Private Project

Lady Parts

LADY PARTS follows Liz, a struggling actor who goes from dancing tampon to her first real break, playing a meaty role in a financial drama by an acclaimed up-and-coming director...only to discover that things aren't what they seem. She experiences a series of funny-because-they're-true setbacks and putdowns as she barrels toward her breaking point and has to decide what is more important: her dignity or her career.

LADY PARTS offers scathing social commentary on a woman's place in the workplace (in this case, a Hollywood film set) disguised as a life-sized, tap-dancing tampon.

  • Erin Rye
    Director
    Seeking: Non-Speaking, Super Single
  • Jessica Sherif
    Director
    Hollywoodland, Dan Rather Reports
  • Erin Rye
    Writer
    Stakeout!
  • Rob Frings
    Writer
    Medinah
  • Erin Rye
    Producer
  • Rob Frings
    Producer
  • Jessica Sherif
    Producer
    Shevenge, Netflix's Ultimate Beast Master
  • Amber Benson
    Executive Producer
    Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  • Tari Segal
    Director of Photography
    FBI, Finding Neighbors, Chicago Fire, One Small Hitch
  • Genevieve Vincent
    Music
    Mixed Match, One Big Hapa Family, The Love Trials
  • Ashley Ruth Jones
    Choreographer
    42nd Street, A Chorus Line, Singin' in the Rain
  • Keller Wortham
    Key Cast
    "Billy"
    Jane the Virgin, Westworld
  • Michael Rose
    Key Cast
    "Gary"
    Pitch Perfect 3, GLOW
  • Phillip Daniel
    Key Cast
    "Director"
    This is Us, Nashville
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Musical
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 30, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Erin Rye, Jessica Sherif

Erin is a multi-faceted creative with an unyielding commitment to comedy and feminism. She's worked across formats with the same goal: to make people laugh, gasp, and think about their choices.

She has written and produced the short Stakeout! and directed the web shorts Seeking: Non-Speaking and Super Single. She is currently in preproduction on two female-centered comedic short films. She recently completed her first television pilot script and is the producer, creator, and co-host of the podcast Erin and Aliee Hate Everything.

As an actor, you can catch her on HBO's VEEP and Hulu's Dimension 404 as well as numerous webseries, shorts, and commercials. She also does some theater where she plays a variety of witches, both here in Los Angeles and across the country.

Erin is an NYU/Tisch Alum. In her downtime she sings with Grammy-nominated indie music group The Silver Lake Chorus and is a career coach for creatives. She is parent to a rescued pit bull because she is so #kind and #brave.

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Jessica Sherif is an Algerian-Canadian director based in Los Angeles. She is currently in post-production for her film Hollywoodland, starring Yetide Badaki (American Gods) and Karen David (Fear The Walking Dead). Previous directing credits include the film Lady Parts, the pilot Real Housewives of The Oregon Trail, as well as branded videos for companies like Soul Pancake.

Previously, Jessica was a producer on the Netflix show Ultimate Beastmaster, worked as Development Director for Creature Films at Entertainment One, and spent several years producing, writing and directing on the Emmy award-winning investigative series Dan Rather Reports, working directly with legendary newsman Dan Rather.

Jessica was recently selected into the Women In Film Mentoring Program for directors. She holds two law degrees from McGill University as well as a Masters in broadcast journalism from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. She speaks fluent French and Spanish.

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Director Statement

Let us take you back in time. The year is 2016. Donald Trump is about to be elected President…but we don’t know that yet. The world hasn’t learned about Harvey Weinstein or Charlie Rose or Louis C.K. There is no Time’s Up legal defense fund and while Tarana Burke is saying Me Too…it’s not yet a hashtag. Lady Parts was born in these relatively simpler times.

As a queer woman and a female, mixed-race immigrant, the issues of representation shaking our industry to the core have awakened something big in us. We want to speak out and be part of changing the way our culture views women…plus what topic is more HILARIOUS than gender equality?! Laughter is the best way we can think of to disarm people who don’t agree that women are people too.

We created the opportunity to practice what we preach and filled our creative team with strong, passionate women at the top of their game, willing to give us their time and energy with astounding generosity, because they saw themselves in our story. Lady Parts is imbued with our own personal experiences and the experiences of any minority in this business: a never-ending game where the goalposts keep moving and the scoring is more complicated than Quidditch. Never was this more evident than during behind-the-scenes conversations with our female collaborators about all the times they have been silenced, isolated, or dismissed because they were the only woman in the room. These conversations are how we challenge the gender bias that still has a stranglehold on Hollywood.

When Lady Parts was written, we never could’ve anticipated the cultural landscape of 2019. At first we thought it would be an awesome celebration to present this film in the #TimesUp era, but this year in film has been particularly discouraging. Not a single woman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director, Best Cinematography, or Best Editing. The number of women directing high budget studio films actually went DOWN. If you stayed through the credits at any new release you still saw an overwhelming number of male names. If this ten minute film makes a few women feel less alone and shakes a few male filmmakers into realizing their sets are dominated by men (and maybe that's not a good thing), then MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

- Erin & Jessica