Cassie Jaye

Jaye was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to Nena Jaye.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydemocrat.com/article/NI/20170105/FEATURES/170109939|title=Filmmaker's 'The Red Pill' a bitter one for feminists to swallow|publisher=|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907110842/http://www.dailydemocrat.com/article/NI/20170105/FEATURES/170109939|archive-date=2018-09-07|url-status=dead}} When she was aged 6, her parents divorced.{{Cite web|url=https://www.marinij.com/general-news/20101004/larkspur-mother-daughter-make-daddy-i-do-a-documentary-about-abstinence-only-movement|title=Larkspur mother, daughter make 'Daddy I Do,' a documentary about abstinence-only movement|date=October 4, 2010}} When she was 14, Jaye moved to Las Vegas, where she attended Palo Verde High School.{{Cite web|url=http://www.jeffhightower.com/cassiejaye.html|title=Cassie Jaye: The New School of Hollywood|website=www.jeffhightower.com}}

At age 18, she moved to Los Angeles, where she was an actress for five years before moving to Marin County, California in 2008.{{Cite web|url=http://cinesourcemagazine.com/index.php?/site/comments/cassie_jaye_a_filmmaker_births_herself/|title=Cassie Jaye: A Filmmaker Births Herself|last=Schwartz|first=Don|date=Aug 21, 2011|website=CineSource|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924045646/http://cinesourcemagazine.com/index.php?%2Fsite%2Fcomments%2Fcassie_jaye_a_filmmaker_births_herself%2F|archive-date=September 24, 2011|url-status=live|access-date=June 24, 2019}} Jaye disliked the stereotypical roles she was cast in, which she described as "cute girl-next-door who always died in horror films." Along with several incidents of sexual harassment, this led her to embrace feminism.{{Cite news|url=https://www.dailydot.com/irl/red-pill-mens-rights-documentary/|title=What makes a feminist create a film on MRAs?|date=2015-11-10|work=The Daily Dot|access-date=2018-06-04|language=en-US}}

After leaving the acting field, Jaye stayed in films, but as a documentary producer, director, and editor. She formed Jaye Bird Productions, a film production company, in 2008.{{Cite web|title=Cassie Jaye|url=https://www.tedxmarin.org/cassie-jaye/|access-date=2020-08-25|website=TEDxMarin|language=en-US}} Her mother is her production partner.

Jaye directed and produced the 2010 American documentary film Daddy I Do which examines sex education and sexual abstinence programs in the United States.{{Cite web|url=https://rewire.news/article/2010/11/10/daddy-abstinence-worldtough-women/|title=Daddy I Do: "Purity" World is Tough for Women|last=Seltzer|first=Sarah|publisher=Rewire|date=November 10, 2010}} Daddy I Do includes interviews with the founder of the Silver Ring Thing Denny Pattyn, feminist writer Amanda Marcotte, and Douglas Kirby. The film discusses personal stories from women facing teenage pregnancy, single motherhood, abortion and sexual assault.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rowthree.com/2010/05/10/review-daddy-i-do/|title=Review:Daddy I Do|last=Antunes|first=Marina|publisher=Row Three|date=May 10, 2010}} Bust magazine praised "Jaye for exposing the truth about abstinence-only programs, the stories of teenagers who buy into it, and its consequences".{{Cite news|url=https://bust.com/tv/5793-exposed-the-gift-of-virginity-and-purity-balls.html|title=Exposed: The Gift of Virginity and Purity Balls|access-date=2018-06-04|language=en-gb}}

In December 2018, Jaye published Daddy I Do on her channel on YouTube."[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj9FXcent3k Daddy I Do (2010) - FULL DOCUMENTARY]", Cassie Jaye's YouTube channel, 21 December 2018.

Jaye directed and produced her second feature documentary film The Right to Love: An American Family in 2012. The film chronicles a family known as "Gay Family Values" on YouTube in the aftermath of 2008 California Proposition 8.{{Cite web|url=https://www.advocate.com/news/news-features/2011/11/08/strategy-changing-minds-focus-gay-family

|title=A Strategy to Change Minds: Focus on the Gay Family|publisher=The Advocate|date=November 8, 2011}}

The film premiered in February 2012 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco with guest speaker Zach Wahls.{{Cite web|url=http://ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=outthere&article=357|title=We live to love & we love us an olive|publisher=The Bay Area Reporter|date=February 2, 2012}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.gaycities.com/outthere/21044/photos-zach-wahls-has-a-confession-to-make-to-gay-activists-in-san-francisco/|title=Zach Wahls Has a Confession to Make to Gay Activists in San Francisco|publisher=GayCities|date=January 27, 2012}} The film was screened at the Frameline Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.documentary.org/magazine/histories-acting-frameline-36|title=Histories of Acting Up: Frameline at 36|date=July 9, 2012|publisher=International Documentary Association|access-date=February 6, 2018}}

In December 2018, Jaye published The Right to Love on her channel on YouTube."[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e92eyFxr5ro The Right To Love: An American Family (2012) - FULL MOVIE]", Cassie Jaye's YouTube channel, 21 December 2018.

