It’s May of 1994. One afternoon, in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, NBC announced that a show innocuously titled Friends had made the fall schedule.

Later that night I was in the bar of a New York hotel with Don Ohlmeyer, the president of NBC West Coast; Jimmy Burrows, who directed the Friends pilot; and my husband. Seated at the next table were Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer.  Click here to read the complete article as it appeared in the Huffington Post.

Hacked By Not Matter who am i ~ i am white Hat Hacker please update your wordpress

I hope you might take a look at the post I wrote for www.mariashriver.com.  Thank you so much!  Click here to read the post,

Here’s an article that explains the details of how to get your book optioned for a Film or TV show.  Having been on the other side of the fence optioning books for film and TV, I think the information contained here is pretty darn good. If you’re an author and believe your story has the potential to be a film or TV show, take a look.

I hope you might allow me some shameless promotion. I’m excited to share that my first novel, “Prime Time Princess” will be out Memorial Day 2013 followed by the next, a year later. Here’s the announcement in Publisher’s Marketplace:

Women’s Fiction – Lindy DeKoven’s PRIME TIME PRINCESS to Amazon Publishing, in a two-book deal, by Gelfman Schneider Agency. www.publishersmarketplace.com

Today, I’m departing from the discussion about the entertainment business and offering some insights about women and girls in the state of California, which I think is important.

So, please bear with me, as I focus some attention on what I think is a most critical issue, the loss of the California Commission on the Status of Women due to the state’s budget cuts.

Below is a second article I wrote that was published in the Huffington Post on April 8, 2012.  I failed to post it earlier.

However, I’m happy to say that apparently, as a result of the action taken by California voters, the California Commission on the Status of Women has been re-instated.

Today, Speaker John Perez and Geena Davis announced that the Assembly would fund the commission through December 2012. This is great news. It certainly restores my faith in state government. I’m happy to know that Perez and his fellow colleagues were listening and perhaps, reading!

Here is the second of two articles about the Commission. This one discusses exactly what the Women’s Commission does for the state of California and why it’s so important to keep it alive.

There was a lot of feedback after my commentary, “Women and Girls of California Need a Voice. Governor Brown Are you Listening?” ran in The Huffington Post.

Readers support the idea of saving the California Commission on the Status of Women. They think it’s important that an agency of state government has the assignment to reach out and listen to women. They want a government that at least makes an effort to be sensitive and responsive to the women who pay the state’s bills.

But they also wanted to know what, specifically, the California Commission on the Status of Women had accomplished over the years.

Well, it’s not enough, and it never will be, but there is a pretty darn good roll call of accomplishment.

I thought it might be helpful to explain exactly what the Commission does, how it brings about change, and why it will be missed should it be eliminated.

Women and girls have offered their concerns at public hearings held in several cities across the state hoping that someone would take action.

And we did.

Here are examples of three bills that came directly from testimony presented to the California Commission on the Status of Women:

• SB 222 (Evans, 2011) Maternity Services. This bill requires that every individual and group health insurance policy must provide coverage for maternity services.
• SB 299 (Evans, 2011) Pregnancy Leave; Health Care Coverage. This bill amends the state’s Pregnancy Disability Leave law to guarantee the continuation of employer-provided health insurance coverage for women on leave from work due to pregnancy and childbirth.
• SB1770 (Padilla, 2008) Anti-Reproductive Crimes. This bill extends the operation of the Reproductive Rights Law Enforcement Act, designed to combat crimes interfering with patients’ access to health care facilities, and directs the Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training to develop guidelines and model procedures for investigation and reporting of anti-reproductive-rights crimes.

Unfortunately, domestic violence was a subject we heard a lot about at the public hearings. A total of 40 percent of California women report that they have been physically assaulted by an intimate partner in their lifetime. That’s 7 percent above the national average.

Here are examples of three other bills the California Commission on the Status of Women sponsored that pertain to domestic violence:

• SB 782 (Yee, 2010) Rental Housing. This bill prohibits a landlord from evicting a residential tenant based on acts of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalling against the tenant or the tenants’ household member.
• SB 2052 (Lieu, 2008) Termination of Tenancy. This bill permits a residential tenant who is a victim of domestic violence to terminate her or his rental agreement with 30 days notice to the landlord.
• SB 1356 (Yee, 2008) Contempt of Court. This bill prohibits imprisonment of a victim of domestic violence who is found in contempt of court for refusing to testify concerning the domestic violence.

