Events
November 11, 2008
MorningStar Travels To Jacksonville, Florida
The Jacksonville Chapter held the annual Godparent Luncheon Event benefiting fundraising in support of the Hadassah Tower Campaign. MorningStar board member, Stephanie Liss, award-winning writer, spoke about MSC's mission to enhance the diversity of Jewish female images in the media. Stephanie spoke about promoting change and the importance of encouraging women to become active supporters of Hadassah's Tower Campaign.
July 13, 2008
MorningStar Presents "Keeping Our Culture Alive: The American Israeli Connection"
At the 2008 Hadassah Convention, the MorningStar Commission presented a panel of filmmakers to discuss the growing relationship between Israeli and Hollywood film communities and the influences of the Jewish iPod generation. The panel included MorningStar Board members: Joan Hyler, Manager/Producer, Rabbi Debra Orenstein, Actress/Rabbi, Lynn Roth, Writer/Director, Ravit Galit, Producer, and Lara Berman, Actress/Talk Show Host. The program was mderated by Molly Novak, Hadassah Chair. The event was evocative and included a screening of a portion of the highly acclaimed documentary, produced by MorningStar board member, Ravit Galit, "Yiddish Theater: A Love Story."
May 13, 2008
Joan Rivers Receives MorningStar's Woman of Inspiration Award
MorningStar Commission celebrates its 10th annual Marlene Adler Marks Woman of Inspiration Award ceremony with a viewing of Jewish Women's Archive film: MAKING TROUBLE, featuring honoree Joan Rivers. Joan Rivers, accomplished actor, comedian and philanthropist, is the 2008 recipient of the Marlene Adler Marks MorningStar Woman of Inspiration Award. Ms. Rivers accepted her award in person on May 13th at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles as part of the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival.
"We are thrilled to continue MorningStar's tradition of presenting this award to a true icon, Joan Rivers," said Olivia Cohen-Cutler, chair of the MorningStar Commission. "Like past honorees Wendy Wasserstein, Shelia Nevins, Fran Drescher, Patti Felker and Joan Hyler, Ms. Rivers has broken barriers for Jewish women everywhere. On television, on the stage, and in her philanthropy, Ms Rivers continues to inspire us all to reach for new goals."
MorningStar board member and Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival director, Hilary Helstein opened the event and introduced Rachel Talbot, the producer of the Jewish Women's Archive film "Making Trouble", a documentary about Jewish comediennes. Writer, performer, MorningStar board member, Shelly Goldstein spoke about the MorningStar Commission and Ms. River's many accomplishments. Then Emmy Award winning writer Treva Silverman introduced her good friend, Joan Rivers and the MorningStar Marlene Adler Marks Woman of Inspiration award was presented. Before the event, MSC board member and talk show host, Lara Berman interviewed Ms. Rivers.
The MorningStar award is an elegant handcrafted glass piece made by Correia Art Glass. The award is presented annually to a woman whose work in the media embodies Jewish values and promotes positive and diverse images of Jewish women. As entertainment attorney Patti Felker said when she accepted the first MorningStar Woman of Inspiration Award, "When you consider that there are only about 6 million Jews living in the U.S. and half of the Jews live in NY, LA or Chicago, then most people in America never really meet a Jew. Most people know someone who knows a Jew, or they form opinions about Jews from what they hear about from others, or through what they see on TV or in films."
The evening was a tremendous success and Ms. Rivers was truly inspiring. Ms. Rivers spoke to the sold-out crowd and she was delightful, insightful, and had the crowd laughing and applauding. Ms. Rivers spoke about her connection to Judaism and how her family life inspired her comedy. The audience also got to see a gentler side to Ms. Rivers as she spoke candidly about the ups and downs of her family's struggles and her own personal obstacles. The iconic Ms. Rivers was gracious and exhilarating. She left the crowd and was on her to Edinburgh and London to star in her self-penned autobiographical play, "Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress."
May 1, 2008
MorningStar Back At College
MorningStar's Founding Chair, Joan Hyler presented a multimedia program to the Jewish Studies Department of Cal State University at Northridge (CUSN). The Pan-African Studies department also was invited to participate in this scintillating presentation on images of Jewish women in the media.
February 28, 2008
"Grey's Anatomy and Beyond: Images of African Americans and Jews on TV"
In honor of Black History month, Hillel at California State University of Northridge (CSUN) and The MorningStar Commission hosted a special forum co-sponsored by the Pan-African Studies and Jewish Studies Departments of the university. MSC board member, writer and film director Linda Shayne along with Stacey Matthew, a television executive and playwright discussed and promoted a dialogue between students of different ethnic and religious groups on campus. It was an inspiring and scintillating event that promoted the need to continue to eliminate stereotypes in the media and the call to continue communication. The university newspaper, the Daily Sundial, covered the event that Hillel Senior Fellow, Nia Taylor, organized.
February 26, 2008
MorningStar Travels To The O.C.
The Santa Ana/Tustin Group hosted Hadassah members of Long Beach and Orange County to attend a luncheon at Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Ana and hear MorningStar board member, filmmaker Linda Shayne speak about the changes images of Jewish women in film and TV. The Orange County and Long Beach women held a provocative and candid question and answer session after Ms. Shayne's multi-media presentation.
