REHEARSAL with Courtney Hope Thérond

REHEARSAL with special guest Courtney Hope Thérond

The “Rehearsal” writer/director talks to Asha Dahya on the Periodical Podcast about how her own on-set experiences inspired her short film. Maybe if she could demonstrate how intimacy scenes can go awry, she thought, others might understand how problems can arise even between people who trust, care for, and respect each other. Tune in to find out how audiences reacted.

Transcript

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[00:00:00] Asha Dahya:
Hello Repro Fam! Welcome to another episode of the Repro Film podcast. I’m your host Asha Dahya, and it is February 2023 and although the last few years have been quite a rollercoaster, this year seems to be really really busy already, like we’re making up for lost time during the pandemic. Anyone else relate? 

Well this month’s theme is consent. An issue that is sadly not talked about enough when it comes to sexuality, relationships, and healthy communication about our bodies and choices. Just a quick glance at sex education across America will give you pause. As of January 2022, there are 21 states that do not require sex ed, and in about two-thirds of the states that require sex education, the materials provided do not have to be medically accurate! 39 states mandate abstinence only education, which numerous studies have proven to be ineffective, unethical and damaging to youth. Medically accurate and comprehensive sex ed leads to healthier decisions and relationships in youth. How do we change this abysmal landscape? Media and film have a powerful role to play in setting cultural tone for a lot of things, which is why we are excited for this month’s featured short film called ‘Rehearsal’ directed by the talented award-winning filmmaker Courtney Thérond.

In a delicate dance that explores the boundaries of consent, Courtney‘s film follows a female actress as she is pushed beyond her limits on set. A powerfully subtle conversation starter that will help you understand what it’s like to be the only woman in the room, moral ambiguity keeps any singular person responsible for what is ultimately emotional abuse. 

We’ve heard a lot of recent talk about consent, especially with the explosion of the #MeToo movement in 2017 and the high profile stories of Harvey Weinstein. But where does the slide into abuse begin? How do we have conversations about those grey areas and micro aggressions that outwardly, may not be labeled as abuse or violence, but set the foundation for lack of agency and autonomy in a given situation? On film and TV sets especially, this conversation has become very important, given the outcry to the Weinstein story. What are producers and directors doing to create environments that make everyone, but especially actors, feel comfortable on set during an intimacy scene? How do we shift the power dynamics so that actors, and especially women and women of color, feel comfortable speaking up in situations where they do not feel respected? 

‘Rehearsal’ will certainly give you pause to think about situations in your own life, and perhaps allow us to ask tough questions about the ways we can ensure consent is something that is a cultural norm, rather than an exception. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Courtney as we delve into her background as a storyteller and filmmaker, the role and responsibility films can play in changing our culture, and the surprising reaction she has gotten to her film from film festivals and audiences. 

Courtney Thérond, thank you so much for joining me on the pod today. Um, it's lovely to, I mean, people listening can't actually see what we're doing, but we can actually see each other. We're doing a recorded zoom call, so. This is lovely . Welcome. 

[00:04:29] Courtney Thérond: Thank you. 

[00:04:31] Asha Dahya:
Tell me before we get into the questions, I'd love to get like a brief overview. I've done an intro and talked about your background and what you're working on, but I'd love to know about you as a filmmaker. How did you get into this industry? What pushed you to be a director and a producer and, and tell stories?  

[00:04:46] Courtney Thérond:
Well, I've always been a storyteller, I guess. Um, I wasn't allowed to really watch TV or movies growing up. It was sort of for special occasions or if we had babysitters, so I had to make up my own. I would sort of create my own TV shows and storylines. And I was the oldest, so I'd get my sister and my neighbors to play along until they got old enough to quit. I've always, um, sort of understood the world through that lens. and then I found photography in high school, um, and combined that with growing up doing a lot of theater and. , you know, I would create these sort of tableaus and really loved capturing a story in an image, and especially creating these characters. Um, and so combined them and found film and yeah, I thought I wanted to be a DP when I first went to film school because I love photography so much. And then realized the part that I loved about it was what was in front of the camera and switched over to directing. So I still. . Yeah. I love collaborating with my dps and creating and thinking of images in that way. But yeah, I sort of fell into film through many, many steps along the way. 

[00:06:04] Asha Dahya:
Lovely. And just for the uninitiated or people who don't work in film, DP stands for Director of Photography, correct?

[00:06:11] Courtney Thérond: Yes. Mm-hmm. 