{{main|The Red Pill}}

Jaye directed and produced the 2016 American documentary film The Red Pill about the men's rights movement. Jaye spent a year interviewing men's rights figures, such as Paul Elam, founder of A Voice for Men; Harry Crouch, president of the National Coalition for Men; Warren Farrell, author of The Myth of Male Power;{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/red-pill-943413|title='The Red Pill' Review|last=DeFore|first=John|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=November 2, 2016}} and Erin Pizzey, who started the first domestic violence shelter for men in the modern world.{{cite web|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/cassie-jayes-red-pill-too-truthful-for-feminists-to-tolerate/news-story/13fd616a569c1d48bb4fd221d51795f2|title=Cassie Jaye's Red Pill too truthful for feminists to tolerate|last=Arndt|first=Bettina|work=The Australian|date=29 October 2016|access-date=22 October 2017|authorlink=Bettina Arndt}} She interviewed critics of the movement, such as Ms. magazine executive editor Katherine Spillar,{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/the-red-pill-the-movie-about-men-that-feminists-didnt-want-you-t/|title=The Red Pill: the movie about men that feminists didn't want you to see |publisher=Telegraph |website=telegraph.co.uk|date=12 November 2015 |first=Martin|last=Daubney |access-date=21 October 2017}} and sociologist Michael Kimmel.{{cite web|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/08/bay-area-filmmakers-new-film-the-red-pill-is-a-bitter-one-for-feminists-to-swallow/|title=Bay Area filmmaker's new film, 'The Red Pill,' is a bitter one for feminists to swallow|last=Liberatore|first=Paul|publisher=Mercury News|date=November 8, 2016}}

Jaye initially relied on her own money to fund the film, as well as that from her mother and her boyfriend, as she found difficulty finding backers from traditional sources after it became known that the film would take a "balanced approach"{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/26/the-red-pill-melbourne-cinema-drops-mens-rights-film-after-feminist-backlash|title=The Red Pill: Melbourne cinema drops men's rights film after feminist backlash|last=Hunt|first=Elle|work=The Guardian|date=October 26, 2016}} view of the men's rights movement.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydot.com/irl/red-pill-mens-rights-documentary/|title=Meet the feminist who is making a film about the men's rights movement|last=Scott|first=Catherine|publisher=The Daily Dot|date=November 10, 2015}} In what she called a "last resort", she started a campaign on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. The Kickstarter project promised to be a "fair and balanced" look at the men's rights movement. She received support from Breitbart News columnist Milo Yiannopoulos.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/the-red-pill-the-movie-about-men-that-feminists-didnt-want-you-t/|title=The Red Pill: the movie about men that feminists didn't want you to see|last=Daubney|first=Martin|publisher=The Telegraph|date=November 12, 2015}}{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/3bwvqb/oh-no-the-australian-premiere-of-the-red-pill-was-cancelled|title=Why Australian Men's Rights Activists Had Their Bullshit Documentary Banned|date=26 October 2016|publisher=Vice|website=vice.com|first=Katherine|last=Gillespie}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/11/cassie-jaye-red-pill-feminism-mens-rights|title=Feminist film-maker criticised for making 'balanced' men's rights documentary|last=Lee|first=Benjamin|work=The Guardian|date=November 11, 2015}}

At the end of the film, Jaye states that she no longer identifies as a feminist, saying that she now believes that "feminism is not the road to gender equality". Although she no longer calls herself a feminist, she has stated that she is "still an advocate of women's rights and always will be" but is now "adding men to the discussion."

Jaye gave a TEDx speech about her experience making The Red Pill. It focused particularly on how the process initially affirmed her feminist sense of otherism and outrage against the men's rights movement, but then later broke it down. It was an "uncomfortable and humbling experience", and one that turned her "from feminism to gender equality activism".

