Engraving

photo by Carlos Andres Varela

My wife and I were having what we call in my family as a "scientific discussion" at Tiffany's the other day. Which date should we engrave in our wedding rings? The digits commemorating our legal marriage in West Hollywood this summer, or those of our recent, more spiritual (and certainly more theatrical) nuptials in Times Square? What a lovely dilemma, right? Except that she wants to reject the California dates because California voters rejected us as a class of people. She's got a point.

While we honeymooned in New York, having voted by mail in L.A. County weeks earlier, our joy in the Obama victory was crushed by the news of the passage of Prop 8. When I got the final results on my phone in a store and burst into tears, the salesperson behind the counter was at a loss for words. Only the consoling arms of my wife helped. We can do that on the Upper West side of Manhattan - be affectionate in a normal, everyday couple way. Now that we're back in Hollywood, I'm scared of any PDA. Knowing that the majority of my neighbors - and I mean my immediate neighbors, like next door - voted to take away my rights, infuriates and terrifies me. These are people who actually know us, yet still voted against us.

I have often wondered why I came to L.A. exactly when I did. Joining the WGA, just in time for the Strike. Falling in love, just in time for the CA Supreme Court's landmark decision on marriage equality. I think I was meant to be here for these historic struggles. To literally change my point of view from East to West. To meet these people and these things and grow in these ways.

I can't be bitter about it. I GOT TO MARRY THE WOMAN I LOVE! Twice. Both are the happiest days of my life. And California played a large part in our couple history, so 08.16.08 goes on my ring. The NYC date's on hers. And together we can fight for our rights in all states of the union, because I agree with our new president, that "All things are possible."

Top Gun

You asked for it, and now w/o further ado... Top Gun: The Musical (promo for the 2007 Seattle L&G Film Fest)!

Hi Diddle Dee, An Actor's Life For Me?

It's happened again. This performing thing. Since virtually all theater geeks start out on the stage, and I'm a theater geek (Broadway Musical Theater Geek, no less), it seems inevitable that I'd wind up singing (well, lip-syncing) and dancing (yes, me dancing) in a musical. It's not unprecedented, but certainly surprising, given that I moved to L.A. to write films, that I'd be playing Iceman (Val Kilmer - that's me on the left, a little more butch than usual) in a short musical spoof of TOP GUN. It'll be a trailer for the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, directed by David Quantic and scored & choreographed by a gaggle of talented guys. It's truly a hoot. No doubt inspired by this gay recut of the original TOP GUN's trailer here...

This week I've been editing clips of my lovely and talented gf for her reel, but it occurs to me, that I could probably string together a few hysterical bits for my reel, if I had one. And this would now be the featured clip, as I'm one of the "stars." OK, writing that just makes me crack up. I'm sure I was like the 4th or 5th choice, considering I'm uncoordinated and there is quite a lot of dancing going on - behind me, to make me look good. So nice of those very talented and trained triple threats to back a ham like me.

As I told the director, I'm just happy to support queer film, esp anything musical. I haven't been such a goof since... since... playing an uncoordinated dancing dyke in LESBIANS: the music video.

How appropriate that I worked at NewFest, then Outfest, and will be seen onscreen at Seattle L&G FF. I'm just doing the queer film circuit again, in a manner of speaking. I'll post screening/viewing info when it becomes available.

R.I.P. Dyke TV

I am sad to see it go: Dyke TV is off the airwaves for good. (Who knows how long that link will work...?)

I watched Dyke TV from its ambitious riotous start because I came out of the closet at the same time as this amazing television venture was hitting the public access airwaves in NYC. I learned how to be a lesbian by watching (my herstory, the lesbian avengers' escapades, queer filmmakers, politics, news, I was a lesbian child, trans issues), and came to love it for so much more.

Dyke TV is the place where I learned basic camera work and Final Cut Pro; I made fantastic friends and launched a film career. "The D Word" was born at a producer's meeting. While I was only involved for a short time, the organization and people gave back to me threefold what I contributed. For that, I'll be forever grateful.

