McClung’s Magazine blogger Nancy Barnett was invited to attend the Crystal Awards on Dec. 5 held at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The 24th annual gala luncheon hosted by the not-for-profit Women in Film and Television Toronto Division (WIFT-T) recognizes and celebrates the achievements of women and men in film, television and digital media. Here, she sits down with Heidi Tao Yang, winner of the 2011 CBC Business of Broadcasting Mentorship, the third of six interviews with winners and the women behind WIFT-T to come at McClungs.ca.

By: Nancy Barnett

Feature image via Nancy Barnett.

An emerging producer, Heidi Tao Yang, has already received critical success for the short film she co-produced, One Night, winner of the Silver Award for best short film at WorldFest Houston in 2010. She has also produced several short films and was the associate producer for the TV documentary series Rescue Mediums that aired on the W Network.

Tell us about your path to get where you are today?

I am a Ryerson alumnus. I studied business first. I knew almost immediately that I didn’t want to do business as a career but I stuck it through and I graduated, knowing accounting really does come in handy though. From Ryerson, I went to Humber College for their film and television production program, which I found really practical because they taught how to do things instead of why to do things. After that, I went to the Canadian Film Centre for their Producer’s Lab. It was amazing.

Are you interested in branching into feature films?

I have a couple that I’m working on. For the last few years, I’ve been working in television documentary and now I’m trying to step out of it and do my own projects.

Which aspects of production are you involved in when working on a project?

I would like to think of myself as a creative producer or a filmmaker. While I don’t write, I really enjoy the development side of things. I don’t think I’m a particularly strong writer but I have a good sense of what works in a story and what could make a story better.

Are you working on any television series right now?

A couple, yes. One is a children’s animation and the other is a reality competition show.

McClung’s Magazine blogger Nancy Barnett was invited to attend the Crystal Awards on Dec. 5 held at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The 24th annual gala luncheon hosted by the not-for-profit Women in Film and Television Toronto Division (WIFT-T) recognizes and celebrates the achievements of women and men in film, television and digital media. Here, she sits down with Prentiss Fraser, chair of WIFT-T’s board of directors, the second of six interviews with winners and the women behind WIFT-T to come at McClungs.ca.

By: Nancy Barnett

Feature image via Nancy Barnett.

Prentiss Fraser is the senior vice-president of world sales and acquisitions at Entertainment One Television. She heads international TV sales and manages sales to the U.S. She represents The Walking Dead, Call Me Fitz, Rookie Blue and Hell on Wheels to name a few. Fraser also oversees acquisitions and consults on project development and financing.

How did you get started in the industry?

I was working in [public relations] for a very short period of time and I was offered a job over at Oasis International. It was a distribution company based in Toronto and the job was reception. I just literally battled my way through all the different jobs in the distribution company. So I went from reception to contract administration to deliveries to contracts again and then over to sales and I started to run the sales division there. Then eOne purchased Oasis and my career started to move forward progressively since then.

How long did it take you to get where you are today?

It has been twelve years since Oasis International. It’s been an extremely valuable experience, taking a chance on a totally different industry. It was actually a more junior position but I think that’s given me the opportunity to really understand the business from every different angle and the people that I work with. I understand what they go through on a daily basis because I’ve done that job myself. I can relate to them, which helps me as a leader.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry in today’s climate?

You need an opportunity. You have to network and get your name out there and maybe try something that’s out of your comfort zone. Maybe not something that was your exact goal but could open another door. Once you get that opportunity, make the most of it and work as hard as you possibly can to achieve success. You might do something for two years and make a switch or you might be lucky enough just to land in the industry that you were planning on. You might get on a production that you’re not really passionate about, but it’s a great experience and you never know who you’re going to meet. So, as soon as you get those opportunities, work as hard as you possibly can and make yourself known through that work – really take ownership for the contributions that you’re making.

You’ve probably heard of the documentary, Miss Representation, which focuses on the lack of female representation in the U.S. media industry. In your experience, is this also the case in Canada? Is it as bad here?

