Cynthia Wade Nominated For An Oscar

This weekend, director Cynthia Wade will attend the Academy Awards as nominee for Best Documentary - Short Subject for her film Mondays at Racine. Winner of the 2008 Oscar for Best Documentary – Short Subject for the acclaimed film Freeheld, Wade has been directing for more than 15 years for clients such as MTV, HBO, Cinemax, IFC Channel, and PBS; her commercial clients include Hershey, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Berkshire Bank and LL Bean. A selection of her work can be viewed at www.cynthiawade.com.

 

In the critically-acclaimed Mondays At Racine, the brassy Long Island, New York sisters Cynthia and Rachel open up their hair salon, called Racine, and offer free beauty services for women undergoing chemotherapy.  Determined to make their customers feel beautiful, the glamour duo knows that Mondays at Racine goes beyond purple painted toes or a frothy facial.  The sisters are determined to give women who are losing their hair, eyebrows and eyelashes a sense of normalcy and dignity in a traumatic and uncertain time.  The story of what hair means in our culture quickly unfolds into an unexpected look at womanhood and marriage.

 

In directing commercial campaigns, Wade draws on her extensive film experience and often works with real people to achieve colorful, quirky and emotional portraits for brands. The great-granddaughter of John Orr Young from Young & Rubicam — he was the "Y' in Y&R – Wade’s passion for branded storytelling is the continuation of a family legacy in advertising.  

 

"Good advertising and good documentary filmmaking both require compelling storytelling cast with believable characters,” she comments. “I love finding the true essence and most powerful imagery when directing advertising campaigns and independent films; I am particularly excited about the hybrid of branded documentary."

 

Cynthia received a BA cum laude from Smith College, and holds a Masters Degree from Stanford University in Documentary Filmmaking. Her production company Cynthia Wade Productions, Inc. is comprised of a seasoned team of award-winning cinematographers, editors and producers.  For more on the company, please visit www.cynthiawade.com.