In 2019 Jaye said that the video diaries she recorded during filming allowed her to remember what her views on feminism were before she started working on the film, and why she thought that way. Looking back on the diaries, she could see that her previous views weren't necessarily malicious, but just uninformed."[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ44TjFiuqY&t=29m10s Cassie Jaye - Gender Politics | Exploring Minds w/ Michele Carroll Ep. 15]" (at 29m10s), Exploring Minds with Michele Carroll, 7 April 2019.

Jaye's effort for the Kickstarter project was strongly criticized by some feminists{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/3bwvqb/oh-no-the-australian-premiere-of-the-red-pill-was-cancelled|title=Why Australian Men's Rights Activists Had Their Bullshit Documentary Banned|website=Vice|date=October 26, 2016 |access-date=August 19, 2017}} including David Futrelle, who runs a website called We Hunted the Mammoth and who said it looked like propaganda.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/11/cassie-jaye-red-pill-feminism-mens-rights|title=Feminist film-maker criticised for making 'balanced' men's rights documentary|first=Benjamin|last=Lee|date=11 November 2015|website=The Guardian}} The film had screenings canceled in Australia following petitions, protests, and threats against those holding the screening.{{cite journal|url=http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=585874959497179;res=IELAPA|title=Men's rights activists need to take a chill pill|first=Neve|last=Mahoney|date=1 October 2016|journal=Eureka Street|volume=26|issue=21}}{{cite journal|url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-police-asked-to-investigate-threats-of-violence-ahead-of-movie-screening/news-story/e5737f34521866a991e7b1d984f8a004|title=Queensland police asked to investigate threats of violence ahead of movie screening|date=3 January 2017|publisher=Courier Mail |website=couriermail.com.au}}{{subscription required}}{{cite journal|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/red-pill-screenings-stopped-you-may-not-watch/news-story/2caf8a8592f4ee16a47cb1f4aa643a2a|title=Red Pill Screening Stopped: You may not watch|date=8 Jun 2017 |first=Andrew|last=Bolt |publisher=Herald Sun |website=heraldsun.com.au}}{{cite journal|url=http://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/movies/2017/06/09/cassie-jaye-the-red-pill/|title=The Red Pill: US 'former feminist' Cassie Jaye stuns Project panel with men's rights spiel|date=9 Jun 2017 |first=Andrew|last=Bolt |publisher=The New Daily |website=thenewdaily.com.au}}{{cite journal|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radio/brisbane/programs/mornings/cassie-jaye/8600824|title=The Red Pill: The film feminists don't want you to watch|date=8 Jun 2017 |publisher=ABC Radio Brisbane |website=abc.net.au}}{{cite journal|url=https://www.mamamia.com.au/the-red-pill-director-the-project/|title=Director of "anti-feminist" documentary leaves The Project panel in stunned silence|date=8 June 2017 |publisher=Mamamia |first=Belinda |last=Jepsen|website=mamamia.com.au}}

David Futrelle accused Jaye of soliciting funding from members of the men's rights movement, which she portrays sympathetically.{{cite news|title=Feminist filmmaker faces backlash over men's rights documentary|url=http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/11/11/feminist-filmmaker-faces-backlash-over-mens-rights-documentary/|access-date=22 October 2017|work=The New York Times|date=11 November 2015}} She has said that the suggestion the film was funded by MRAs (men's rights activists) is "a common lie that keeps spreading," and that the film's backers and producers would have no influence or control of the film. It has also been criticized by Alan Scherstuhl of The Village Voice, among others, for failing to challenge controversial comments and behavior from men's rights figures such as Elam. Jaye has defended the film as being "extremely balanced" and that people were "heard in context without manipulation".{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/feminist-filmmaker-cassie-jaye-sparks-outrage-after-suggesting-womens-rights-discriminate-against-a3409346.html|title=Feminist filmmaker: women's rights are now silencing men|website=Evening Standard|first=Chloe|last=Chaplain|date=1 December 2016}}