Overall, it’s not as bad here as it is in the U.S. but it’s just a few percentage points better. It’s not great. Definitely there are companies who have boards with no women on them. There’s actually even a book you can buy in Canada that lists out female board members that you can put on your organization.

A catalogue for corporate token representation. That doesn’t bode well. How do you react to this?

It’s something that I’m passionate about and would like to change so that’s part of the reason I’ve been working with WIFT for so long and I’ll continue to do so. We’ve done the research and for me, the next step is to show people what the monetary value of having women on boards. This has already been regulated in certain countries around the world. For example, in Scandinavia, you have to have a certain percentage of women in senior management on your board. There’s a direct correlation there to the profit bottom line. So I’d like to start doing that research in Canada as well and to show people that you’re not just doing it as a goodwill service, but you’re actually doing it for the betterment of the company and for your bottom line. At the end of the day that’s what people are concerned about; hitting their targets and exceeding them and all those fun things.

Like you said, there is a profit for having women at the top. Can you go into more detail about that?

It’s just adding another dimension and rounding out the perspective. I mean, 52 per cent of the population are women so when you have a group of decision-makers who are only speaking on potentially only 48 per cent of the population, you’re selling yourself short. I think that’s really what we need to focus on. It’s not about equalization, which we’ve heard for so many years. What I’m trying to say is, it’s better for business to have a diverse group of people, all different perspectives, not just men and women, making these decisions and contributing to the best possible solutions.

Staten Island teen Amanda Cummings, 15, whose relatives say she was relentlessly bullied, died after she jumped in front of an oncoming city bus.

By: Shannon Clarke

Feature image via New York Daily News.

Another year, another heartbreaking story of a teen bullied so badly, she thought her only option was death.

Fifteen-year-old Amanda Diane Cummings jumped in front of a city bus in Staten Island two days after Christmas – a suicide note in her pocket and an ominous post on her Facebook page. She had told her mother she was going to a friend’s house but when she didn’t come home, her family left frantic messages on her Facebook page and texted her cellphone, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

Early the next morning on Dec. 28, her mother received a phone call that her daughter was in critical condition at Staten Island Hospital.

She succumbed to her injuries on Jan. 2, six days after being struck by the oncoming bus.

Cummings was bullied relentlessly by a group of female classmates at New Dorp High School. According to relatives, the bullying started years ago, but got worse when she began dating a 19-year-old boy whom another girl, the “ringleader” of Cummings’ tormentors, had a crush on.

“They made fun of her heels, her hair, her make-up – everything,” Ashley Gilman, Cummings’ cousin, told the News.

“My cousin passed away because she was picked on,” she said. “My cousin passed away because kids are cruel.”

The week before Christmas, the bully threatened Amanda. Still, the fear of retaliation stopped the teen from reporting the abuse to the school.

Cummings told her family about it a day before she would jump in front of a bus, showing her mother a thread of vicious text messages between her and the other girl and her and the older boy.

It didn’t seem to matter because the bullying continued the next day. A threatening text message from another girl was the final straw.

And even after her death, the cruelty continues.

Memorial pages set up by family and friends were hijacked by hateful messages, mocking the way in which Cummings’ chose to end her life. Several more pages were created it seems for the sole purpose of trashing the beautiful, young girl.

Friends, classmates and perfect strangers who heard about the continued online attacks have tried (some argue in vain) to drown out the hate, posting condolences and fond memories of Cummings instead.

Her funeral was held on Jan. 6.

Cummings’ story is one of a disturbing trend of teen suicides in the United States and Canada. The role of social media in these cases points to a stark difference between the “normal” schoolyard-aggression our parents endured and the kind of bullying faced by Cummings and others like her.

One New York City lawmaker introduced a bill on Jan. 9 following Cummings’ death. The bill would create stricter penalties for cyberbullying, equating it to third-degree stalking. Electronic communication (such as Facebook postings) would be added as a way to commit aggravated harassment. Both are misdemeanors, punishable by up to one year in jail. It can also be raised to felony status if they violate hate crime statutes.