[00:06:12] Asha Dahya:
Perfect. And I love that you said films were the way that you made sense of the world, which we're gonna get into a little bit later. But I'd love to learn about rehearsal, your short film, brilliant short film. Where did the idea originally come from and what made you want to tackle this issue of.

[00:06:28] Courtney Thérond:
So I worked as an assistant director, which is the person who creates the schedule and runs the logistics of a film set. I sort of fell into that as my day job after school. And I was working on a feature where there was a sex scene and it was handled very strangely, um, by the director. And a lot of people were uncomfortable, but there wasn't a clear event, necessarily, that created that discomfort and it was really hard to talk about afterwards, and especially people who weren't on set. So coming back and trying to explain what had happened, and why it was weird. And I realized there wasn't a lot of vocabulary around that gray area or sort of the earlier, because this was before intimacy coordinators, um, were a thing, or at least before people knew about what that job was or entailed. So there wasn't a lot of conversation on consent, but it was around the time of me too, becoming part of the conversation. So this sort of period of time where everyone could get on board with, you know, Harvey Weinstein was abusing people and these sort of bigger, shocking stories everyone agreed on. 

But when it was that first stage of sort of pushing the envelope and seeing. where you could get someone to go and how it started. There really wasn't a lot of conversation around it because it's hard to talk about and it's vague and not everyone agrees or agrees on who should be responsible at that stage. 

So I wanted to make a film to have, be able to have that conversation and say, this is what I'm talking about. This is what it looks like. , you could pick a side you just to kind of show, this is where that line kind of starts and where we allow ourselves to be pushed over the edge a little bit and why we do that. And maybe if we look at it in a different way, we can all have a collective conversation and sort of decide how to go forward. Because I just think it's really difficult to talk about something that's not a clear, distinct moment. in time or an event that everyone can just agree on if they weren't in the room. 

So just kind of wanted to find the like sticky spot and talk about that. I mean, what a powerful entry point into this issue. When you mentioned Harvey Weinstein, it's like we often hear about these stories. When they get to that level in the news, it's like, well, where does it start? And so this is, yeah. a really good entry point into that and allowing people to think.

[00:09:00] Asha Dahya:
So I really love that. And so the film did the festival circuit in starting in 2019. Can you share some of the feedback reactions you've rec received? Whether good, bad, or shocking or eye-opening? Tell me, tell me what you've heard.

[00:09:12] Courtney Thérond:
Well, the film is very subtle in its exploration of consent, so I was very worried going into festivals that, or just even submitting. if people would get it. Um, or people would find blame in the female character or, yeah. I didn't know how people were gonna react or if people would know what was wrong, . Um, so it was very nerve-wracking and, um, the first festival I was able to attend, that's not the case. So it, it was great people, people got it. I had a lot of people share stories about their own personal experiences with consent on set or in. Theater, um, or like different creative spaces where there's sort of this expectation that you're just supposed to be open and cool with things, um, especially when you're the only or one of few women in that environment. 

 I got some stories from people who realized that they had pushed some boundaries or they hadn't listened to their actor or they hadn't created a safe space. And that was really interesting too, that people could see themselves on both sides in the film and maybe think differently going forward. And find some empowerment in that. So that, that was very, that was an unexpected reaction. And I, I talked to a few people who realized like, oh yeah, I probably should have done things differently or, you know, I, looking back now, I didn't really consider how this person was feeling at the time. 

And I think because the other characters in the film, it's not really about blame or like everyone's trying to do the right thing and sort of failing. So I think it created a safer space to admit like, Hey, I think I did the same thing. Like I always had good intentions, but. . Now I understand I have to do things a little differently or listen in a different way or observe my actors in a different way, or have these conversations in private and not in front of everyone.  So that was exciting to me that people were able to kind of think about themselves on both sides of the issue, because I think that's important too. It's a lot easier to be like, ah, this person did something to me. But it's a lot harder to take ownership. 

[00:11:24] Asha Dahya:
Oh, that's great. I mean, a, after I watched rehearsal, I watched it a few times and it started to make me rethink about any sort of intimate scene on film and TV that I've ever watched. You know, I'm, I'm particularly thinking of the controversy surrounding euphoria and Sydney Sweeney. I, I'm sure you're familiar with those. Um, and also wonder twice about what kind of boundaries were set in place for the actors. What, you know, how did they feel? Did they have these conversations? Did they have an intimacy coordinator? You know, especially for recent productions. Um, what are your thoughts on this? 

