Keeping it real

Paul Saitowitz

Newport Beach resident Kathy Leek is bubbling with excitement over

“She Said,” the latest film she has executive produced and a

qualifier for a screening in the Newport Beach Film Festival.

The bubbling over the film is definitely real, but the puffy blond

pony tail spewing from the top right of her head gives off the

impression that Leek is quite prone to bubbling -- and that bubbling

is what made this film a reality.

“My talent is not in writing or directing or editing,” she said.

“It’s in getting the right groups of people together and making sure

a project happens. That’s what I do.”

After years as an event planner, Leek got her start in the film

industry by producing “Crash Boats,” a documentary on a World War II

vessel now home-ported in Newport Beach. The film was screened at the

Newport Beach Film Festival two years ago and walked away with the

Merit Award for outstanding documentary. Trish Kinney, who also

helmed “She Said,” directed the film.

From that point, Leek has been obsessed with film and hopes to

raise millions of dollars for a future project with Kinney.

“This is the thing that I enjoy doing more than anything else,”

she said.

“She Said” is a candid look at life as a 20-something woman in

modern-day America. The film interviews 11 females that are seemingly

the “girl next door,” but are actually products of broken homes that

are intertwined in crime, drugs and despair.

“The thing that really makes this film is the willingness of the

subjects to be totally honest with us and let us in their lives,”

Leek said.

Shot on digital video in Arizona for the most part, Leek and

Kinney went about finding their subjects by just going to

run-of-the-mill, everyday places like neighborhood bars and

restaurants.

“We thought it would take us a long time to find people

interesting enough to do a documentary on, but the first 11 girls we

found were it,” Leek said.

They spent two or three nights with each subject, interviewing and

observing them as they went about their lives. What they found was

that beneath the surface most of these girls were caught up in

tumultuous tales of abuse.

“Females have reached a point in society now where they have more

freedom than they ever have before,” she said. “They have the

opportunity to have equality in the workplace and be heroes, and with

that also comes more opportunity for dangerous situations.”

The film premiered at the Valley Arts Theater in Tempe, Ariz., and

will get its first California run on April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Lido

Theatre. After that screening, the goal is to sell the picture to a

cable network like Lifetime or HBO.

“Whatever happens with this film, we as the filmmakers are very

proud,” Leek said. “All except for one of the girls we profiled have

gone on to improve their lives, and we feel great that we were able

to make a piece of art that could have such a positive outcome.”