Where else are you going to get "Television to Incite, Subvert, Provoke, and Organize!" ?

R.I.P. Dyke TV
1993-2007

Q-Me Con 2007 pics

I know I'm a week late in posting about the fabulous Q-Me Con 2007 weekend, so to mollify the crowds, some pics:

Here I am moderating the writer's panel with Andrew Barrett, Eric Orner & Alex Kondracke (not pictured: Daniel Vaillancourt, Q. Allan Brocka)

Here I am goofing it up with the hottest attendee/panelist at the conference, Michelle Wolff

I renewed old connections and made new ones. As I told some press last year, it's like the filmmakers lounge of a film festival only without the films. Good parties, interesting panels, fun folks.

Can't wait for next year.

Q-Me Con 2007

I had a great time as a panelist @ the inaugural Queer Media Conference in NYC last year. Q-Me Con seems to have followed me to L.A. this year, and so I'll welcome it to the West Coast as a fellow transplant and be a moderator. Come watch/hear/cheer me as I sling questions to well-qualified queer panelists.

See you there...!

From Comic Books to Pitching Scripts: Insider Tips on Creating and Selling Queer Written Work
Saturday, April 14, 2007 - 3:45-5pm
Inside Track  - Davidson/Valentini Theatre
The Village at Ed Gould Plaza
1125 N. McCadden Place
Los Angeles, CA  90038

With
the explosion of original queer content currently hitting the air
waves, the silver screens, the book stores and the broadband pipelines
-- how can queer content creators continue to forge ahead with
exploring the complex lives and experiences of queer characters? Join a
varied panel of noted writers, as they share success stories, delve
into the obstacles content creators face, explore the pressures of
accurate LGBTQ representation and share their thoughts on the future of
original queer content.

Panelists
Andrew Barrett, Staff Writer, Showtime’s "Sleeper Cell"
Q. Allan Brocka, Writer/Director, "Boy Culture" and "Eating Out;" Creator, Logo's "Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in all the World"
Alex Kondracke, Writer, "The L Word"
Eric Orner, Creator, “The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green”
Dasha Snyder, (moderator) Writer/Producer; Contributor, AfterEllen.com & Velvetpark Magazine
Daniel Vaillancourt, Co-Vice Chair, Gay & Lesbian Writers Committee, WGA America West

Like The Way I Do

Tasha and the other Lesbian Overtones rock the Go NYC house!

Well, I did it. I sang my first solo with The Lesbian Overtones at the Go NYC Magazine 4th Anniversary Party! I belted out Melissa Etheridge's anthem of adultery "Like The Way I Do." Too bad nobody could hear it.

I was the lone Overtone at the soundcheck, and the monitors and mics were great, but during the show there was a ton of feedback on the mics and nada on the monitors. We couldn't hear ourselves and only the first row or so of sweaty lesbians caught an earful. It's a shame, because we rocked in a newly reconstitued form - 2 of our beloved 'Tones went off to pursue their educational and filmmaking dreams - to be replaced with 2 new sparkling musical personalities. I will be the next to go. So, our gig at Mo Pitkins this Tuesday night will be my tearful last. I'll always be a Lesbian Overtone at heart, even on the Western shore of this Sapphic country.

The evening wasn't a total bust - my picture kept flashing overhead and on monitors throughout the club as one of the 100 Women We Love (always good for an ego boost) - while I hung out with many of the women I love:

Dasha, Laura, Sarah, Erin       and        Liz Dahmen a.k.a. Terry Tone

Jen Howd, Michelle Wolff, Julie Neumark

So, be there for my farewell performance, because really, no one does it Like The Way I Do:
Coming Out
October, 24 2006
8:30pm at Mo Pitkin's
34 Avenue A, New York, 10009
Cost: $5

Mainstream-land and Queer-country

Angela Robinson, Photo from AfterEllen.com

Props to Sarah Warn and the folks over at AfterEllen.com for giving lesbian-pop-culture-filmmaker Angela Robinson a monthly column. For her inaugural column, Angela describes sitting on Frameline's Persistent Vision panel “Where's Our Dykeback Mountain?"(I SOOO wanted to attend PV this summer, but spent my West Coast excursion at the OutFest Screenwriters Lab instead.) Lucky for us all, Frameline has posted MP3's of the panels online. My baby, the NewFest Filmmakers Forum doesn't have the cash to record our annual entertaining and informative panels. But I digress...)