[00:11:58] Courtney Thérond:
I mean, it's so complicated cuz I think the bigger the project, the more formalities have to be said in place because there's so many levels of hierarchy. Uh, a lot of it's just listening and asking questions and asking questions in private and asking questions ahead of time, I think is key. It's just about listening and finding out what this, what someone in these scenes really wants or. Like, I don't necessarily think intimacy coordinators are always like the answer. Um, I think that's a great role and they definitely, like should, especially on bigger sets, should be there. But I think that, I don't think it replaces dialogue either.

I still think directors and actors and ADs and cinematographers should have conversations about how the scene's gonna play out, what the blocking is, what it'll look like, and the more those conversations can happen ahead of time or offset. the better. So I think there's sort of multiple levels in place After making this film, do you watch scenes on film and tv such as euphoria, uh, for example, do you feel or think differently now that you have more expertise and insight into this issue of consent on, on film sets?

I mean, I know that film sets are better than they used to be because there are broader conversations. Um, so I think I look at. more often through the lens of what lesson it's teaching. I think especially in the US so much of sexuality and consent, we learn from watching movies and tv cuz there's such a lack of education and it's so taboo in so many households.

So I think it's really important and it's a responsibility for filmmakers to consider what they're showing and what people are taking from this and having. Diverse sort of, or showing a diverse, um, range of experience as well. I think that's something I've been noticing more that like how consent is shown in movies and TV shows and whether it's good or messy. Or if we are leaning into tropes that then we perpetuate this sort of cyclical, like, this is what I saw, so this is what I think sex is and this is what I'm gonna do. And that's just how it is. So I think that frustrates me a little bit more than how the scenes are played out on their own, or at least that's where, that's the thing that I spend more time thinking about probably. Yeah. After having done this. 

[00:14:33] Asha Dahya:
And so how did you prepare the actors for this film? What kind of conversations were had before the cameras start rolling? And also how did you find the brilliant Jessica Mendez Siqueiros? She's such a phenomenal actress, and like her subtlety and her discomfort is just so palpable. I mean, she's really great to watch. So yeah. Tell me about, tell me about your process. 

[00:14:54] Courtney Thérond:
Yeah, so Jessica and I had worked together on another short the year before. Um, so we were friends and she had just moved to LA and was like staying on my couch . So, um, I talked about this idea for the film with Jess and Amanda, who was the DP for the other short as well, and said, you know, I have this idea that I really wanna make into a film. I didn't have a script or the story really outlined at that point. I was like, it's just this feeling. I want to capture this like feeling of discomfort and it sort of goes like this. Um, and Jess was really excited by the idea and was like, I wanna be in it. I'll produce it. , and started sort of. casting and looking for favors.

She found, you know, lenses and things before there even was a script. So she was very on board with the project from the beginning. Um, and we talked about, I mean, really the whole process cuz I wrote the script with her, you know, um, input and. we had, I like to do backstory rehearsals instead of blocking rehearsals for the first, um, conversation. So the actors, you know, we all went and got coffee and talked about the characters and their relationships to each other and about the film that they're making in the film, and. , what set was like on that movie and why this rehearsal and whose idea was, and the conversations around that. So we sort of outlined, okay, who are these people? Why are they doing this? Where are they coming from? How do they know each other? So it was, you know, everyone having this very casual conversations. And she also knew two of the actors personally as friends. So it just was a more comfortable, like she had a lot of agency. Making the film cuz she was producing as well.
 
And then we talked through the shot list and saying like, this is where there will be nudity. This is, you know, how we're shooting this. And we, shot an order for lighting, but also just for story. and then she also edited the film. So we finished, we were like, we wanted to see if it worked. Cause my idea was to shoot it as a series of wides and you can't tell that to actors. So they were like, well, I don't know. I mean, I feel like we should get closeups. So we shot all this coverage. I was like, I don't think we're gonna use it, but if that'll make them happy. Um, so we're like, okay, let's try it. Let's see if it works. This sort of series of like observational wide shots where you only have glimpses into the female characters world, um, like at a few choice moments in the film. So we cut it that night after we wrapped and we're like, okay, I think it worked . So she, you know, edited the film as well. So she was cutting her own image and then, , once we had an online release, we removed some of the nudity from it so that the online and the festival cut are a little different. 

