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Monday, October 26, 2009 8:00pm Eastern
Cat Ladies
Chat with Jeanette Loakman and Christie Callan-Jones about their new documentary.
Hosted by Lisa Derrick, over at FDL.
When cats mean “meow” to you than people.
CAT LADIES is a one hour verité documentary that unravels the real story behind the oft-ridiculed ‘cat lady’ – a cultural stereotype and figure of ridicule for women of a certain age with too many furry companions. Through the intimate portrait of four unique ‘cat ladies’ we create a sensitive and emotionally honest portrait of women whose lives and self-worth have become intractably linked to cats.
It’s not the number of cats that defines someone as a ‘cat lady’, but rather their attachment, or non-attachment, to human beings. They create a world with their cats in which they are accepted and in control – a world where they ultimately have value.
Jeannette Loakman is an award-winning producer with over 12 years of experience in the television industry. Jeannette was recently nominated for a Gemini for Spam: The Documentary, a critical and ratings hit, Spam is the story of one man’s comical search for the origins of bulk unsolicited email. Pitched at TDF 2006 and produced with CBC Newsworld, Court TV USA, Knowledge Network, Canal D, YLE Finland and SBS Australia, it is distributed by Films Transit, and is selling worldwide – putting Spam on the map.
Christie Callan-Jones is an award-winning director with an impressive list of blue chip documentary series already under her belt. CAT LADIES is her first foray into independent one-off documentary.
Most recently Callan-Jones co-directed season three of the highly celebrated Showcase original series Webdreams. Before Webdreams, she directed an array of highly regarded network series, including X-Weighted (Slice), Things That Move (History Television) and Opening Soon (Food Network). (http://www.catladiesdoc.com/index.html)
4 Comments
Well, as a bona fide cat lady, with 24 cats in a two-bedroom rental apartment, I can tell you the premise of this movie is all wrong. It’s not that cat ladies dislike humans. I am a wife and mother of two. My husband and children also love my cats. I would love to take in homeless children, however societal rules make that impossible (not to mention very expensive). In my case, I have a deep fear of homelessness that makes me very compassionate towards homeless cats. I know that I risk becoming homeless because of my cats; I worry about it daily. The problem with cat ladies is, their hearts are too big in this heartless world. If other pet owners would not abandon their pets and not neuter them so they have kittens all over the empty lots of my ghetto neighborhood, I would have only one cat. My cats are all neutered and do not impose a burden on anyone besides myself and my family.
I have to agree with you, I don’t think it’s about not liking people at all; just lovin’ kittehs.
My goal is to have 74 cats when I’m 74.
Forgot to add, this is a preview post and not the Book Salon post, that will be over at the mothership
As a friend once said, when you’re a couple and have four or five cats, you’re just a man and woman who love animals.
When you get divorced, suddenly you’re the neighborhood cat lady.