This project came about through a collaboration between our organization, Women in Film and Media Colorado (WIFMCO), and the women's arts initiative "Athena Project". We support women in the film and media worlds, and they focus on women in theatre as well as in just about every other art form besides film. We decided we were a perfect fit.

One of the most exciting things about this project is that we were able to team up with TedX Denver to present our entire "Media Mashup" evening as a TedX Mile High Adventure. We had to jump into production right away or lose this amazing opportunity to work with Athena Project and TedX and get in front of a big, new audience. As executive producer, I was willing to risk putting in my own funds up front to get us through principal photography, believing with all my heart that the Denver film community (and beyond) would come through in the end and support us. WIFMCO would love for this to be an annual event, but frankly, it won't happen again without the generous support of our film community and audience on this current project.

The idea behind the Media Mashup was to take three interpretations of a fairy tale, a short film, a short play, and a podcast, and present them all on the same evening with an audience Q&A. We wanted women writers, women directors, and mostly women behind the scenes, as well as a story that showed women working together instead of pitted against one another. We found that story in "The Goblin's Giggle", a tale about a kidnapped bride, her mother and a nun working together to escape three nasty goblins. Our writers gave each tale a unique twist for modern audiences, and we got to work.

Our version opens with an unusual party... Jennifer is celebrating her recent divorce. But when mom Veronica and friend Angela arrive to help her set up, they discover her wearing her old wedding dress and drowning herself in a bottle of red wine. Jennifer reluctantly agrees not to cancel the party, but her state of mind leaves a little to be desired.

When three goblins magically appear in the woods near Jennifer's home, they're attracted by the music. They wait until the party is over and make their move. Jennifer wakes to find herself strapped to a tree, surrounded by goblins. When Veronica and Angela show up, they trick the goblins into letting them all go. A comic chase ensues, and the women (and maybe even the goblins) learn a valuable lesson about female empowerment in the end.

However, this project isn't just about telling a story, as fun as that is. Our organization is dedicated to the advancement of women in the entertainment industry, and it's hard for anyone to advance in this industry without opportunities to be on set and get hands-on experience. And we wanted to go even further and provide mentoring to women who were interested in learning about the key positions on a set. Therefore we had apprentices working under our director, cinematographer, AD, production designer, and in grip and electric. They ranged from young students to women changing careers in midlife. We had PAs with no on-set experience to recent film school grads to pros willing to lend their wisdom to whomever needed it. In all, we created an amazing learning opportunity for a couple dozen people and a chance for some experienced pros to give back and pass the torch to the next generation of filmmakers. We also plan a detailed debrief of the final film to discuss what we did right and what we could have done better so that we can all get the most out of the experience and go on to do bigger and better things.

With TedX providing the venue and advertising, our film had an audience of around 250 people for its premiere! Our next step is to bring the keys together for a deconstruction process where we will analyze every aspect of the film and the production process to learn what we did well and where we can improve, and we'll film this to include with the final project so that our audience can see just how much learning happened with this project. And it will serve as a proof of concept for WIFMCO's production fund, which we hope to build so that we can do this every year and give more and more people the opportunity to get on set and create new projects to propel them onward in their careers.