But there was a very collaborative process. Uh, she also knew our GP and worked with her before, so there's just a lot of comfort and sort of surrounded by people that we knew and trusted. , it was a very open dialogue. I'm not always super tied to the script either. So you know, when we did do the blocking rehearsals, like if this doesn't feel right or natural, we can change things cuz it's less important what they're saying in this particular project than how everyone's interacting in their body language. So yeah, everyone had a lot of freedom to play. 

[00:18:23] Asha Dahya:
Sounds like a, a process where communication and dialogue really is key in giving the actor that agency to know what she's doing and, and, you know, make those choices. So yeah, that's really wonderful to hear that it is possible to create these sets and it's not, It's not difficult, you know, it's just about making communication a priority. I think the most important aspect of your script is that, and you touched on this earlier, is that it's not written to be this salacious or shocking like Harvey Weinstein esque story, but it really shows how muddy the waters can be when there's little to no understanding of consent and boundaries, whether on a film set or elsewhere. Uh, and so what kind of conversations did you hope to spark with this subtlety that was written into the script. 

[00:19:06] Courtney Thérond:
I wanted people to talk about those grayer areas. So points of discomfort that are harder to talk about because not everyone necessarily agrees. I think you could watch the film and like my fear is everyone be like, oh, why didn't you say anything or do anything, you know, which, fortunately is not the case, but I think you could als, you could watch it that way. And I think having something to show and talk about makes it easier than talking about your personal experience. So just creating something. that people can objectively talk about makes it easier to have those conversations because you're not being vulnerable about your personal experience. So I think that helps push the dialogue forward. 
I think also what it's like to be the only woman in the room Yeah. Was a big part of that. Um, not even necessarily from a consent standpoint, but. , it's hard to navigate and, um, the film industry is especially bad about that . Yeah. Those power dynamics and gender dynamics in a room for sure. Yeah. It's a very male dominant, I mean, my sister's also in marketing and you know, she's encountered a lot of, you know, where people named John outnumber women in the room.

[00:20:18] Asha Dahya:
just like Congress, just like the best director category. The Oscars, I mean, damn these Johns, they're everywhere

[00:20:25] Courtney Thérond:
they're everywhere. But yeah, wherever there's, um, there are people making important decisions or decisions over people's lives, it seems it, it's just harder as a woman to speak and be heard and know that you're being understood. So I wanted to sort of capture that as well beyond just consent. But it's , no one's necessarily listening to you. Um, sometimes. So, um, I think both, both of those, I don't know if that came across as much because the consent is a clear theme, but yeah, this idea. Just feeling a little bit crazy because you're , you're the only person. 

It's just sort of an isolating experience and as some, cuz ADing is a position of power and like directing and producing positions of power. And I hold those when I work in film and just, yeah, being in charge, but, Not being listened to. It was just such a frustrating place to be. And I know that's a very common experience for women in, regardless of the industry where you're like, am I crazy?

Like, why is no one listening to me? Um, what I'm saying is actually pretty basic and people just sort of, Ignoring you or saying the thing you just said, like it's their own idea. So, um, just trying to encapsulate that feeling of being very alone when you're in a room full of people  

[00:21:53] Asha Dahya:
All the more reason why we need you as a filmmaker to tell these stories and talk about these issues. so on a wider level, would you say there is still a long way to go culturally when it comes to consent? I can't help but think of viral stories, which, like, what, what happened to. Azi Anaria a number of years ago, you know, when Me Too first kind of blew up after 2017. And, and even the way, you know, we constantly hear refrains of, well, what was she wearing in response to sexual assault allegations as if an outfit is a form of permission to violate someone's body or how much alcohol they consumed or whatever. So, yeah. What, what do you think about the larger cultural implications when it comes to consent? 

[00:22:33] Courtney Thérond:
I think we have a ways to go. I do think that media is incredibly powerful and I wish there were more stories where women speak and say, no, or I changed my mind, or, uh, this isn't what I wanted, or I don't like this. so I don't feel like we see that. It's very uncommon. And I think as long as we are locking that in media, we're gonna keep her perpetuating these situations because girls aren't seeing like, oh, I can say no. I can say stop. I can say like, I can say what I'm thinking. Uh, there's the, this very, you know, the passive female character still continues to be the leading character often, and it's really frustrating to see. 

To, to continuing, and I do. It's the contrast of, yes, it's relatable because that's how women feel in situations. They don't necessarily feel safe or open to express how they feel, but at the same time, if we never see it, then we're gonna keep doing that. So trying to find the balance of like, Hey, what would this look like? 

