Women Behind the Scenes Spotlight: Susanna Fogel and Joni Lekfowitz

Susanna and Joni

Today’s Women Behind the Scenes spotlight is shone on writers, producers and actresses Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz.

Susanna and Joni first gained attention with their YouTube videos where they filmed themselves looking for parking, going for fast food, and complaining about the early picket line hours during the WGA writers’ strike.

Less than a year later (in 2008), the duo came up with the eponymous series, Joni & Susanna, that became part of the original programming line-up on TheWB.com, Warner Bros’ video-on-demand website.

In the following year, they were the writers and producers on the failed pilot Washingtonienne [that received the most buzz during that TV season without receiving a series pick-up] that included among its cast Rachael Taylor (the upcoming Marvel’s Jessica Jones on Netflix), Jesse Williams (Grey’s Anatomy), Jason Dohring (Veronica Mars), Bitsie Tulloch (Grimm) and Nina Lisandrello (Beauty And the Beast).

The duo then wrote a one-act play that ended up being developed as part of a play series for frustrated writers who were employed but not seeing their work produced. That project was well received, leading Susanna and Joni to expand it into their feature film debut called Life Partners, which tells the story about two female friends: one gay, on straight (which not coincidentally mirrors their own lives).

Life Partners, for which they shared writing credits on as well as Fogel taking on directing duties, focused on the friendship between Sasha (Leighton Meester of Gossip Girl fame) and Paige (Gillian Jacobs of Community fame), who are co-dependent. Their relationship is made even more difficult when Paige starts dating Tim (Adam Brody of The O.C. fame) while Sasha struggles to find a serious girlfriend of her own.

Their most recent project was the under-appreciated ABC Family drama Chasing Life that was based on the Mexican series Terminales. That series ran for two seasons on the cable network, focusing on the life of April Carver (series lead Italia Ricci), who was very unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer in her 20’s. The series wasn’t just about the journey April took with her illness but also about how she chose to live her life.

Susanna can be followed on Twitter @SusannaFogel and on Facebook here; while Joni can be followed on Twitter at @jonikat.