“What I did was, I saved myself as a worker, as a writer, as a human being [by moving to Michigan]” – Patti Smith, as told to Rolling Stone
RAMONA AT MIDLIFE is a bittersweet comedy about a single mother and former Literary It Girl who discovers that her “failure” as a writer is the subject of a hot filmmaker’s newest project. As Ramona faces up to her disappointments and mends wrecked friendships, she finds true creative power and is finally ready to become her best self. This is a story about the sacrifices female-identified artists make, the men who take us for granted, and the politics of a woman over 40 laying claim to her own narrative. Our Ramona embraces the imperfection of her life, both its glory and its mess, acknowledging that maybe this is winning.
Summary
Made by a female-led creative team, Ramona explores how women over 40 continue to claim and develop our identities as artists, working moms, and everything in between. Shot entirely in New York City in 2022, the film is also a love letter to Patti Smith, patron saint of rock and roll moms everywhere.
We shot the film in 2022, completed the film in 2023 and premiered at Geena Davis’s esteemed Bentonville Film Festival (where the film was introduced by Davis herself!), going on to play incredible festivals across the US (Heartland, Woodstock, Florida, Ridgefield, Mystic, Pasadena and others) and Rome, Italy, where we won Best Narrative Fiction Film (RICFF).
Now, we’re gearing up for our streaming launch and want to have the resources that will ensure this film finds her audience (or rather, that the audience can find our film!)
We are raising 15K to support a grassroots marketing campaign, including 9K for PR, 2K for paid ads, 2K for a social media push and 2K for a theatrical premiere and launch party. Every dollar helps us meet our goal and if you donate before the end of 2024, we can provide a tax deduction through our fiscal sponsor, NYWIFT.
Film Links
Key Personnel
Brooke Berman / Writer & Director
Brooke Berman is a playwright, filmmaker and memoirist. Her plays, including Hunting and Gathering, Smashing and A Model City, have been produced across the US and internationally at theaters including Steppenwolf, Primary Stages, 2nd Stage and developed at The O’Neill, The National Theatre Studio in London, Williamstown Theater Festival, Naked Angels and others. She has written films for Natalie Portman, The Mark Gordon Company, Vox Films, Fugitive Films and Red Crown.
Brooke adapted and directed the short film Uggs For Gaza, which premiered at the Aspen International Shorts Festival where it won Audience Special Recognition. Brooke’s feature script Polly Freed won Best Screenplay at the Toronto Independent Film Festival in 2020 and is in development with Rebelle Media. Polly Freed was developed through New York Stage and FIlm’s Filmmaker’s Lab where it was mentored by Zach Helm, Kyra Sedgwick and Billy Goldberg and through NYWIFTs From Script To Preproduction Lab. PF was a second rounder for Sundance Labs twice. She wrote the short All Saints Day which, directed by Will Frears, won Best Narrative Short at the Savannah Film Festival and played Tribeca Film Festival in 2008.
Brooke’s memoir No Place Like Home is now available on Audible. After writing extensively about illegal sublets, couch-surfing and roommates, Brooke now owns a coop in Queens where she lives with her writer husband and middle-school-aged son.
www.brookeberman.net
https://www.instagram.com/brookebermannyc
Kristen Vaganos / Producer
Kristen Vaganos was born to a loud crazy Greek American family in Philadelphia. She earned her BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in just three years. As an actress, Kristen is known for starring in Lifetime original films Mommy Would Never Hurt You and Obsessed With The Babysitter, in WongFu’s rom-com series Dating After College, and as the titular Lisa in I Am Lisa, a revenge werewolf thriller that had its world premiere in 2020 at the UK’s FrightFest and has a sequel in the works with Mutiny Pictures. Kristen is a trained UCB comedian, previously on a house improv team.
As a producer, Kristen hails from the inspirational feature Bobcat Moretti, starring Taryn Manning, Vivica A Fox, and Oscar-nominee Sally Kirkland and the futuristic dark comedy Okay Google, starring Rebecca Black.
