“The Janes” Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes’ Award-Winning Documentary Delivers a Timely Message About Women’s Rights
Directors Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes have drawn universal acclaim for their documentary The Janes, the story of seven women who were arrested for running a clandestine operation to assist women seeking illegal abortions in the pre-Roe v Wade era. Goldcrest Post provided sound and picture finishing for the film, a winner of three Emmy Awards, the duPont Columbia Award, and two Women Film Critics Circle Awards. It was also nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and short-listed for an Academy Award.
The documentary has proven to be sadly prescient as only a few weeks after its premiere on HBO, the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision was announced, overturning Roe v Wade. Pildes says that she and Lessin were not surprised, given the Court’s conservative tilt, and their film is an expression of their concern and anger. “We wanted to sound the alarm,” she recalls. “We wanted to give these women a platform and remind people of their personal power to affect change even in the face of the impossible monolith of the Supreme Court.”
Like many filmmakers, Lessin and Pildes faced big hurdles in bringing their film to the screen. Along with the usual issues of funding, research and gathering source materials, they began production just as COVID hit. “Our subjects were women in their 70s, so we struggled to find appropriate moments to do the interviews,” Pildes explains. “We wanted to interview all of them in person because it was such a heavy subject matter. We did one remote interview with a doctor from Cook County Hospital, but everything else was in person.”
“We weren’t willing to put the brakes on the production, especially after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to replace her,” adds Lessin. “It made the finishing of the film all the more urgent.”
“Our film gave us something to focus on and feel productive every day,” Pildes agrees. “These women were talking about a health care crisis and here we were in the middle of a health crisis. It was inspiring and made us see that we were doing important work.”
The two filmmakers looked for a post facility and a team that had experience with archive-heavy projects. “The Janes drew on archival materials in a many different formats, from 60s era 16mm experimental films and 16mm local news, to 8mm and super 8mm home movies to video. Our interviews were shot in 4K,” notes Lessin. “Creating a seamless whole out of such disparate footage sources was important to us, and the conform and the color correct were key to this process.”
Goldcrest assembled a team led by Colorist Ken Sirulnick, Supervising Sound Editor Jacob Ribicoff and Re-Recording Mixer Peter Waggoner. Sound and picture finishing were conducted simultaneously. The two filmmakers could go from a color grading session to the mix stage simply by descending a flight of stairs.
Lessin previously mixed sound her film Citizen Koch at Goldcrest, so she was familiar with the facility and keen to work again on the large mix stage. Pildes had an established relationship with Sirulnick, having collaborated with him on several projects. Convenience was also a factor in choosing Goldcrest. “We had a lot going on and wanted to do all of the post under one roof,” Pildes notes. “Goldcrest helped us figure out how we could afford it and how we could make it work. That allowed us to be efficient and put energy into telling a powerful story.”
As it happened, Lessin and Pildes received their first indication of their film’s future success while supervising post work at the studio. “We got an email from someone at Sundance saying they had a question about our submission,” Pildes recalls. “We wondered what could it be? Did we do something wrong? We called immediately and they said, ‘Just kidding. You’re in!’ It was joyous! I'm sure all of Goldcrest could hear us celebrating."