Because if you've never seen what something looks like or how, yeah, someone could. , then you're just responding out of what you know or what you've been told to be afraid of. And I think women being afraid of men, like, yeah, yes, there's truth to that and to some extent you should be. But I think also creating relationships where there's more communication and there's more trust, and we can remove some of the gender from decision making and from the way we communicate would help us move forward. 

And I feel like that's sort of the gap that we're lacking right now. . Yeah. I just would love to see like the coming of age stories where the teenage girl says what they're thinking and like this path of like just things being done, um, to female bodies. And I've, I've sort of hit my limit with that. I'm like, can we just see like something else, just like, what would it look like if this was different? 

So hoping. becomes more of the conversation and the patriarchy is bad for everyone regardless of gender. Yes. And I wish that was more part of the conversation than it feeling like this binary argument, because that's not helping anyone move forward. Like we all need to just accept that and learn from that. Everyone would have a better time if there was more equality and more non-gendered conversation, but around consent and sexuality and how we all wanna live in this world and organize society. So yeah, that's my , my current hot take. Those are just your 2 cents and very well said 

Like what if we just show what the world would be like if it were better in movies instead of Yeah. You know, focusing on. , which, you know, rehearsal does. So I'm like, okay. Now as a filmmaker, I, that's, I guess the thing that I'm annoyed about, I should go and do that and make phones that show. A different conversation or a different version, or like, what if it goes like this? 

[00:25:45] Asha Dahya:
Yeah. I mean, that's such a powerful role to be as a filmmaker, but I often feel, and this is just side note to these questions, but it's, it feels like there are a lot of women and minority filmmakers who have that burden on the pressure to make those films. Mm-hmm. and the men get to make. Star Wars and Jurassic Park and Marvel, and, you know, all of that. So I digress, but, uh, let's, let's hope that

[00:26:07] Courtney Thérond:  Marvel, but about consent.  

[00:26:09] Asha Dahya:
Yeah. Marvel, but with consent. So as a filmmaker, what kind of change do you wanna see in the industry when it comes to consent boundaries and portrayals of intimacy on screen? I mean, we mentioned before about the role of intimacy coordinators and that seems like a very recent edition. But what else do we need to see and can you kind of explain what an intimacy coordinator does? Like what's their role on set? 

[00:26:32] Courtney Thérond:
Yeah, an intimacy coordinator. Essentially choreographer, and they act as a liaison between the actors and the director's producer, um, camera. So they help coordinate intimate scenes and make sure that it's safe and that it looks right on camera. 

And yeah, it's like a stunt coordinator, but. Sexuality. I just wanna see more just consent being like a natural part of conversations too. I don't think a film has to be only about that things are getting better where it's like you see condoms, like in sex scenes and that's the, no one's like harping on that fact. 

Um, it's just like, become. More normal. And I feel like that's a more recent trend as well. Maybe that's what I pay more attention to. But yeah, I just wanna normalize conversations around consent in films and yeah, create more dialogue in a natural way or even in a subconscious way that people just are like, oh, this is what people are doing in their private lives, so I can do that.  And it's like that unconscious, um, empowerment that you can get from watching a film and. . I would like more of that.

[00:27:49] Asha Dahya:
Me too. The more that we can see it, the more it becomes normal. And I think that's really important. Um, let's talk about sex education for a second. I may get my facts wrong here, but it's something like 12 or only 12 or 13 states mandate, comprehensive fact-based, medically accurate sex education, and those number of states require the information to be medically accurate. That's like 12 or 13 states out of 50 . I'm not sure what is being taught if it's not medically accurate. . Yeah. Sex education is really controversial and there's a lot of abstinence only, and like misinformation being spread about virginity and purity culture from the conservative evangelical environment, which I grew up in. 

And so to see that being taught in schools is really, really dangerous and it's not setting up our youth with healthy ideals of sexuality and communication. how do you think, you know, the landscape of sex education in America and probably elsewhere, but just specifically in America? How, what kind of a role does it play in LA in the larger context about consent and dialogue and, and sexuality and what, what kind of impact do you hope films like rehearsal can potentially make or disrupt on this environment?

