Gretchen Somerfeld
TFI Support
About
Gretchen has written, directed, and produced a feature film and three shorts. All of the films have received worldwide distribution and have been shown at
numerous venues -- from the American Cinematheque to the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. She graduated from NYU film school, was the winner of the Independent Filmmakers Grant from the NEA, and was the honored recipient of the Disney/DGA Directors Fellowship. Gretchen has worked in film and television as a script supervisor, production manager and still photographer; she has directed theatre in New York and Los Angeles and is a member of the Writers/Directors Unit at The Actors Studio.
Face Value
Hedy Lamarr, born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in 1914 Vienna, was a Hollywood star – “the most beautiful girl in the world”, according to Ed Sullivan – the first woman to appear fully nude in a legitimate motion picture, the Czech film Ecstasy, and the inventor of a device that allowed frequency hopping. This visionary concept would supply the U.S. Army with the secure remote-control guidance system for torpedoes, and become the forerunner to all wireless communication today.