Hello all!

I hope this message finds you all well. I’m writing to you a few weeks after the last screening of the Gabby Smashes pilot episode at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit. It was a wonderful experience sharing the project with attendees at the conference and fostering new connections with supporters of the show! I continue to be grateful for the ongoing support.

I wanted to share news with you all that Dawn Jones Redstone is stepping away from the project as a Co-Executive Producer and Director for Gabby Smashes and has taken on the new role of Consulting Producer. Since the moment she joined the team last year, Dawn has been instrumental in bringing this project to the next level and I personally am eternally grateful for her unyielding support, guidance, and thought partnership that she provided. What started as an ambitious idea years before, Dawn came in planting a seed with her talents, skills, and creative insight which ultimately breathed new life and direction into the project that I would not have been able to do alone.

I am of course, saddened at Dawn’s departure but like most indie film projects that are underfunded and have unclear and uncertain timelines, that is the reality of the evolution of these projects. However, I am grateful for the time we spent working together and I look forward to supporting Dawn in other ways with her upcoming feature film project that she’s been working on!

Lastly, I’m excited to introduce to you our new director!

Please meet Christian Henry, our new director! Christian is a filmmaker and a television writer/producer for a network affiliate of NBC. Her recent work includes producing the award-winning short film We Have Our Ways. The film was named the Best Oregon Short Film at the 2018 Portland International Film Festival. Christian’s film, From Salem to the Salon, screened in the 2016 Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival and the Oregon Lens Film Festival by OPB. Christian also serves on the board for the Portland chapter of Women In Film. She was named one of Portland’s Top 10 Social Changemakers by Mac’s List.

I look forward to working with Christian and our writing team (announcement coming soon!) in developing the rest of the season of Gabby Smashes.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support of Gabby Smashes and my little dream! I am filled with immense gratitude in recognizing the many people that have worked on (and continue to work on), supported, and helped build this project from the ground up. No one can do these projects entirely by themselves so I am constantly humbled by the amount of support, contributions, and love Gabby Smashes receives.

More to come soon. Have a good weekend!

Sincerely,

Luann Algoso
Creator and Executive Producer