Stars discuss women in art

Apr. 23—GOSHEN — As an actor, Mary Chieffo knows that the only control she has in a production is her own performance, but uses that freedom to the full extent. Kelly Lohman said she's been waiting for years for someone else to give her permission to be great, and that's is a problem for women in the filmmaking industry. Madi Goff embraces and even celebrates her failures as opportunities for growth.

Several topics were discussed by Every Morning stars Mary Chieffo, Madi Goff, and Kelly Lohman at the River Bend Film Festival's Coffee Talk: Women in Filmmaking at Goshen Brewing Company Saturday morning.

"While women now have the ability to go out into the world and make their own futures, there's still part of society that are telling us that we need to be a specific way to be chosen, and this really resonates with me — magazines do this, films do this, I see it in older rom-coms, be something choosable, 'Be something you're not,'" Lohman said. "I realized I've been waiting for someone to give me permission to do things my whole life and waiting for someone to tell me I was worth and good enough to do that thing."

Lohman told the crowd that when she thinks like that, she holds herself back, but she's learned to give herself permission to try, and even to fail, so she can learn.

"It's so hard to give yourself permission," Goff said. "If you have good partners and good creative partnerships until you can learn 'Okay, now I'm giving myself this permission.'"

The trio met through the Impro Theatre School, where Goff later created a women and queer group called Ripley Improv. Goff said she was approached to create a single-location psychological horror sketch with an ensemble female cast. The sketch grew into a short film with a full storyline and then she and her team of actors needed a director and she immediately thought to ask Lohman.

Meanwhile, Lohman was finally getting up the courage to ask her friend if she would be willing to let her direct a short. The improv group worked together to finalize the piece.

"Our perspective really was 'You're all here to tell the story,' Lohman recalled. "Everybody had ownership of the moment and was included.... It gave people permission to go beyond the direction, but also 'Yes And' it. It's a huge principle in improv and it's how everything moves forward is that principle of adding."

Chieffo said as an actress, she's often confronted with the idea of what society expects from women, how to emote, how to move, and gender expectations.

"Through all of this improv training I've been able to embrace the mistakes or the failures," Chieffo said. "Those words still cause me a lot of anxiety, but it's been really great working with Madi and Kelly, witnessing a lot firsthand in the writing process... just to see the willingness to 'make the bad pancake' is aspirational for me."

Goff said the experience is likened to "making a bad pancake." It's a term she learned from an improv teacher, exhibiting the idea of failure as a valid starting point and not the end.

"You know how when you've just started making the pancakes and the griddles' too hot, and the batter's too runny, and everything is awful, and the grossest, mushiest, darkest, burnt pancake, and you just get that one out of the way," Goff said. "You just make a bad pancake, and I'm just now at the point where I'm celebrating my 'bad pancakes.' It's like 'Oh, God! It's so awful! Look at it!"

Mary Chieffo, who plays a Klingon known as L'Rell in Star Trek: Discovery, is Juilliard trained, known for her role in the VR adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello, guest star roles on NCIS, Girls5eva, and more.

Madi Goff is currently guesting in the Groundlings' live show in LA: The Crazy Uncle Joe Show. Goff is also a playwright with The Road Theater's Under Construction Playwright's Group.

Kelly Lohman is a director and actor based in Los Angeles. She directed the fully-improvised series called "As We Go Along," and has a recurred role on "Show Offs," a completely improvised musical series on BYUtv. She has also appeared in "Bones", "Gilmore Girls", "Days of Our Lives", "ASK What Could Be the Harm", and "The Hillside Strangler."

Every Morning played at the River Bend Film Festival on Saturday morning following the coffee talk.

Goff wrote and produced Every Morning, Hohman served as director, and Chieffo served as executive and creative producer on the film in partnership with Dr. Erin Macdonald's LGTBQ+-owned Spacetime Productions.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.