of the Year,” and Sam Craig, a sports writer, who meet, marry, and encounter problems as a result of her unflinching commitment to her work.”

It’s an interesting problematic work, showing off Hepburn as a smart independent woman, then a partner in marriage, until  it falls apart BECAUSE she is a strong independent career woman.

The film was made to laud the equality of the sexes, and to showcase Hepburn holding her own against  the irascible Tracy. And then the film crashes and burns — with a terrible ending. Why?

The answer is painfully Hollywood. In the end, the studio didn’t want Hepburn to be equal. They insisted she had to get her comeuppance.

Seriously?

Yes, seriously — and how did they do that?

By re-writing the ending  to put Hepburn’s character in the kitchen and embarrass her with her failings there.

See what that valuable career did to you!

What could be more predictable or better presage women’s futures in the film business?  

Ring Lardner, one of the co-writers, whose outspokenness ultimately landed him on the Hollywood blacklist, didn’t mince words — he complained that  they  (quote)“completely f*cked it up”. (unquote)

So, then what happens?  —— The screenplay wins an Oscar.

Yup. 1942. The woman must fail. Even the Woman of the Year. Or, especially the Woman of the Year?

Needless to say,  the road from 1942 to 2016 has been less than smooth.

As a woman director, I’ve had my own battleground. In the big picture, I may look like I’ve held my own, but I haven’t. The scars are deep. And the problems aren’t over, as everyone here knows. The Film Industry is a  disaster on gender and diversity and First Nations issues.

I have spent many years being told NEVER to mention it — threatened that it was ’a sure fire way never to get hired’.

Recently I was talking to my agents about my ambitions after finishing directing Sherlock. And they said ‘Yes, you have done Sherlock. yeah, the other Sherlock directors have all been offered pilots and features off the back of it. But remember, you are a woman”. It kind of took my breath away, to hear it stated so plainly.  It wasn’t aggressive. It was so painfully casual, they probably wouldn’t even remember saying it. That’s what shocked me.

They simply meant, “We’re just going to have to work that much harder, but also be realistic about your expectations.’

I felt sick …. so I called the Doctor.

[Which requires a Knock Knock Joke and audience participation:]

Knock Knock …

[who’s there?]

Doctor

[Doctor Who?]

Doctor Who — exactly.

Ok so I called that doctor. I wanted his two hearts and his sonic screwdriver to fix it.

But you can’t sonic this away.

So instead  he gave me some advice. He said  “Just remember, one thing does not lead to another.”

And what the Doctor meant, in his 4 billion years of time travel and experience and wisdom,  was not just that Time is nonLInear. But that you can’t expect it to come your way.  You can’t be complacent or believe you will be rewarded.  You have to go out, earn it, make it happen. Stand FOR something, not just AGAINST it.  [are you listening, Mr. Trump?]

Loving, fixing, changing, that’s the hard part.

We all stand for women/diversity/First Nation’s voices.

All  these underrepresented groups have stories to tell. The industry has to stop silencing us. If we can’t find support from the government, and to quote our PM “it’s 2016”. future generations will be missing out on more than half of the world’s stories and even more opportunities.

So let me stand with you —

Let me unchain your beasts and allow you to speak and write and create. Let me open the mouths of the oppressed women…of the missing women from the trailer [to the film On The Farm about Vancouver missing women from 1995-2001 – watch  here:  ] you saw for the film we made, so these women are not lost.

Let us all be invited to speak…

and …

if, as the doctor said, one thing doesn’t lead to another, then we won’t look only at the barriers, we can run around them, knock them down, vault over them and the next hurdle and  the next and the next  and the next — until we find we’ve passed all the hurdles  and we are only faced with opportunities.

Never give up.

Our creativity is our freedom. It’s a super-power. It won’t be silenced.

So,

as a Post-Punk feminist Warrior, I chose to leave you with a lyric from the late 70’s  punk band Xray Spex:

a lyric I speak to the industry and the oppressors who have kept our voices silenced.

Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard.

But I think Oh Bondage, up yours!

_Thank you for this honor!

[racheltalalay]

On International Women’s March Day I decided this needed to move up to the top of my tumblr. Because we have to keep fighting. Thank everyone who marched. #NowMoreThanEver. We will stand and fight. 

[racheltalalay]

I decided to bring this to the top again -- after the year of #MeToo and the #TimesUp and the Oprah “A new day is on the horizon” Golden Globes speech. Let’s not have to wear black even one more day! Time was up a long time ago. Let’s all be Women of the Year. Stand and Fight 

[ahintofthesea]

“Oh, there it is, silly old universe. The more I save it, the more it needs saving. It’s a treadmill… Yes, yes, I know, they’ll get it all wrong without me. Well, I suppose one more lifetime won’t kill anyone… well, except me.”

[racheltalalay]

Hi Rachel. Doctor Who has been in my life from my earliest memories (Jon Pertwee) and this year I turn 50. I'm curious to know what your relationship with it was before you became professionally involved?

Tom Baker. 

[racheltalalay]

Hi there. First off, huge fan of your work on Doctor Who. You've pushed the bar so high, and it's been so beautiful to watch. But what I'm really here to ask is this: I'm a fourth year UBC student (which is also why I think you're super cool!). I'm graduating with a Lit/History degree in May and I have no clue what to do! Do you have any advice on finding what you love, living life after graduation, or how to survive in the "real world"? Thanks!

experiment. try things. always keep learning. not very helpful, i know i was in love from film from a very young age, but i love that it’s an invitation to keep learning about new things, keep meeting new people, and seeing things in a new way. Find the excitement in what you do and what you do for others. (I don’t always follow that rule, I can be an asshole,  but I like to keep it in my pocket of hope).

[racheltalalay]

What was David Bradley like to work with? He's the spitting image of the First Doctor!

This is not a jab at you, so please don’t see it as one, it is a general observation -- I do not know how to answer “What was it like to work with X...?” Can you answer that question yourself in a satisfying way? It invites meaningless answers like “It was great”. What are you really trying to ask me? 

I really don’t want this answer to sound critical of you -- it seems to be the go-to reporting style of the moment, and I realized there must be a way to get to the bottom of what that question actually means that will invite a substantive answer.

Meantime, He was great. Very funny, very prepared, and already rehearsed as Hartnell from Adventure in Space and Time. fwiw.