Angela basically says crossover of lesbian films would be great, but they're unlikely and unneccessary, 'cause we can just make targeted media for the lesbian audience and deliver directly to them. I heartily agree, as I sit here writing mainstream (read: not queer) spec scripts while simultaneously doing a rewrite of "To Do:" (read: lesbianic).

Does this sentiment sound familiar? A little history lesson, here, folks: Dyke TV, broadcasting on public access cable since 1993. Their mission: "To arm the global queer community with the tools to produce media to incite political change, subvert mainstream hetero-normativity, provoke action, and to organize a counter mainstream media movement." In other words, make our own damn TV about us, for us. After taking a final cut pro class there taught by Erin Greenwell (who is all about "make it yourself - I'll show you how!"), I made a movie myself aiming for the lesbian bullseye that hit its mark. At film festival screening's Q&A's I always say "If you don't see yourself reflected onscreen, then get off your tushy and make it!"

Of course, it's really hard to make a living doing what you love, especially if it's all queer, all the time. I know a few lucky souls who are pulling it off, but the rest of us are scraping by via other means or creating the LGBT media reality out of thin air for ourselves (Mike Wilke of Commercial Closet, Sarah Warn of AfterEllen, Ellen Huang of Queer Lounge, Lisa Codikow of Power-Up, Jen Howd & John Baez of Punkmouse). Some seem to have made it big in gay gay gay tv & film, like Julie Goldman in Logo's upcoming sketch comedy series "The Big Gay Show," and several LGBT film festival hits; But it's not exactly adding up to a luxury lifestyle. (I think Julie should be heralded as the new queen of comedy with her own show and millions of bucks, and I should write that show with her and have equal compensation.)

Angela's and Erin's and my insistence that we don't need "the Man" to make media by, for and about our own community is true, optimistic and totally impractical, but not impossible. What did Angela make after the feature-length "D.E.B.S." (for Sony, no less)? "Herbie: Fully Loaded" (for Disney). She IS the crossover, not her work. Angela Robinson works on "The L Word" AND makes mainstream movies AND makes a decent living to boot. She proves that you can exist in the whole entertainment world, without segregating yourself to one or the other. Some folks live in a gay ghetto and prefer it that way. I live in both mainstream-land and queer-country, and hope to work in both without having to get a visa or surrender my passport to either side. Oh, and make a living at it, too.

Under The Pink Carpet

And the press never ends... Back at our beloved Drunken Pussycat, Henrietta Hudson's alter ego in "The D Word," some cast and I sat down to chat about our little film that could to Robin Cloud of "Under The Pink Carpet," a cable access show like the gay "Entertainment Tonight." It's been nearly 2 years since we shot in HH, but it still feels like home. The nicest part about it all was hearing my actresses (yes, I use the possesive), Mellyss'ah Mavour and Victoria Soyer, talk about how wonderful they felt about the experience of shooting our little show. Like I said then, and I'll always believe: no matter what crap went down on set that day, I always went to bed with a smile on my face - knowing how lucky I was to be making MY movie with cool people. May I always carry that joy.

PS - notice that "212" shirt? That's my way of saying "I'm a New Yorker, dammit!" and why I made fun of LA...

I Heart My Lesbians

Why would I get up before the Sun on a Sunday, trek down to a sandy field on the bank of the East River, don a shirt 5 sizes too small and dance around a softball diamond? To shoot a comic video with friends, of course! Laura & Nicole, the dynamic duo who brought "His Name Is Cosmo" to the LGBT film festival circuit, have teamed up again to film an hysterical music video for Clay Drinko's single"I Heart My Lesbians."