According to an 2011 Ipsos report, the majority of social network users are between the ages of 18 and 34 and TIME magazine reported last year at least 7.5 million users on Facebook are underage (13 and under).

Cyberbullying is still a fairly recent phenomenon in schools. A new generation of teens and pre-teens can expect a sometimes-unbearable school environment to follow them home. In a 2011 survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre, 88 per cent of teens said they witnessed people being “mean or cruel” on Facebook and Twitter, and one in five admitted to joining in. These online confrontations often lead to face-to-face altercations.

Ontario proposed new legislation in November that would allow schools to expel bullies and anyone who participates in hate-motivated crime. The bill, the Accepting Schools Act, also forces schools to permit gay-straight alliance clubs. Premier Dalton McGuinty introduced the legislation following the suicide of Ottawa teen Jamie Hubley, 15 – bullied because he was gay.

Quebec teen Marjorie Raymond, also 15, killed herself in November after years of bullying by classmates. When her mother, Chantal Larose, complained to the school on her daughter’s behalf, the bullies were suspended for a few days. But, Larose said, the school did not take the incidents seriously enough, reportedly saying, “it was common place for girls that age to quarrel.” She is calling for tougher anti-bullying laws in the province.

The hope is that in 2012, school administrators offer more support for bullied teens and that those kids feel speaking up will make a difference.

Because being bullied to death is not a normal part of growing up.

McClung’s Magazine blogger Nancy Barnett was invited to attend the Crystal Awards on Dec. 5 held at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The 24th annual gala luncheon hosted by the not-for-profit Women in Film and Television Toronto Division (WIFT-T) recognizes and celebrates the achievements of women and men in film, television and digital media. Here, she sits down with Samantha Bee, recipient of the International Achievement Award, the first of six interviews with winners and the women behind WIFT-T to come at McClungs.ca. 

By: Nancy Barnett

Feature image via Nancy Barnett.

Born and raised in Toronto, Samantha Bee joined the cast of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in 2003, where she has since earned the title of  “Most Senior Correspondent.” Before getting her big break, Bee’s day job of many years was waiting tables. In 2011, she was honoured as Comedy Person of the Year at the Canadian Comedy Awards.

Was it a weird transition to go from an all-girl comedy troupe to The Daily Show?

It was certainly a happy transition because I had a job. It was definitely a different experience because I was joining such a well-oiled machine that had been functioning at a very high level for a long time prior to my arrival. When I did all-female comedy, we all honoured each other’s jokes in a completely different way. It felt like a really safe place to just take everybody’s joke to the logical limit of the joke. When you join something that’s already in progress, the edges are a little sharper. You suggest things, and people just go, “No, that’s not going to work” and they just move on so quickly. So the pace is very fast…but I’ve enjoyed that. It’s been really helpful to me.

If you had a whole day to sit in your PJs and watch TV, what would you watch? And you can’t say yourself.

I would never watch myself. I totally hate watching myself! I did an episode of Law & Order and I still haven’t seen it. I like really dark things quite honestly. I would probably start at episode one of The Walking Dead and just start watching that. I haven’t seen it and I think I would really like it. That’s probably where I would start and I would spend the whole day dealing with zombies. I don’t really watch comedy programming, I don’t know why. I like to make comedy but I don’t like to watch it. It’s weird. I like to explore something else…like gore or Breaking Bad. That’s my all-time favourite show.

Are you interested in developing future projects yourself?

Of course. When you’re in this industry, you’re always trying to throw something at the wall. My husband [Jason Jones, also from The Daily Show] [and I], who is my writing partner, just did a screenplay and now we’re writing another one. The last one was someone else’s idea and this one is our own original idea.

Are you more interested in a future of performance or being on the production side or both? 

Either. It’s the kind of career where you always have to be throwing things at the wall. I think if I do have the opportunity to get into the producing side, I just want to work and if that means that I have to create projects for other people, then I’ll do that. I would love to be behind the camera to be honest with you.

