Women’s History Month Feature
PaSH Magazine is celebrating Women’s History Month with a Q&A style mini-series highlighting women from many different industries making an impact in the world, their communities and for themselves. In this Q&A we will spend time with Christina Rose.
Meet Christina Rose
CEO/Co-founder MirrorWater Entertainment LLC Christina Rose is an American-German director, producer, and screenwriter, and is part of the new Hollyworld Movement, bringing entertainment to the global stage. She has worked in North America (USA, Canada), Europe (Denmark, France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Bulgaria), Africa (at the famous Atlas Studios in Ouarzazate), and Asia (India’s Bollywood). Together with her brother Michael, she co-founded MirrorWater Entertainment LLC.
Prior to setting up a production company, Rose worked at such prestigious companies as Arad Productions (The Amazing Spider-Man), Exclusive Media (Rush, Ides of March), and in distribution at ZDF-Enterprises, where she developed numerous projects with Michael Hirst (Vikings) and William J. MacDonald (Rome). She also served as an executive at the European network Sky, acquiring new projects for development.
Since starting MWE, she has produced a number of documentaries and TV shows for the international market, including the six-part documentary series Wonder Women, where we meet young women leaders in underrepresented industries around the world who are redefining leadership for a better future.
Her new documentary The Lost Voice uncovers the true story of her great-grand aunt Pola Brückner, who is thought to be the first woman ever to film in the Amazon.
Inspired by the book by Pola Brückner, A Woman Went into the Jungle (Eine Frau ging in den Urwald), Rose sets out on a journey to discover who her great-grand aunt Pola was. She searches archives and traces her steps in the Berlin film industry, but with every new document she finds, more questions arise. As she searches for answers, she realizes that to learn what really happened during the expedition, she too must take the journey that Pola and filmmaker August Brückner, her then husband, took almost 100 years ago. Rose decides to travel to Brazil, tracing their fateful journey on the Amazon River—not just to find out what really happened but to verify whether what Brückner recounts in her book is truth or fiction.
Was there a pivotal moment in your career that changed the trajectory of your path or helped you step fully into your purpose?
I’d have to say it’s the documentary project I am currently working on which is that pivotal moment for me. I have always wanted to be in the film business. For the last ten years, I’ve struggled to find my place. However, I am determined to tell meaningful, serious and relevant stories that add to our lives. I love collaborating with people, being challenged to convey emotional stories and unique characters to expand our knowledge base through movies – it’s a life line for me. Working on the documentary THE LOST VOICE has allowed me to find my own voice that I lost over the last decade. It’s a project that has pushed me to the edge, challenged me and yet at the same time, I’ve had the greatest collobaration with the most amazing people. That experience is something I will carry in my heart forever.
How do you stay grounded and maintain your creative voice in an industry that often tries to shape narratives and expectations?
Those of us on the creative side, understand the business side in the film industry. Both are important and critical to success. That said, the root and success of any project must come from that unique, creative, sincere, honest, vulnerable space – because at the end of the day that is what every viewer will connect to. That’s what continues to “wow” and amaze us when we watch movies. It is those stories that capture our inner self, our reflection of both what is real and what is not, what is people focused, what is science fiction and I believe that what is real ends being a creative and financial success. It’s about staying true to that inner voice – it’s hard to hear sometimes as there are so many distractions that steer us away from it, but it’s the most important decision any storyteller makes.
What advice would you give to young women who want to pursue careers in film, music, producing, or other creative industries but may feel intimidated by the industry?
I always tell people you have to follow your heart and that inner desire, that inner fire, that passion because that’s going to fuel you when things don’t go your way. Equally important is to not be afraid to be vulnerable and be honest. Can it be scary to expose your inner deepest secrets? Yes, absolutely but you can’t be afraid to tell stories that reflect what you see and believe. Don’t think about creating the next blockbuster but rather ask yourself what is your story, what needs to be said that others have not seen or felt. Finally, every woman should know that there will be bad days, and some really bad days. Expect it, power through and learn from these experiences. But never ever stop believing in yourself!
Representation matters. How important is it for you to see diverse stories and perspectives reflected in the projects you create or participate in?
It’s really important – for everyone. I want to see stories about women so we can learn, understand and feel connected to their experiences, challenges, problems, losses and gains. I want to walk through doors into worlds of people I know very little about. We are living in this mulifacted, multicultural, and diverse world where everyone has a story to tell. No matter who that person is, the world of storytelling and filmmaking allows viewers to be transported to worlds with different cultures, understandings, experiences to see, and feel what others have not. That is what cinema is all about and why it’s so important today and why it will always be relevant in our world.
Have there been moments when you had to advocate for yourself in a room where your voice wasn’t immediately heard? How did you navigate that?
Yes, absolutely. I have been in multiple such situations. It is about having the courage to speak up, to ensure one’s view is heard. However, I would also say it’s important, to work with people who respect you in the first place, who want your voice to be heard, who are supportive and that this collaborative environment is present on that project from the very beginning. I cannot change people or make people listen but I can certainly choose who I work and collaborate with who respect me and want my voice to be heard.
What is one misconception people often have about women working in entertainment?
The one misconception that I have seen is that women are too ambitious. Too often it’s seen as a negative trait when it shouldn’t be. Any woman who is ambitious is one who leads with passion, clarity, certainty, and her heart. Ambition needs to be celebrated.
Thank you for reading this installment of the Women’s History Month Features. Come back each day to read a new inspiring story, centering women.
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