CINEWOMEN : Schmooze, Network, Showcase

About six months ago, two women working in the film industry found themselves musing over cocktails at the Dresden Room in Los Angeles, wondering why it was that so many of their peers were excluded from the Hollywood Boys Club. When, they asked each other, would female filmmakers finally get the break they deserved? What had happened to the Year of the Woman, anyway?

Rather than wallowing in the injustice of it all, Elizabeth Cunningham, 31, and Jennifer Johnson, 25, decided to take action in their own lives. The result? A regular film series devoted to showcasing new films by women, the Cinewomen Screening Series, which begins Wednesday at the American Film Institute

Armed with the notion that, as Cunningham puts it, “there are a lot of talented women out there, they’re just under-represented,” the duo had no trouble persuading Cinewomen, a nonprofit 400- member organization dedicated to the advancement of women in the entertainment industry, to donate its support.

“We’re advocates of women helping each other,” says Elisa Rothstein, one of Cinewomen’s founders and its current president, on why the group lent its name and resources to the program. “This series gives us a broader arena in which to be supportive.”

With the help of Cinewomen and sponsor Panavision, Cunningham and Johnson next set out to gather films, eventually screening more than 50. They wound up with five films, a mix of animated and live-action, documentary and narrative work, all directed, written and produced by women.

At least one film is by an established filmmaker, Tamra Davis (“Gun Crazy,” “CB4”), while most are by those who have toiled in obscurity.

Lisa Udelson, whose 20-minute comedy “The Party Favor” made the cut, says that it’s enough just to have her film screened. Udelson’s film, which she describes as a “non-traditional subject handled in a traditional way,” tells the story of a lesbian couple who find themselves at a hyper-suburban bridal shower.

“My film was being ignored at the bigger film festivals,” she says, “so I’m happy to have more people see it. It’s no different than being a painter who wants an exhibition for their work.”

Davis, currently in post-production on “Billy Madison” for Universal, may not need the exposure for her independently made documentary video “No Alternative Girls,” which recently aired on MTV. Yet she sees the series as offering her a chance to feel a part of a filmmaking community. “I really don’t know that many people in the film industry,” she confesses.

Udelson, a former editor in TriStar’s advertising department, says, “I’m not schmoozy, I’m not hooked in, I don’t hang around with other filmmakers. This gives me a pool of filmmakers to commiserate with.”

But both Cunningham and Johnson stress that they’re not out to create a Hollywood Girls Club. “We want Boys Clubs and Girls Clubs to become extinct,” Johnson says. “This is about bringing the industry to see the work of struggling independent filmmakers.”

The two say they plan to offer a series three times a year.

“We wish this wasn’t necessary,” Johnson adds, “but we have a sense of humor about the fact that it is.”

* The Cinewomen Screening Series begins Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the American Film Institute, at the Mark Goodson Theatre, 2021 N. Western Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 856-7600. Reservations: (310) 855-8720. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door. For information on submissions for future programs, write to Cinewomen, 9903 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 461, Beverly Hills 90212.