Which comedian or performer has inspired you the most?

Really, Jon for sure, because I was such a dedicated fan of The Daily Show before I got to work there. Of course he gave me my start basically so I have to give it all to him. When I was growing up, I would say Catherine O’Hara. I watched [Second City Television (SCTV)] every night because when I was a kid, it came on at six o’clock so it was a dinner time show. And at that time, children watched TV from the time they got home until they went to sleep. So with my dinner, I would always watch SCTV, every night. I think her work kind of embedded itself in my subconscious because whenever I think about her, I have such warm thoughts and I think she’s hilarious. I love her.

Do you have any thoughts on the comic brain drain from Canada to the States?

If there were more opportunities here, it might not happen in the same way. It’s not like you wake up one day and say I’m going to leave my home country and try to get discovered in the United States. I think Canada should do something about it. If all the networks are worried about the comedy drain, they should start creating comedies that we can all get behind. You cannot continue to talk about The Kids in the Hall like it didn’t happen twenty years ago. There’s a lot of great talent here. A tremendous amount of talent. Hilarious people. Good writers. Really solid people who are just not working. If  I came back here and created a show, I would literally hire all of the people that I know. I would just give everybody a chance. That would be my goal.

At 20 years old, McClung’s Magazine is as open-minded and poised as ever.

McClung’s celebrates two decades in our Winter 2012 issue that hit stands today.

The magazine was started in the spring of 1991, by then first-year Ryerson University journalism student Caroline Nolan, who worked on it out of Oakham House, cutting and pasting pages together. And by cutting and pasting, we mean, scissors and glue.

McClung’s has survived 20 years, run solely by volunteers, distributed for free on campus newsstands and at local businesses across the country and read by a growing pool of loyal readers.

On p. 38, we meet the three women behind the very first issue of McClung’s.

Our cover story is an exclusive interview with Manal al-Sharif, the woman who garnered global attention to the Saudi Women2Drive campaign when she posted videos of herself driving on YouTube. Arrested and jailed for nine days, her case provoked an international call for women in Saudi Arabia to take the wheel and hit the road (p. 24).

On p. 13, we look at the double standard that considered it acceptable for men, but not women to go bare-chested, women’s legal right to expose their breasts and why most still choose not to.

Yet bare-breasted models on the runway increasingly wear fine lace, whisper-thin fabric, see-through fishnet and sheer chiffon, a barely-there trend gaining steam in fashion as we find on p. 14.

The Winter 2012 issue is on campus newsstands now and available online.

Planning for our Spring 2012 issue is already underway and we are taking pitches until Jan. 13 at mcclungs@ryerson.ca.

Read, pitch and then come back here to tell us what you like about the new issue. You can also follow us @mcclungs.

Happy reading,

McClung’s Magazine

By: Shannon Clarke

Feature image via ABCNews.com. 

A decision by the Girl Scouts of Colorado to overturn a local troop’s rejection of a 7-year-old transgender boy has infuriated three scout leaders so much so that they’ve resigned.

The troop leaders are part of the Northlake Christian School in Covington, Louisiana, according to Washington-based The Christian Post. Upon hearing that the Girl Scouts of Colorado would admit Bobby Montoya this fall into a local troop, they disbanded in protest.

“This goes against what we [Northlake Christian School] believe,“ Susan Bryant-Snure, one of the troop leaders who stepped down and took her three daughters with her, told Nashville-based Baptist Press.

Bryant-Snure added that the inclusion of Bobby was “extremely confusing” and an “almost dangerous situation” for children.

In October, Bobby’s mother, Felisha Archuleta, was told her son couldn’t join the local chapter because he had “boy parts.”

“No one would know he’s a boy unless they pulled his pants down,” Archuleta told ABC News.

Though she admits that she sometimes has difficulty referring to Bobby as “she,” she has raised her son as a girl. Since the age of two, Bobby has felt he was really a girl.

