The Story
We meet Pauline and Rose at what appears to be a fun camping trip, but we quickly realize that it’s 1906 and they live here to escape tenement housing. When a union flyer appears at their factory, the girls butt heads over their expectations for the future and must learn to stand up for each other. Pauline risks her job to defend Rose from their creepy foreman, and is surprised when the entire workforce stands with her. Fueled by the realization of their collective power, the girls demand a life worth living.
Young girls rarely get taken seriously. Union Made is a 12-minute historical drama about the power of youthful idealism and female friendship to create lasting political change.
Why It Matters
Pauline Newman. Rose Schneiderman. Clara Lemlich. Fannia Cohn.
Although they would grow apart in their later years as their ideologies split, these four names changed the fabric of American society. Unions, eight-hour workdays, and a living wage were built by the collective action of teenage girls - young women who worked in sweatshops, who dismissed wealthy suffragettes' focus on the vote, and who created a grassroots, multicultural coalition demanding their right to life itself.
A hundred years ago, 15-year-old girls found the power to change the world in their idealism and friendship with each other. We are living in a particularly turbulent political climate, and still kids are marching and organizing movements. Teenagers fight for the environment and social justice, against school shootings and capitalism. They fight for their very survival and for their future.
The Team
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Director, Writer - Rikki Bleiweiss
Rikki is a writer-director from Houston, TX finishing her fourth year in UT Austin’s Radio-Television-Film program. As a former member of the UT debate team, Rikki is a huge nerd and has always had a passion for politics and exploring new sides to history. She originally wrote Union Made as a television pilot before deciding to bring this story to life as her senior thesis project.
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Producer - Claire Norris
Claire is a senior Radio-Television-Film major at UT Austin who hails from San Antonio, TX. She has produced over 20 short-form projects, including a half-hour television series and two 48-Hour Film Projects. Claire is a goofball who loves learning and aims to create fun, safe, and inclusive on-set environments for her peers and the next generation of filmmakers.
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Cinematographer - Tatiana Roberts
Tatiana is a fourth-year Radio-Television-Film student at the University of Texas at Austin. She is incredibly excited to work closely with Rikki and Claire to visually bring Union Made to life. Aside from cinematography, Tatiana also enjoys acting, boba tea, practicing yoga, and spending time with family and friends. Once she graduates, she plans to travel the world as an actor and cinematographer and help people along the way.
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Gaffer - Maria Forsythe
Maria Forsythe is a freelance gaffer and cinematographer in Austin, Texas, and a recent film graduate from the University of Texas. She is so excited to be able to be a part of another fantastic female-led crew and make a film with a community she loves!
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Production Designer - Kirsten Wilmeth
Kirsten is an Austin-based production designer from Lubbock, Texas in her junior year at UT Austin. She is a Journalism and Radio-Television-Film double major. Kirsten has worked on many projects ranging from narrative and documentary films to commercials and music videos. She is also a part of DKA, a professional cinematic society, where she has grown in her passion for filmmaking.
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Key Wardrobe - Mattison Gotcher
Mattison is a University of Texas undergrad in Textiles and Apparel Design and Radio-TV-Film. Her passion for costume designing came from an early age of sketching clothing from her favorite TV shows as a child. She is passionate about helping people with their film projects, and plans on interning and working in costume designing soon!
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Wardrobe Assistant - Ijeoma Chinedo
Ijeoma is a second-year Radio-TV-Film and African & African Diaspora Studies student at UT Austin. Being interested in all forms of creative work, film gives her a chance to try everything. She’s excited to try a hand at costuming for this project.
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Props - Valeria Valadez
Valeria Valadez is a Radio-TV-Film Junior at The University of Texas at Austin. Val loves music, movies and filmmaking! She’s super excited to work on this project with her friends and help bring Union Made to life!
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Editor - Eboni Ellinger
With an interest in writing, directing and producing, Eboni is a multi-faceted creative from Austin, Texas. Focusing on documentary and thought-proving narratives, Eboni strives to bring more attention to underrepresented experiences and unexplored tales.
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DIT - Mariah Espinosa
Mariah Espinosa is a Radio-Television-Film senior at The University of Texas at Austin. Her most recent work is a short film she wrote, directed, and edited called Mirror. She’s excited to help bring this film to life.
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Sound - Luisa González
Luisa Maria González is a fourth-year Radio-Television-Film student at the University of Texas at Austin, born and raised in the border area of Juárez, Chihuahua and El Paso, Texas. Luisa aims to create and collaborate on films that touch on the themes of immigration, relationships, identity and Mexicanismo through her work in screenwriting, producing, and sound design. She is excited to contribute to our project through the sound department and to be a part of her first all female-led crew!
Your Impact
Although we are lucky enough to have access to UT’s many material resources as a high-level undergraduate thesis project, there are some things that only money can buy. Your donation will make it possible for us to create a fun and uplifting experience for our cast, crew, and for you, the viewer!
First, we want to honor those young organizers’ legacy by paying our actors. Most of our cast will be real teenage girls trying to get their acting careers started. Because of the scale required to recreate strikes and sweatshops, a large portion of our budget is also dedicated to production design. Finally, your donations will help fund food for our cast and crew, location fees, and any additional equipment that the university does not provide.
Other Ways You Can Help
Don’t worry if you can’t contribute a donation today - we appreciate you taking the time to visit our project, and there are other ways you can still help.
Share our project on any and all social media platforms; tell your friends, tell your family, tell your colleagues, tell everyone!