[00:29:04] Courtney Thérond: Yeah, that's, uh, those are unfortunate 

[00:29:06] Asha Dahya: very loaded question  

[00:29:07] Courtney Thérond:
numbers first, but it does not surprise me. Um, I. , well, never, I don't think I'll ever understand. Um, purity culture . I did not. I grew up in a very, um, liberal, like talk about anything kind of households. I was lucky in that sense. It's a very, uh, un-American way to grow up America.  Um, so yeah, sexuality was never a tabby subject. I'm also Jewish, so I think some of the, like Christian purity culture, I got to escape . I didn't. Um, well, I lucky. Trust me, you are lucky . Yeah. That was, uh, never, um, part of the dialogue growing up in my house. Yeah. I, I mean, I think because there's no real, or there's such a lack of sex education.

in the US that that's media is so important and we're learning so much from watching movies and from social media and tv. I, that's always been the case, but I think when you don't have anything else, it's really dangerous. , especially if the media you're watching, it's like irresponsibly handling those situations. 

Yeah. It's tricky because you're showing like, Hey, this is. sexuality is to people who don't have any other way to access that information. Mm-hmm. , uh, which is a mess, , um, just media that puts consent forward and conversation forward and like checking in and female pleasure, I feel like has become more of a conversation recently, which is a crazy thing to say. 

Um, but having that be part of, you know, things that people are watching. and all, you know, just in natural ways too, where it's like, oh, this is how things are supposed to be, and just normalizing all of that is really important. I know rehearsal's been used in some classes, uh, for amazing, yeah. For directing students at a couple, um, colleges, so that was really great.

That was sort of a goal, was like to be able to use it to have these conversations and as a sort of example of different ways to think about consent and. , you know, how to create safer spaces when I was, you know, contacted by some of these professors was really exciting to know like, okay, it's working in that way. 

Yeah. So I guess that's a little bit of a lesson of what not to do like watching the film, but I think it's important to have something like that to talk about. That's. A subtle conversation instead of just like, ah, this person did this thing. And like, I would never do that because it's so out outrageously. 

But you know, like I don't think anyone's, there's this sort of middle ground where it's harder to talk about cuz you know, like a lot of the Me Too was such, such outrageous stories. Yeah. It's not really conversation so much. Just a collective outrage . Mm. So, uh, I do think seeing, okay, well how do you get to that point? Yeah. Um, that's a more difficult conversation because then we're all sort of responsible. 

[00:32:21] Asha Dahya:
Mm. But clearly by the reactions you're getting at fe, at festivals, from professors, from people watching it, it seems like people wanna have this conversation. So that's really great to hear. And in the film industry too, which is really, really encouraging. 

So kudos to you for starting this conversation and for really daring to go there and including that subtlety and making people think about, you know, how do we show. To work and film sets and conversations and relationships and think about this issue. So it's really, really great. So thank you.  

[00:32:55] Courtney Thérond: Yeah, thanks. 

[00:32:56] Asha Dahya:
So what's next for you? Where can we see and follow more of your work? What are you working on that you can tell us about? Tell us all the things.  

[00:33:03] Courtney Thérond:
Yeah, I have my first feature film in post-production right now. So. Amazing. That's exciting. Yeah. Excited for it to be done and ready to share with the world. it's called A Time Apart, about a couple that spends one last week together before finalizing their divorce. So Oh yeah. Different conversation or different perspective on, uh, divorce and relationships and. , you know, loving someone that you can't necessarily be with. so yeah, I'm excited for that to be finished. we're sort of at the end stages of post right now. , and other than that, some other scripts working towards making and always looking for new writer, producer, collaborator, people to keep telling stories and making films that start conversation, that's sort of always the goal to take something that feels familiar and have a different perspective on it. a lot of it is inter relational sort of relationship stores or family stories that Yeah. Kind of give a different perspective and hopefully a lens to look at your own life and see how you relate and all questions come up personally.  

[00:34:21] Asha Dahya:
I love that. Well, I can't wait to hear more. Please keep us posted and, and best of luck with your future projects and for those listening, you can watch rehearsal on the repro periodical all month and we're really excited to be sharing this and having this dialogue. So, Courtney Thérond, thank you so much for joining me today.  

[00:34:40] Courtney Thérond: Thank you.  

[00:34:21] Asha Dahya: 
Be sure to watch ‘Rehearsal’ during February and tell your friends about it! I couldn’t think of a more perfect Valentine’s Day conversation starter! 

If you haven’t subscribed to the repro periodical but are listening to this podcast and want all our repro film goodies delivered to your inbox every month, head to reprofilm.org where you can find links to previous editions. Each month we feature organizations you should support, we do an IG live with an activist or expert as part of our theme, a short film, a podcast episode, links to articles with the latest repro news, and sometimes even a guest op-ed! So join and support as we want to share important messages about reproductive health, justice and rights through film and media. 

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