Article and Photos by Hilary Nichols
Courageous, kind, and creative in equal measure, Christina Morales Hemenway may be the most prolific feature filmmaker in Ann Arbor. She has five finished feature films and two more film projects currently in the works—and this is just one of her ongoing careers.
Morales Hemenway’s work ethic and motivation dictates a dizzying number of projects on her plate at any given time. “I always have to have one project in development, one in pre-production, one in production, and a final project in the distribution phase,” Morales Hemenway laughed. “At least.” Writer, director, producer, actor, dancer, distributor, singer, event producer, fundraiser, entrepreneur, coach, and teacher is a long list of positions. Why do it all? I had to sit with Morales Hemenway to try to understand how all of this is possible.
Christana Morales Hemenway has always been a director. Her creative ambitions started early in life. “I’d bribe the kids in my neighborhood with candy to be in my little theatrical productions, dance performances, and even a circus!” she shared. In high school she earned a full scholarship to study with the world-renowned mime Marcel Marceau. She was smitten with the form, and it seemed to suit her as well. “What is the difference between an actor and a star? An actor is one who acts. A star is a beaming light that shines throughout the universe. Be that,” Marcel Marceau shared with Morales Hemenway and her fellow students.
Morales Hemenway took the famous encouragement to heart. She set her pursuits toward acting and completed her studies at the California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in Theater. But she quickly realized that, though she was well received on stage, acting wasn’t her artform. “Once I became busier as an actor,” she said, “I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would.” She discovered that the creative process of filmmaking was her true calling. “It was the writing and directing that really lit me up.” So, she started her own production company.
Morales Hemenway has a bright cheerfulness with glossy, long dark hair, a giant smile, sparkling eyes, and an enthusiasm for life that lifts the room. She does not hide all the colors of her heart. She is true. We sit together in a circle of fellow creatives at Elemental Ecstatic Dance where she can be found most Sundays, and there she shared her honest experience as a single mom, a woman of a certain age, and a solo entrepreneur. She doesn’t shy away from expressing her true joys as well as some of the frustrations. “It is a lot to carry,” she shared about her filmmaking. “But I can’t not do it. It is an obsession. It is my life force—the thing that gets me up in the morning. I need to be doing a lot. It is just my mode of operation. The work is what keeps me engaged in life.” On her dining room table, her current writing projects are laid-out in strips of scenes that she shuffles into shape. A rack of costumes from her last film still sits in the front room, and a laptop balances on her lap as she continues to push forward on this season’s focus. “I thrive on chaos,” she added with a laugh, “Obviously.”
In 1992, right after college, Morales Hemenway founded Dancingstar Productions, with the mission of creating enlightening and uplifting films. “I want to feel better, not worse after going to the movies.” She told me. “Feel Good films” is an apt category for her oeuvre listed on her IMDB profile. Her five feature films are Autumn Leaves, Dreammaker, Angel Moon, Bride+1, and Get Real. Her feature film, Dreammaker, won the Audience Choice Award or Best Feature film in every festival in which it has played and has screened in Los Angeles, Chicago, Louisville, Ann Arbor, and Rome, Italy.
“The process of filmmaking is a spiritual process. My films are my babies.” Her overlapping workflow would confuse a full team of professionals, but she manages. “I have a whole system, from nuts to bolts. How to write the script, storyboard, and crafting the action, to shooting scheduling, angles, and the whole production process. I know the gamut,” she said. “Through years of doing it the hard way, I wanted to capitalize on all the mistakes I have made.” She started The Dancingstar Creative Academy to do that.
“Sharing the arts is what this is all about for me,” she said. The newest aspect of Morales Hemenway’s production company is offering young filmmakers the chance to participate in all the aspects of a project from conception to completion. “They can have hands-on experience on the film, and they get an IMDB credit on a feature film. [That experience] really helps people to break into this business.” Her program has five students, and they are looking for five more. “We are currently looking for scholarships to cover the academy fee,” she shared. ““Of course, our fiduciary sponsor is a 501C3, so people can give with tax write off,” she is quick to affirm.
“This is an amazing company of actors and friends. I see it as a parallel to community theater. I always want to expand the feeling of community that people feel in collaborations on those stages.” Clearly her cast and crew seem to feel the same way, as they respond to her many invitations to show up on the sidelines or in a starring role. The cast and crew and the locations are mostly local. Ann Arbor and the environs are a featured draw. “I hired Russ Collins to play the mayor of the Midwest, so that some people will go see it for him, or just be excited to see their own town, and recognize a wrong turn,” she laughed. Her film Get Real was set in Milan and poked good fun at many recognizable tropes.
All of her films are available now to stream on Amazon Prime, Hulu, Tubi, and Apple TV. They are on a lot of platforms. But better yet, you can purchase straight from her own distribution site dancingstarproductions.com. “Presenting my films through my own site lets me do it my own way, and it is actually more valuable.” Morales Hemenway is a big proponent of self-distribution. There are six films posted and counting.
“I have 12 feature films that are ready to go,” Morales Hemenway mentioned. Yet the film that Morales Hemenway is working on now took precedence. This year Ann Arbor is celebrating its 200-year anniversary. “This project has support and timing. That’s why it had to jump in the queue.” It usually takes at least a year for a script to be ready to film. “This thing was really knocking on the door.” Along with her co-writer, a 17-year-old writer named Trilian Krug, she noted, “There was such synchrony, this time it came together in two months.” Universal Chord is about a 17-year-old girl who switches places with her then 17-year-old grandmother in 1969 in Ann Arbor.
While researching that era she found that women were not allowed to own property or have their own credit card. “Wow! It wasn’t that long ago!” She drew a comparison to female filmmakers now—she still finds resistance in a largely male-dominated profession. “For example, the time that a camera operator took his direction from the male A.D.” Morales Hemenway recalled, “Or when the cinematographer yelled, ‘cut’— ‘no,’ that is my job. I had to remind him, again. I am the director.”
Directing is a multifaceted undertaking. Morales Hemenway applies the tasks to more than her feature filmmaking. Her documentary Poly views on Polyamory is in its post postproduction phase. And during the pandemic she made a short comic film called The Sock Story just to share with her friends and fellow creatives. Along with a few of those friends, the effort ignited their interest to reinstate The Dancingstar Film Fest where they will present a program of uplifting short films. “Be on the lookout: submission instructions will be posted on Dancingstar.com soon,” she encouraged. “It will be a place for new narrative filmmakers to cut their teeth and established professionals to make something fun.” It is just another way for her to continue her calling. “I want to share films that are accessible to everyone—that everyone can resonate with.” Films are one of our most meaningful communicators of our shared cultural language. Christina Morales Hemenway will continue to be a part of that crucial conversation. “I strive to share art that reminds us that we are all one.”
Learn more about Christina Morales Hemenway and her films and projects on her website, dancingstarproductions.com.
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