Chenoah Ann Rommereim
Age 33
Art Directer/Production Designer/Creative
Resides in Brooklyn, New York
In late fall of 2013 I was working on a feature horror film with a wonderful but short-handed art department team. One of the women who had come in to assist production, for a day or two, was Myriam Schroeder. I immediately asked her to help us purely off of her positive energy and organizational skills. In the short time we worked together I knew I wanted to work with her again. The next April, she approached me with the talented and articulate, Fredgy Noel, and a script that personified a woman's need to be connected to other women. I knew I trusted these women to tell a good story but the subject intrigued me more.
I myself am exploring my own relationship with my female elders, and the friendship necessary to raise a healthy soul. At the time, I liked the metaphor of 'mothers milk' as the passing of wisdom, or lack there of. It was something male and females could all relate to. I also thought that the natural gravitation of an predominately female crew was intriguing. I sometimes struggle with the post-feminism world we inherited. I would like to live in a cloud of privilege that functions with the idea that the age-old battle of inequality was somehow fought and won by one generation of our brave mothers and their coalitions. In actuality, it has just begun. Women today have new, complicated and diverse struggles that take on different characteristics resonating throughout the international world. I needed a new perspective. It was time to work with some females for a change. So, I proudly took the role of Art Department.
My favorite scene in 'Milking it' was the wedding dressing room scenario. Visually, it was purevirginized innocence and dreamy in its beautiful white sunlight. For me, it was also the most heart-wrenching turning point for Josephine. I found it to be quite powerful in its delivery.
My favorite memory of filming was reading aloud the goodbye letter over and over to Josephine in her perfect sweater and her a upright typewriter. Her words seemed so sterile and 'matter-a-fact' at first but each time I read it aloud I seemed to resonate with her deep pain more and more.
For myself, working on 'Milking It' has built a respect for the process of independent films. I am excited for the challenge of expanding my skills by working on smaller teams to tell big stories.