"Cosmo..." screened with "The D Word" at the Long Island Gay & Lesbian Film Festival earlier this year and the fest's director asked us in the Q&A afterwards if there was a small lesbian filmmaking mafia (the "Muffia" as it were) in NYC. We laughed it off, but if you're hitting the queer festival circuit, the connections seem clear. The Muffia is as tangled-up as the dyke dating scene in Park Slope. An example of 6 Degrees of Dasha Snyder:

- Dasha Snyder (that's me) took an editing class at Dyke TV, taught by Erin Greenwell.
- Erin Greenwell edited "The D Word" and wrote/directed/produced "Mom" starring Julie Goldman.
- Julie Goldman (was also stared in "The D Word") is a writer for Mr. Murray Hill.
- Murray Hill has hosted "The Lesbian Overtones" (all lesbian, all a cappella, all the time) several times at his show.
- "The Lesbian Overtones" is made up of several illustrious voices, including it's founder's, Elizabeth Dahmen.
- Liz Dahmen has appeared in many queer shorts, including "Bar Talk (also starring Alix Olson who made "Left Lane" with Samantha Farinella)" "His Name is Cosmo," & "Mom" which brings us back to Erin Greenwell and Dyke TV, which leads to Jules Roskam who made "Transparent" and Sam Feder who made "Boy I Am" which were both shown at NewFest, where Dasha works and met Cherien Dabis who made "Little Black Boot" which was funded by Power-Up, etc...

So you can see how the connections pile up for the Muffia. No wonder they put me in the "Muffy" shirt for the shoot...

Fear is just a lack of imagination

That really IS Melissa Etheridge jamming at MSG

Melissa Etheridge concerts, like the one last night at Madison Square Garden, are like primal scream therapy: cathartic, felt in the gut, deeply emotional, and in this performer's case, unabashedly sexual and spiritually uplifting. Hair still closely cropped after her bout with breast cancer treatment, "The Ridge" rocked the house with oldies, indignant anthems and joyful tributes. Thank you American Express Gold Card Events for the awesome seats!

For a brief moment, my sweetie and I thought we might get to actually meet the rock goddess as tag-alongs to Shelly Mars and Urvashi Vaid, also sitting in our section, but the opportunity vanished as quickly as it was proffered. We had mused on our way to the concert how we might get to meet with Melissa Etheridge and her wife Tammy Lynn Michaels, not just as fans, but to talk some business for "To Do:" - a script about a young lesbian with breast cancer with a plum role for Tammy in it! We laughed it off as an impossibility, but when the slim chance of success appeared, we both wondered at the coincidence of speaking that which you desire, and it's appearence in the realm of possibility. No more excuses: as Melissa said from the stage last night: "Fear is just a lack of imagination."

I'm a writer; I've got plenty of imagination to go around.

Pool Away From Home

What started out as a small gathering of NYer's around a foreign object - a pool in LA - grew into a friend and filmmaker hang at the Standard. I feel like such a Yente, putting interesting folks together and then enjoying the frothy interaction. Much laughter, swimming and drinking was had by all.


And a shout-out to one of my mentor heroes, David Dean Botrell who won an Outie last night for "Available Men!"

Celebrating friends

First the LGBT committee of the WGA held their "Video Fun House" panel, then we celebrated the final screening of "MOM" at the DGA. It was a small invasion of NYer's, led by MOM's auteur Erin Greenwell and her stars Julie Goldman & Emily Burton. We cheered wildly from the back row then chowed down at CPK afterwards. I can't wait to come back and celebrate with friends at future fests.


The "MOM"ers: Julie, Melineh, Emily, Erin & Erin's Mom


Who cut the cheese?

Hearts and minds

mentors & fellows: Luther, David, C. Jay, Barry, Anne, Sam, Seb, Guin, Dasha, Isaac

I can't begin to describe how amazing the lab has been. At least not in the short time and space I have at the moment. Suffice it to say, it rocked. More later. Promise.

