It's really about realizing we can own a piece of each other's successes, and in so doing, learn to become successful ourselves. Lois Shelton, Foxglove Films         LADY BE GOOD Instrumental Women In Jazz Kay D. Ray – director/producer and former president of Women in Film/Seattle – is in the midst of creating Lady Be Good, a film focusing on women who played jazz during decades when such a thing was truly an exception. The feature-length documentary will illluminate the contributions of female American instrumentalists in jazz from the early part of this century to the 1970s, and examine the development of the all-woman groups. These chapters of the ongoing story of women in jazz show that many were discouraged by prejudice and an unreceptive culture. Their presence, often against formidable odds, constituted carried the powerful message: that women can play jazz. Ray has spent over two years researching and writing Lady Be Good, shooting interviews with more than 65 people around the country. Any film project requires a lot of money, and "documentary-type" films like this one are especially hard to finance. The lack of funding for arts on a local and national level makes this task even tougher. Ray's $350,000 budget is conservative for a film of this type, but a huge portion of it must be raised from private individuals. Ray and her team currently have a two-hour rough cut of the film and are in need of $200,000 for completion funds (music and film copyright clearances, procuring archival film and online editing). Please join the community of donors who have recognized the importance of this burgeoning film - make a contribution to help bring this documentary to completion! Your tax-deductible donation will honor the work of the pioneering and talented women of jazz. Please make your check to: Kay D. Ray Productions 1424 26th Ave Seattle, Washington 98122 Check out the Web site at http://home.att.net/~kay.ray/ladybegood/ Kay D. Ray's recent awards include Emmy nomination for her film Ernestine Anderson; for her filmwork with Experience Music Project (American Association of Museums, regional and national Media Communications Association International, local and national American Federation of Television and Radio Artists): the short film Middle of Nowhere (Palm Springs Film Festival and KCTS) ; the Women In Film Spirit /Nell Shipman Award, and Internet Kiosk with Bill Nye for the Microsoft Museum, among others. Editor Jill Friedberg’s numerous credits include the internationally acclaimed This Is What Democracy Looks Like, Life Beyond Earth (PBS)and Bill Nye The Science Guy (KCTS, Buena Vista).