A Fine Line Opens at Cinema Village
A wonderful film exploring why less than 7% of head chefs and restaurant owners are women.
Recently, while traveling on a plane, I caught a documentary that really intrigued, engaged and inspired me. The film, A Fine Line, focuses on women chefs and their challenges in the industry.
Joanna James is the director, writer and editor of the film and she features her mother, Valerie James, a single mom, with little support, who with determination and passion was able to successfully build a restaurant following in Holden, Massachusetts.
Also featured in this movie: Lidia Bastianich, Cat Cora, April Bloomfield, Dominique Crenn and many more culinary stars.
The documentary will be screened in New York beginning on Feb. 28 at Cinema Village, with panel discussions following. Definitely a great film to check out!
Joanna recently joined me on my radio show, “Bagels and Broadway” and we had a great conversation about her film, which, by the way, is her first! Listen here in here.
Valerie Smaldone is a 5-time Billboard Magazine Award winner and is well known for her unprecedented success holding the #1 on-air position in the New York radio market on 106.7 Life-FM, an iHeart station. She has hosted, produced, and created several award-winning nationally syndicated programs featuring in-depth interviews with stars like Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Elton John and Mariah Carey among others. Her radio talk show "Bagels and Broadway" highlighted theatre and food personalities. She is an accomplished interviewer and voice artist heard on commercials, narrations, promos and audiobooks, as well as a sought after live announcer.
Most recently, Valerie produced and directed a film, The Thursday Night Club, featuring pop diva Gloria Gaynor in her movie acting debut. She is one of the creators and producers of a docu-series, Divine Renovation, starring Erik Estrada, on streaming networks soon.