These are but a few of the many bills proposed and sponsored by the California Commission on the Status of Women which is the ONLY state agency that has the authority to not just advocate, but ensure gender equity for California’s 18.7 million women and girls.

And while a large portion of the Commission’s work relates to legislation, there are other ways the Commission advocates for women, as well.

For example, the Women’s Commission created the Anti-Reproductive Rights Crimes Task Force which develops recommendations to address the failure of law enforcement to recognize such crimes. The outcomes included a new training video which was distributed to all law enforcement offices in California.

Another is the Financial Literacy Program which partners with the Departments of Corporations and Financial Institutions to develop materials on managing finances and debt that can be easily shared with women’s organizations and agencies across the state.

We are in the fourth year of collaborating with the California Department of Veterans Affairs to better reach women veterans through annual conferences and special recognition events celebrating them.

The Women’s Commission regularly meets with the Employment Development Department as part of ongoing work to see that the Paid Family Leave Law is effectively implemented. Too many workers do not know of their eligibility.

We also initiated and coordinate regular meetings with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to address employment discrimination and how to improve the process DFEH uses in handling claims.

The Women’s Commission is a member of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Gender Responsive Strategies Commission, which addresses the significant growth of the female inmate population. It seeks to lower recidivism, and to address the differences in male and female incarceration, management and rehabilitation.

The agency also serves as a member of the California Women’s Health Council, a body of experts and community representatives that provide advice and support to both the California Department of Public Health and the Department of Health Care Services, through the Office of Women’s Health.

In October, 2010, California NOW President Patty Bellasalma proclaimed, “As Governor, Mayor, and Attorney General, Jerry Brown has promoted and defended women’s rights. Jerry stands for fairness and equality.”

The California Women’s Commission has been advocating on behalf of women and girls for forty-seven years on an annual budget of $465,000. In the last year it was reduced to $270,000. Yet the California Director of Social Services, William Lightbourne, reportedly earns $343,000 per year. That’s $73,000.00 more than the entire operating budget for the Women’s Commission which represents 57 percent of California’s population.

What’s wrong with this picture?

To the women and girls of California: Are we going to stand by and let our commission die? Who will advocate for us if the agency is eliminated?

And who will help the poorest among us?

Please call Governor Brown at 916.445.2841 or send an email insisting that the Commission survive the budget cuts.

Today’s posting is an article I wrote for the Huffington Post this week about the California Commission on the Status of Women which will be eliminated on April 13th.The Commission advocates on behalf of women and girls throughout the state. Because women and girls comprise 57% of the state’s population, the Women’s Commission would seem to be one of the state’s most important agencies.

But it’s not.

I hope you might take a moment to read this post and offer whatever comments and suggestions you might have.

Women and Girls of California Need a Voice. Governor Brown Are You Listening?

A woman in her twenties moves uncertainly towards the microphone set up in the new meeting room of the Fontana Public Library. Her voice trembling, she describes the abuse she suffered at the hand of her husband, a police officer. She tells us how she found the courage to leave him, only to discover that she was forced to return to her home. She found no safe haven. First she was victimized by her husband. Now, she was a victim of California’s cruel cutbacks which resulted in the underfunding of many of the state’s domestic violence shelters.

Another young woman sits anxiously bouncing her legs. She’s never done this before. She’s here in Pasadena to tell her story to the California Commission on the Status of Women. When her name is called, she takes her young daughter’s hand and slowly approaches the microphone. She tells us how she’s gone from welfare to employment, and due to unfortunate circumstances, is now among the homeless. She struggles to hold back tears. She says she just needs a little help to get back on her feet. But the steep cuts to the state’s health and human services, including calWORKS and child care, have made it all but impossible for her to recover.

In San Diego, an eighteen-year-old woman talks of her parents’ deportation to Mexico and how she’s left to care for her siblings. A proud U.S. citizen who would have been the first in her family to graduate high school has dropped out to care for her brothers and sisters. She hasn’t a clue where to turn or how to get any kind of help. She’s here to tell her story because the California Commission on the Status of Women is holding public hearings in her city.