Kristen is driven by her strong sense of empathy and a passion to illuminate honest human behavior in nuanced and empowered female-driven stories. She strives to work in inclusive environments and to highlight the unique points of views of the artists around her.
www.kristenvaganos.com
https://www.instagram.com/kvaganos
Dominica Eriksen / Cinematographer
Dominica Eriksen is a New York City-based cinematographer. Born and raised in Northern California, she developed a love for photography at an early age and became determined to pursue a career in the arts. After completing undergraduate degrees in Photography and Multimedia, she worked in design and photography before expanding into filmmaking. While completing her MFA at New York University’s Graduate Film program, she was the recipient of several awards, including the NYFA Made in New York Film Women’s Grant, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Production Grant, and the Nestor Almendros Award for Excellence in Cinematography.
Her work has gone on to screen internationally, including at festivals such as TIFF, BFI, Clermont Ferrand, Aspen Shortsfest, Austin Film Festival, AFI Film Fest, and Palm Springs Short Film Festival.
https://www.dominicaeriksen.com
https://www.instagram.com/dom_a_rama
Key Cast
Yvonne Woods (Ramona) is an Off-Broadway and regional theater star, Juilliard graduate, muse to playwright Richard Nelson (The Michaels, Goodnight Children Everywhere, Franny’s Way and the recent translation of Vanya.) She has starred in plays alongside Thomas Sadoski, Elisabeth Moss, Jay O Sanders, and Mikhail Baryshnikov and is a graduate of The Juilliard School.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2781558/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Alysia Reiner (Gwen) actress, producer, activist and mom, Alysia has written and produced indie blockbusters including Equity (Sundance, Sony) and Egg and can be seen in Ms Marvel, Big Sky and Shining Vale. Alysia is best known for her role as Fig on Orange Is The New Black and recurring seasons on Better Things.
https://www.imdb.com/name/
Rosemarie Dewitt (Mandy) indie film darling and TV star (Your Sister’s Sister, Touchy Feely, The Same Storm, La La Land, US of Tara….) currently in Out of My Mind and Lessons in Chemistry. On stage, Rosemarie appeared in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, The Butter and Egg Man, and Small Tragedy.
https://www.imdb.com/name/
Joel de la Fuente (Carlos) is best known for his TV roles on Man in the High Castle, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, and Devils.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0209249/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
April Matthis (Imani) Obie award winning actress and member of award winning internationally renowned theater company Elevator Repair Service (ERS), April recently appeared in the Broadway revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks and John D. Washington and in the Broadway production of Amy Herzog’s play Mary Jane opposite Rachel McAdams. April’s extensive theater credits include Primary Trust with Will Harper Jackson and Most Happy! On TV she can be seen on New Amsterdam and others.
https://www.imdb.com/name/
Robert Beitzel (Mansbach) Rob is a frequent collaborator of playwright and filmmaker Adam Rapp; Rob appeared in David Cromer’s lauded and sold out revival of Our Town and in Ethan Coen’s play Women or Nothing at the Atlantic Theater. Film and TV credits include: Babylon, TURN, True Detective and Winter Passing.
https://www.imdb.com/name/
Zarah Mahler (Sage)
Most recent credits include Manson Girls and The Wretched. Fun fact: Zarah and Rob are a real-life couple who met while acting in Brandon Jenkins Jacobs’s Appropriate, currently in a revival on Broadway starring Sarah Paulsen.
https://www.imdb.com/name/
CAMEOS by friends including Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother, Fleischmann Is In Trouble), Catherine Curtin (Saturday Night, Stranger Things, Orange Is The New Black), and Pulitzer prize winning writer Lynn Nottage.
With MUSIC by:Elizabeth Mitchell of the indie rock cult band Ida, GRLWood and Leah Lankiah, among others.
With your help, our film can reach her audiences and have impact!