The Girl Scouts of Colorado released an official statement through the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Oct. 26 supporting Bobby’s admittance.

“If a child identifies as a girl and the child’s family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout.”

They also told Archuleta that the troop leader who rejected her son would receive “sensitivity classes.”

For those familiar with the organization’s history, the initial decision to reject Bobby should have been more shocking than news of his membership. The Girl Scouts, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in March, has a strict policy of inclusion.

When Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low founded the group in Savannah, Georgia, she wanted to get girls out of the home and equip them with tools for professional life.

As the Scouts expanded (today 10 million girls and adults in 145 countries are part of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts) so did the diversity of the group.

In its earliest years, a troop for young women with physical disabilities was founded as well as for Native American Girl Scouts and Mexican American Girl Scouts. The Girl Scouts were active in breaking down barriers well before the height of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s.

So it’s not far beyond the scope of belief that Bobby would be welcomed by the organization, despite the thinly veiled prejudices of parents.

Concerned parents have certainly had their hands full this year, protecting their children from gender bending. The Florida Family Association launched an email campaign targeting advertisers to boycott Teen Nick and MTV, which air Degrassi: The Next Generation, in August after a female-to-male transgender character Adam Torres (played by Toronto-born actress Jordon Todosey) was introduced.

When Chaz Bono (born Chastity to Sonny and Cher), announced he would be appearing as a contestant on Dancing With the Stars, psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow advised parents not to let their children watch the show. Ablow said children might begin questioning their own gender identity watching a transsexual contestant on television. [Note: Transgender is a broad term that describes all people who feel that their biological sex does not correspond to their gender identity, and/or whose appearance and behaviours do not match roles expected of their sex. Transsexuals are people who intend to live as a sex other than their sex at birth. Many transsexuals use hormone treatments, sex reassignment surgery, or both.]

“It would be wrong to think gender dysorphia [feeling like you are trapped in the body of the wrong sex] cannot be kindled by celebrating those who have undergone sexual reassignment surgery,” he wrote on FoxNews.com.

Several other psychiatrists have since refuted this claim.

The Girl Scouts of Colorado have not only stuck by their decision (with the support of Girl Guides of Canada) they are also adjusting their program to meet the needs of any future transgender children.

The three scout leaders who stepped down, in the meantime, are considering joining the American Heritage Girls, organized in 1995 after the Girl Scouts dropped mentions of “God” in their pledge.

By: Erica Lenti 

Feature image via ABC.

Meet Lee Standish (Benjamin Koldyke) and Angel Ortiz (Amaury Nolasco), two unemployed “bros” looking for jobs during a “man-cession.” In TV land, women dominate the workforce, and Standish and Ortiz are left jobless, unable to compete with their female counterparts.

As the saying goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. And that’s exactly what Standish and Ortiz do – dressed in skirts and heels.

Standish learns of openings for sales reps at Coreco Pharmaceuticals – except the company is seeking women to fill the positions. The pair join the company as both employees and women (in drag). Together, they explore the workforce as “new girls” in the office.

Add some B-list actors, an executive television crew and a prime-time television slot, and you’ve got ABC’s newest sitcom Work It, scheduled to premiere Jan. 3. The show, produced by Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen, is being marketed as a “high-concept comedy” for both sexes to enjoy.

But the show has drawn fire from groups that argue it ridicules the transgender community and makes a mockery of the real life struggles and inequalities women face in the workplace. Some fear the show’s comedy may translate to real-life tolerance for discrimination and slurs used against career women.

In the trailer, Standish’s female co-workers assume he was divorced in favour of a “smaller” woman; Standish reduces his lunches to  lettuce to keep his figure following the judgment of his female co-workers; and Ortiz sexually harasses women in the office (“Your ass looks tight in those pants!”), masking his actions as compliments from one woman to another.

These antics, intended to be comedic, have sparked an online debate about the show.

One user, under the alias ChloeAlisonPrince, writes, “What do I think? As a transgender woman: Thanks. Thanks for making a joke out of my life.”