All three women head households in California. All three women, and millions more, are at risk of losing the Women’s Commission which is a clearinghouse for issues related to women and girls.

I’m former Chair of the California Commission on the Status of Women. The Commission holds public hearings in three cities across the state every two years. It’s not much, it’s not nearly enough, but it’s something. The hearings give the women of California an opportunity to reach out and touch their government. A sense that someone cares, that someone is listening. The personal stories of suffering, frustration and hopelessness are overwhelming. The testimony from these hearings is the source material for a published report, “The Public Policy Agenda and Proposals” the Commission distributes to the Governor and the state legislature. That information has led to the passage of key legislation that’s helped to change lives for the better.

However, the 2012/2013 California budget eliminates the Women’s Commission.

The Women’s Commission is comprised of state legislators and public members. The Commission advocates on behalf of women and girls throughout the state. Because women and girls comprise 57% of the state’s population, the Women’s Commission would seem to be one of the state’s most important agencies.

But it’s not.

The Women’s Commission (ironically conceived by Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown in 1965, and currently put on the chopping block by his son, Governor Jerry Brown in 2012,) focuses on civil rights, sex equity in education, discrimination in employment, insurance, sexual harassment, sexism, domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, access to health care, reproductive freedom, children and other dependent care, pay inequities, legal rights in marriage and divorce, social security, and pensions.

Mount St. Mary’s College and the California Commission on the Status of Women just released ”The Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California.” Some of the findings include: Women earn .84 cents on the dollar; the poverty level for women and girls is 17% as opposed to 15% for men and boys; single mothers are losing jobs faster than married parents; uninsured women receive less preventive care and fewer recommended screenings; 72% of shelter agencies exceed capacity and due to lack of resources approximately 7,348 victims are turned way from the domestic violence shelters each year.

Oscar award winning actress Geena Davis was just elected Chair of the California Women’s Commission. Davis, the “de facto Commander in Chief” and founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and official partner of UN Women, is committed to saving the Women’s Commission. I can’t think of anyone better to fight the fight.

But Geena faces an uphill battle as the state continues to whine about limited resources and the inability to fund the Women’s Commission which had been operating on a shoestring annual budget of $465,000. (For comparison’s sake, that’s what Californians pay to warehouse nine – yes 9 — prisoners in our state prisons.)

A pittance, yet Governor Brown doesn’t believe there’s a need for a Women’s Commission.

So who is going to be the dedicated advocate for the women and girls in California if the agency is eliminated?

No one.

The future of this Commission rests on our shoulders: The girls and women of California. It’s up to us. How important is it to help those who can’t help themselves? What can we do about women who have fallen on hard times? What if it happens to us?

Are we just going to stand by and let our commission die? Let our voices be silenced? Are we so engrossed in our own lives that we can’t lend a hand to those who are in need of state services right now?

The Women’s Commission will be eliminated in three weeks. In order to try and save it, we need to flood the Governor’s office with emails and phone calls demanding that the Commission survive the budget cuts. Here’s the link: http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php. Please help save this very important and necessary Commission. (Twitter: @lindydekoven)

Keegan:  Hi, just a reminder for anyone new to the blog, I’m Keegan. I’m a character in Lindy’s head. I expect to be in her novel some day. I hope. In the meantime, I’m curious about how things work in Hollywood so I’ve been interrogating – I mean interviewing her…..So, let’s move ahead. When you were at the network doing movies of the week, did you ever adapt books to film?

Lindy:  All the time.

Keegan: Really?  What were you looking for?

Lindy:  A good concept. Something we could sell in thirty seconds. Because as a broadcaster, that’s really all the time you have to promote a show.

Keegan: What about optioning a book for a TV series?

Lindy:  That’s different. That’s less about the story and more about the characters. Producers look for good interesting characters with plenty of conflict. More books are being optioned for television.

Keegan:  Why is that?

Lindy:  Because the broadcast and cable networks are looking for source material, and for characters and stories that are already developed. This way they don’t have to start from scratch. And if the book was a big seller, even better.

Keegan: Maybe I should write a novel and sell the film and TV rights to some big Hollywood producer. Like Harvey Weinstein. Or Scott Rudin. They buy books.

Lindy: Sounds great.