;-)

Mentor heroes

This is the life... Talking writing with brilliant, funny, working screenwriters - my mentor heroes - then getting advice from industry powerhouses, all in such an idyllic setting. I want to do this forever; Even when it's not this glamorous. I'm getting a glimpse into the world of possibilities, not just for my script, but for myself. This lab is permission to follow my passion. I didn't realize that's what I needed. The living examples of our mentors enables me to give myself permission to write; To really pursue writing. I want to be my own mentor hero.

Down to business..

The 2006 OutFest Screenwriters Lab Felllows at the Chateau Marmont Hotel.

Dasha Snyder, TO DO:
Isaac Webster, AMOS AND LOWELL
Luther M. Mace, ON THE LOW
Samuel Park, SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS
Sebastien Gauthier, FUCKING PRESTON

We got down to business this morning; 5 mentors, 5 lab fellows, festival staff, special guests - all in an historic luxe bungalow (Yes, it is the Belushi Bungalow...) in the heart of Hollywood - all working towards the same goal of making good scripts great and screenwriters better. I wanted the sessions to go on for hours more. Can't wait for tomorrow morning...

The same old faces

A brief history of meeting Kimberly Yutani (OutFest & Fusion programmer) at film festivals around the world:


Sundance 2005 (w/Sarah Warn of AfterElllen.com)

London 2005

Frameline 2005

OutFest 2005

Getting a little more intimate this year at OutFest 2006

Where will we meet next?

New York Jacuzzi

You're looking at a New York take-over of the most prime real estate at the OutFest Filmmaker Pool Party in the Hollywood Hills. Atop a gorgreous home on Mulholland Drive, a clutch of NYers's took the dive into the jacuzzi with a view of Universal Studios. This was my first function as a screenwriting lab fellow, bright pink credential around my neck to make it official.


Dasha & fellow Lesbian Overtone Laura

I'm sporting my bathing shirt (SPF 30+) from North Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia - where The D Word premiered last year. To bring home that cherished fact, I walked into the pool party and smack dab into the arms of Robyn Patterson, the brains behind "Straight Hike For The Butch Dyke." We met in Sydney and hung out again at Frameline last June, happily thrown together as our films made a nice match (2 parodies of current queer TV shows) - speaking of which, Jo Gell, filmmaker of "Candy Bar Presents Lesbian Pop Idol!", which was also coupled w/The D Word at festivals, sloshed out of the pool for a wet greeting. With New Zealand and London covered, it was without surprise that I ran into New Yorker after New Yorker after New Yorker.



Of course, being New Yorkers, we're used to things like walking and using public transportation. Unfortuantely, that means we occassionally do stupid human things like lock our car keys in the trunk. Last I saw Stephanie & Madeliene, it was puzzling over the convertable trunk on the side of the road as the police pulled-up - while they called AAA, the rental company and Chrysler dealerships to help them out of this non-car-culture mistake of tow-truck proportions.

I'm just thankful that I got GPS navigation on my rental car...

True Colors

Yes, that really IS Cyndi Lauper, posing as one of us, showing her true colors as a Lesbian Overtone last night at Murray Hill's PRIDE Show!

More to come when I'm actually awake and looked through the pictures...

OK! So, Tammy Tone's sweetie Dedi took some awesone photos (like the one above) of the night's shenanigans. Check them out here.

Murray Hill's My Man

Tasha Tone & her man, Mr. Murray Hill

Murray's my man as of late. First as host of the Miss LEZ Pageant, where I warbled with my fellow Lesbian Overtones, and again tomorrow night in the 'tones' farewell performance (we'll be on hiatus for a while) at Murray Hill's midnight PRIDE show at Mo Pitkins. After so many beautiful women and downtown celebrities, I'll be ready for the shy retiring life of a writer when I hit LA for OutFest...!


We're all stars onstage at the Kintting Factory