Sara is an independent filmmaker and educator with strong ties to the San Francisco Bay Area non-profit community. Sara is passionately dedicated to the empowerment and education of women and people of color.
Sara was introduced to documentary filmmaking after an eye-opening trip to Ghana, West Africa. During her stay, Sara witnessed young African women struggling with the same issues related to skin color, hair and self-esteem as she encountered growing up in the United States.
Returning home to the Bay Area with the vision of developing healthy strategies to combat the negative messages that Black women receive the world over, Sara and longtime friend, Natalye Pearson began producing documentary films.
Sara is a member of Film Arts Foundation, the fiscal sponsor for the Illuminations project. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area is currently working on the second volume of the Illuminations documentary project and designing the Brown Lady product line.
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Natalye Pearson, Producer
Natalye is a Clinical Psychology doctoral candidate. She has extensive experience counseling people of color and has worked in the HIV/AIDS sector for over six years.
Natalye’s dissertation topic pertains to African American women and skin tone bias. Her professional focus is healing the wounds of internalized oppression in women of color.
OUR INTENTION
Brown Lady Productions has been created to address the need for positive and relevant images of women, children and communities of color.
MESSAGE FROM THE
FOUNDER
Greetings!
Thank you for taking the time to visit our site today. It is my hope that you find something here that impacts you in a positive way.
When people ask when and how Brown Lady Production began, it’s a challenge to answer. It’s difficult to pinpoint the beginning because so many situations and experiences have lead to the creation of Brown Lady Productions.
As women, as people of color, as ‘the other’, we are often faced with the challenge of making things ‘fit us’ in a society that does not always represent the depth and diversity of our experiences. Whether it’s a pair of jeans that don’t fit your shape or a film about the ‘experience of your people’ that doesn’t quite resonate with you, we sift through what is presented to us, piecing together reflections of our experiences.
I think we all have the right to see accurate and positive reflections of ourselves. I waited for a long time for someone else to create images and products I could relate to and finally realized if it was that important to me maybe I should stop waiting and get to work.
It is my hope that something in our projects and products reflects who you are... no modifications necessary.
With Respect,
Sara Brissenden-Smith