Keegan: Oh c’mon.

Lindy:  I don’t think its helpful to write something hoping it will become a film. I think you have to write from your gut, and if it’s right for Hollywood they’ll come calling.

Keegan: So it’s still all about content, isn’t it?

Lindy:  Absolutely. And that should be encouraging. Because if you have a great unique concept Hollywood will find you. And it can be in most any form. It doesn’t just have to be a book. Ideas come from so many places now. From a YouTube clip to a Blog to a book to a magazine article. And believe it or not, sometimes they’ll still even buy an original screenplay.

Keegan: I don’t know if I have any good stories.

Lindy:  Oh, I think you do. And your character is starting to take shape.  Maybe someday someone will write about you.

Keegan:  That is so not funny.

Keegan:  Can you believe with all the hoopla about targeting movies for men 18-34 that three of Hollywood’s most important franchises (Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games) are based on books written by women? Together the films account for more than $10 billion in box office revenue and millions more in merchandise revenue. That’s amazing.

Lindy: Hmm, not surprised. Where’d you read this?

Keegan: At www.missrepresentation.org.  Found this site when I was roaming around the attic in your head. By the way, you’re in the “Miss Representation” documentary. Very cool.

Lindy: Ah, you found it. Did you watch it?

Keegan:  Of course. I’m one step ahead at all times.

Lindy: Tell me about it.

Keegan: It pissed me off.

Lindy: Why?

Keegan: Because if it’s true, and apparently it is, it’s not great for my generation.

Lindy: No kidding.

Keegan: It’s like the media believes that our total value lies in our youth, beauty and sexuality. There’s hardly any reference to our talents, accomplishments or contributions to society.

Lindy:  The problem is that sexism is the stock and trade of the tabloids and reality TV. Challenging them strikes at the very core of their business model.

Keegan: What can we do about it?

Lindy: Your generation and mine have to come together and challenge these companies and take steps to eliminate this kind of behavior.

Keegan:  ”Miss Representation” should be shown in every classroom around the globe.

Lindy: Well, it’s definitely a starting point. Let’s start with the trailer. Do you have the link?

Keegan:  Here it is. A “must-see” clip of “Miss Representation.” http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2bnyjL/vimeo.com/28066212

And here’s the website, too: www.missrepresentation.org.

Keegan: Hi, just a reminder for anyone new to the blog, I’m Keegan. I’m a character in Lindy’s head. I expect to be in her novel some day. But she’s taking forever to flesh me out. I wish she’d hurry up. I wanna be out of her head and on paper, (or in an e-book, I really don’t care) so I can be rich and famous. In the meantime, I’m curious about how things work in Hollywood so I’ve been interviewing Lindy. Today I wanna discuss acting. Meryl Streep is probably the best role model for actresses today. But it’s a rough road. How can we make a living when the roles are so few and far between?

Lindy:  I wouldn’t lose hope. You’ll need to start developing your Peer Network and your Mentor Network.

If you’re lucky enough to have a Hollywood job then you’re meeting lots of folks and making friends. You’re in fact, developing a Peer Network. You’re all navigating the road to stardom. Whether it’s behind or in front of the camera, you’ll run into each other on the way up.

As you ascend the ladder your pals will be your sources. They’ll offer info about jobs and auditions. That’s critical.They can provide the contacts you need and in some cases a personal introduction. Your peer network can be a great source.

Keegan: Okay, but unless your novel is the next “Hunger Games,” I may need some real dough to survive.  I can’t live rent- free in your head forever.

Lindy: That’s true. I’ll want you out soon. You’ll need to find your own place.

Keegan: Ah, does that mean you’ll be writing about me soon?

Lindy:  You’re still percolating. But in the meantime you ought to start building your Mentor Network.  When you audition, it may be helpful to have a mentor call the producer to put in a good word. It’s important to cultivate people who can help you. You need to know which folks might help seal the deal.

Keegan:  Great. How do I get one of those mentors? Like Meryl Streep. It’d be cool to have her as my mentor.

Lindy: Gee ya think? Not easy to find a mentor. You have to work at it. But the good news is most folks are eager to offer advice. Think about targeting someone you admire, maybe someone other than Streep, and ask if they’d have a moment to meet. You may not need that person now, but you will later.