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just going to do it.” Jenny was really feeling New<br />
York, and I was curious about it and didn't really<br />
know what else I would do once I left my job, so I<br />
was like, “Yeah, let's go.” We've been here for about<br />
a year.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: So you guys are best friends, roommates, and<br />
you have a production company together - how<br />
does that work?<br />
Lester: I think right now we're in the best place<br />
with it we've ever been. It takes some navigating,<br />
and it takes sizing out how each other work. There<br />
was a lot of frustration at first because we both are<br />
super driven and get a lot done, but we work really<br />
differently, so sometimes progress on one side or<br />
the other looks different for one of us, and we had<br />
to learn to let each other work the way we're going<br />
to work. We push each other and it’s really great.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: Tell me about the project you are working on<br />
right now.<br />
Jurenas: We are working on our first indie feature.<br />
It is a family drama, and we plan on shooting<br />
it in Virginia on my family's farm. This movie<br />
is a kitchen sink drama where 10 people are in a<br />
cabin, and the plot happens over the span of just a<br />
few days.<br />
Lester: But it has a lot of dark comedy, because I<br />
wrote it.<br />
Jurenas: Yeah, Jenny wrote a beautiful script.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: Jenny, how long did it take you to write the<br />
script? What was that process like?<br />
Lester: From conception to now, I'd say it's taken<br />
the better part of a year…the story deals with<br />
sexual assault. The main character is a survivor<br />
of sexual assault, and I just wanted to give a voice<br />
to so many women who have gone through this<br />
in a really respectful and really knowledgeable<br />
way. I've been doing so much research this year,<br />
talking to so many survivors, and talking to so<br />
many organizations that work with survivors, and<br />
watching documentaries just so that I could really<br />
do the story justice. I wanted to make sure that<br />
Sam, the main character, felt really authentic and<br />
not be some sort of two-dimensional caricature.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: Why is female representation in the film<br />
community important to you? How is starting<br />
to change? How can outside people continue<br />
that change?<br />
Jurenas: The film and television world is mostly<br />
male. It's kind of disturbing. There are women that<br />
are too afraid to pursue this because it's a boys’<br />
club. One of our favorite filmmakers, Zoe Lister-<br />
Jones, started a movement of an all-female crew<br />
in her directorial debut in her movie called Band-<br />
Aid that came out a few years ago. That was a huge<br />
part of her campaign, and it was something she was<br />
really passionate about, and so we wanted to do<br />
the same.<br />
Lester: There are so many women that are more<br />
than qualified, but they are watching from the<br />
outside. So we have the two of us who are leading<br />
the production company. I wrote [the screenplay],<br />
Julie is the lead producer, and we hired a director<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> Winter 2019 97
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