Smartypants Behind the Camera

NMWA’s monthly talk show connects viewers to the museum and its mission to champion women artists. In this episode, NMWA hosts are joined by collaborators from the video production company Smartypants Pictures. They discuss the museum’s new video series featuring eight contemporary artists represented in the collection: Ambreen Butt, Sonya Clark, Colette Fu, the Guerrilla Girls, Graciela Iturbide, Rania Matar, Delita Martin, and Alison Saar.

About the Speakers

Suzanne Hillinger is an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. With Smartypants, she worked on The Steepest Climb: How Delta Air Lines Navigated the Global Pandemic and 2023 Academy Award-nominated short documentary, Stranger at the Gate. Most recently, Suzanne directed Money Shot, a feature documentary for Netflix, as well as the feature documentary, Totally Under Control for Neon. She directed episodes of The New York Times documentary series, The Weekly, and her episode investigating the New York City taxi medallion bubble won an Emmy, and was part of the series that won a Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting. Suzanne also produced the Emmy-nominated feature documentary Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.

Anais Blondet Medina is a Peruvian-born/New York City-raised artist and filmmaker based in Brooklyn. Surrealism, absurdist humor, narrative sound design, and in-camera visual effects are the staples of her work. Anais studied communications at the Universidad Católica del Perú before obtaining her BFA in Film Directing from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. She spent four years in France directing experimental music videos before moving back to New York where she primarily works as a freelance director and editor. Her work has appeared on Netflix, CNN, National Geographic, MTV, OWN, Travel Channel, Canal+, at the American Museum of Natural History, and The Smithsonian.

Director Merete Mueller is a writer and documentary filmmaker based in New York. Her work explores landscapes, bodies, architecture, the environment, and how we fill space and find ourselves at home. Mueller’s films have screened at SXSW, Hot Docs, and DOC NYC, via Al Jazeera, the Canadian Broadcasting Channel, Netflix, The New York Times Op-Docs series, and in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, VICE, and as a Vimeo Staff Pick. In addition to her independent film work, Mueller also directs commercial and editorial pieces. Past clients include GE, Toyota, Ford, Facebook, Citbank, Vox Media, Vice Media, and Conde Nast.

From documentaries and broadcast television to social platforms and commercial advertising, Chelsea Noll-McClintock has executive produced projects of all scales. She got her start in daytime talk television for ITV, then managed logistics for comedy specials and docu-series for IFC, Comedy Central, Investigation Discovery, and MSNBC. She also had a multi-year stint with HBO running office, field, and studio operations on the award-winning Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Since 2018, she has expanded her producing expertise into commercial advertising, largely working with major pharmaceutical companies on projects across the U.S.

Kya Quinn is a writer and producer born and raised in Brooklyn. Quinn started her career as a journalist at NowThis News, focusing on diversifying the media landscape with unique, impactful stories. She has worked for brands such as AFROPUNK, MTV, YouTube, PBS and more. Her projects have accrued over 50 million views across platforms, and she recently launched a grant program for emerging filmmakers. Quinn explores the intersectionality of marginalized communities, usually through documentary or scripted concepts.

For more information, email education@nmwa.org.