“On Monday morning when I go into work, I can now be teased and harassed with the same one liners from this show.”

“The characters on the show are fictitious, but the lives it puts at stake are real,” adds NYCslugger.

In a letter addressed to ABC executives, Washington-based Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization working on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans asked to discuss the challenges the transgender community faces in the workplace. There is no word on whether ABC has responded to this request.

The Dallas Transgender Advocates and Allies group has also created an online petition against Work It. The petition has since received nearly 4,500 signatures, just 500 signatures shy of its target.

While work may be a “drag” for Standish and Ortiz, discrimination is a reality for most transgender people in the workplace.

A 2011 study by the Washington-based National Center for Transgender Equality found that 90 per cent of transgender people report some form of discrimination, harassment or mistreatment in the workplace.

Yet ABC’s president Paul Lee says he “makes no excuses for [Work It],” adding that the show made him “cackle with laughter.”

Some viewers echo Lee’s sentiments. “I have a transgender sibling and [he and I] are not offended. This is meant to be a comedy, people,” writes Mishel74. “Lighten up.”

Despite its controversy, Work It has garnered a large following online; the show’s official Facebook page  has over 1,400 likes.

Melissa Todorovic will be transferred to an adult prison in January as scheduled. Photo Courtesy of The Canadian Press.

By: Shannon Clarke

Feature image via The Canadian Press. 

When she turns 20 in January, Melissa Todorovic will be transferred to a prison for adult offenders, despite pleas from her lawyer that she serve out another year of her life sentence in youth prison.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer denied the request on Dec. 22, and Todorovic will be moved to the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont. as scheduled.

In 2009, Todorovic was sentenced to life in prison with seven years parole ineligibility for planning the murder of 14-year-old Stefanie Rengel.

The two had never met, but Todorivic was “obsessively” jealous of the Grade 9 student, and saw her as a romantic rival. Todorovic, 15 at the time of the murder, pressured her then 17-year-old boyfriend David Bagshaw into killing her.

Rengel was found on New Year’s Day 2008, stabbed six times in front of her East York Home. Bagshaw was charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

The story made headlines across the country and Todorovic, known only as M.T. until her 16th birthday, was given an adult sentence for Rengel’s death.

At her July 2009 sentencing, defence lawyer Marshall Sack argued that Todorovic was not as responsible for the murder – she didn’t stab the girl and leave her in the snow to die. However, Todorivic inundated her boyfriend for eight months with text messages and online conversations, urging him to kill Rengel. She even threatened to withhold sex.

“The puppet master is not less blameworthy than the puppet,” Nordheimer said at the time, describing Todorovic as “relentless” in her goal. He said she had a “capacity for manipulation” and “lack of empathy” and sentenced her to the Roy McMurtry Youth Centre in Brampton, Ont.

On Dec. 22, her lawyer, Brian Snell, said that the teenager Nordheimer described in court two and a half years ago is not the same young woman behind bars today. Since receiving her sentence, Todorovic has graduated high school with straight A’s.

Vanessa Thibideau, who oversees Todorovic in Brampton, testified that she is an exemplary inmate and hard worker, participating in programs and even starting new ones.

She’s also taking a biology course at Athabasca University in Alberta by correspondence, something she will be unable to do in Kitchener, as she won’t have access to a computer or other equipment required to complete her course.

Both Nordheimer and the Crown were unmoved by these facts. Nordheimer noted that she hasn’t taken any initiative to correct her “frightening character flaw.” It was also suggested that Todorovic’s model behavior was an act, one for which she was apt, having always been a good student and hard worker.

Stefanie’s mother Patricia Hung and father Adolfo Rengel were in court this week, along with Rengel’s brother 16-year-old Ian and family and friends.

Todorovic’s mother Rachel and father Zoran were also present when Nordheimer denied their daughter’s request to remain at Roy McMurtry Youth Centre.

Todorovic, just shy of her 20^th birthday, is considered one of Canada’s most notorious young female killers.