Fest Fast Facts

• Proud Marys is an exploration of growing up as a Filipina American daughter and how we navigate the diaspora to claim our authentic sense of self. Who’s driving our choices? Is it for our family? Is it because we want to protect another person’s well-being? Tradition? What dysfunctional family dynamics are triggered by milestone moments? How much of my Catholic upbringing confused the hell out of me? And what the f*ck is a barrel man?
• Back in 2014, Paz and Fedorov independently released an album of songs about their journey as first-time parents called “Every Little Thing,” under the duo name Auraganix (includes the viral hit “I Poop” which has had over 23 million streams and has earned a spot in Tune Core’s Billions Club status). Some songs from that 2014 release have been re-tooled including title track “Every Little Thing” and “Wanted” co-written by Grammy® Award Winning songwriter Bill Grainer and Nashville based songwriter Jeff Vincent. With a Pop/Latin pop, singer/songwriter score, and elements of Filipino Rondalla in the orchestrations, select Proud Marys music is co-produced in collaboration with Anthony’s producing partner Jeeve Ducornet, Latin Grammy® Award winning producer (Todrick Hall, Nicole Scherzinger, Bruno Mars, David Bisbal). This early release has served as the beginning ideas for Proud Marys musical score.
• Ano ang kwento? (What’s the story?) Loosely based on Jennifer’s experience getting pregnant at an “advance age,” the journey of women’s physical and mental health is at the heart of this story. It’s about the choices we make and learning how to advocate for ourselves in a culture that typically honors suffering in silence. It’s about women who’ve had to privately make difficult choices about their physical health. After experiencing a miscarriage and looking into options for a safe D&C, I was startled to learn about certain states that require you to wait for the procedure because of laws that “require a waiting period between abortion counseling and the procedure.” The fact that there were certain decisions I couldn’t make about my own body really hit me. From having personally experienced the pain of miscarriage and researching and learning about other women’s reproductive journey’s, one thing remains clear – it is the woman’s right to choose what she can do with her own body.
• Growing up, I was always curious about the double standards of women in my culture being shamed for pregnancies outside of wedlock while men openly had multiple families (commonly known in Tagalog as “anak sa labas,” literal translation: child on the outside). As such, I am interested in tackling the nuanced and highly divisive conversation of family planning within the lens of a devout Catholic Fil-Am family.
• Proud Marys began as a 1/2-hour (non-musical) TV-pilot writing sample created and written by Paz and won the Outstanding Screenplays TV Pilot Competition 2021. The pilot received further development support through 1:1 mentorship with showrunner Brian Yorkey through the Unlock Her Potential mentorship program. East West Players was granted a 2023/2024 Writers Residency Grant through the Frank Young Fund for New Musicals to continue to develop Proud Marys. 
• We are hoping to partner with a right-fit producing team who are in alignment with the commercial and cultural value of this piece and can help guide the genre-bending and cross-medium potential aspect of it. We are also looking to partner with a commercial producer for finishing funds for an all-star halo-halo (mix-mix) tape concept album release.