SCWU empowered closeted Lesbians, educated city officials and created forever friendships.
Southern California Women for Understanding started in 1976 when prominent and out psychologist, Betty Berzon, knew there needed to be a place where professional women could meet other professional women without going out to seedy bars.
She was right and for 30 years, SCWU, became a safe place for closeted Lesbians to meet like-minded women, for political lesbians to have a voice in the local and national community, and for many women to be able to hold a leadership position that was usually held by men.
SCWU provided a social outlet through dances, camps, dinners, and outings. SCWU provided education for their members though speakers that would talk about how to come out, to financial advice or legal advice, to self awareness.
SCWU provided community education by participating with City Councilpersons, by doing sensitivity training with West Hollywood police and even going to the White House.
SCWU, may have only been located in Southern California, but their educational programs and empowering of women reached far and wide.
Help bring this story to life by donating to their campaign!
Meet the team involved in this project:
Angela Heine
Director / Executive Producer
Angela graduated in Film from Cal State University Northridge.
Darlene Weege
Writer / Producer / Composer
Darlene was a member of SCWU for over 10 years. Darlene has played guitar for over 40 years and teaches guitar.
Jordan Colley
Cinematographer / Editor
Jordan has had over 10 years experience creating promotional videos, music videos and short films.
The funds raised on Kickstarter will help pay for:
• Licensing photos and video footage
SCWU was most active in the 1980s and early 90s. To tell the story we need to rely on photos and videos from the era that are managed by historical archives. Many of these photos are now archived by USC and UCLA. We need to pay for licensing and to receive high resolution images. Mazer Archives has been generous enough to let us use many photos, but to tell the story we need as many as we can get.
• Legal clearance of photos and video footage
We require legal guidance to make sure we use all of the licensed photos and video with the proper rights and attributions.
• Visual depth with select animated photos and motion graphics
Even with the help of the wonderful archives of SCWU history, one of our biggest challenges has been that there are not as many photos and videos needed to tell the story. Not many people had cameras in that era and nobody had a smartphone! The majority of the women in SCWU were closeted, so there was a strict rule on cameras at events. We hope to fill some of those gaps with motion graphics.
• Audio mixing and mastering
We are a small production team and have been doing all the interviews, cinematography, and editing on our own. Audio mixing and mastering will be the one area we will need to hire out to make sure the film is at it’s best for viewing.
If you’d like to donate to this project, click here. If you’re unable to donate, please share, I’m sure the team behind this project will greatly appreciate it! Thanks everyone.