In a 2017 interview with Australian TV show The Project, when Carrie Bickmore asked her about a recent high-profile murder of Luke Batty by his father, Jaye emphasized that it was a specific example of a male victim of domestic abuse, where Waleed Aly tersely rebuts, "that's the lesson you took from that?" (from the murder). Jaye responded that "we have to distinguish between victims and perpetrators, or criminals, because a boy who is being abused by a parental figure, that is a boy that deserves care and compassion and resources if he needs to find help." Jaye described the interview as "hostile and aggressive", and initially pulled out of some interviews following the incident.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/red-pill-director-cassie-jaye-pulls-out-of-hack-live/8635696|title=Red Pill director Cassie Jaye pulls out of Hack Live special on male privilege|date=20 June 2017|publisher=ABC|website=abc.net.au}}{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/current-affairs/the-project-hosts-left-speechless-during-interview-with-controversial-us-film-director/news-story/62fd15d82d06e766075aeeb811e46ad6|title=The Project hosts left speechless during interview with controversial US film director|publisher= |website=news.com.au|first=Bronte|last=Coy|date=10 June 2017}} Later she resumed interviews but made her own recording of the discussions, as she stated she had been "misquoted so much".{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/good-weekend/cassie-jayes-film-on-the-mens-rights-movement-shocked-australia-why-20170726-gxj34p.html|title=Cassie Jaye's film on the men's rights movement shocked Australia. Why?|publisher=Fairfax Media |website=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Greg|last=Callaghan|date=29 July 2017}}

In an interview on the Australian TV show Weekend Sunrise, Jaye asked the show's hosts Andrew O'Keefe and Monique Wright directly "Did you see the film?". The co-hosts said they had not.{{cite web|url=http://au.tv.yahoo.com/plus7/sunrise/video/watch/35888333/mens-rights-film-banned-in-australia/#page1|title=Men's rights film banned in Australia|publisher=Sunrise}} After receiving a wave of comments critical of the hosts and supporting Jaye, Sunrise removed the video of the interview from their Facebook page. Jaye uploaded the interview to her own page, where it was removed shortly after as a copyright violation. When asked about the removal from Facebook a spokeswoman for the Seven network which produces Sunrise declined to comment. Jaye also posted screenshots of emails to prove that Sunrise's producer had received a copy of the film a month before the interview and plenty of time for the hosts to have watched it. This was to disprove the hosts' claim that they did not receive a copy of the film.{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/seven-forces-facebook-to-remove-sunrise-interview-with-the-red-pill-director-cassie-jaye/news-story/4af823200a65df31925e5e2f6ebe1dbe |title=Seven forces Facebook to remove Sunrise interview with The Red Pill director Cassie Jaye|publisher=|first=Frank |last=Chung|website=news.com.au|date=15 June 2017|access-date=21 October 2017}}

• Daddy I Do (2010)
• The Right to Love: An American Family (2012){{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2012/film/reviews/the-right-to-love-an-american-family-1117948006/|title=The Right to Love: An American Family|last=Harvey|first=Dennis|date=2012-08-06|work=Variety|access-date=2018-06-01|language=en-US}}
• The Red Pill (2016)

• 2010, "Best Documentary" – Daddy I Do Action On Film International Film Festival{{Cite web|url=https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/1f669b_7f97bd660bc94c179d5ec471e38fc4e4.pdf|title=Official Action on Film 2010 Award Winners and 1st Runner Upsin the categories ofFilm, Video, Documentary, Experimental and Animation|date=Jul 30, 2010|website=From: AOF Action On Film Festival, Awards And Nominations|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020153745/https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/1f669b_7f97bd660bc94c179d5ec471e38fc4e4.pdf|archive-date=October 20, 2017|url-status=}}
• 2010, "Best Documentary" – Daddy I Do, Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema{{Cite news|url=http://idyllwildvisitorscenter.com/tcwordpress2011/wp-content/uploads/publication-files/weekly/2013.12.19.online.pdf|title=Cassie Jaye returns to film fest|date=Dec 19, 2013|work=Idyllwild Town Crier|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020172307/http://idyllwildvisitorscenter.com/tcwordpress2011/wp-content/uploads/publication-files/weekly/2013.12.19.online.pdf|archive-date=2017-10-20|url-status=dead|page=10|quote=In 2010, Jaye's film, "Daddy I Do," premiered at the IIFC and was awarded Best Documentary.}}
• 2010, "Best Docu-Drama" – Daddy I Do, Bare Bones International Film Festival{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}
• 2012, "Best Social Commentary Award", The Right to Love: An American Family, Action On Film International Film Festival{{Cite web|url=https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/1f669b_f5ef4ca764174da1b3b55d7b14e8922b.pdf|title=Action On Film 2012 Official Award Nominated Films|website=AOF Action On Film - Results|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020162545/https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/1f669b_f5ef4ca764174da1b3b55d7b14e8922b.pdf|archive-date=October 20, 2017|url-status=}}
• 2012, "Grand Jury Award" – The Right to Love: An American Family, Bare Bones International Film Festival{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}
• 2017, "Best Documentary Feature" – The Red Pill, Louisiana International Film Festival{{cite web |title=Award Winners of LIFF 2017 – The Louisiana International Film Festival |url=https://www.lifilmfest.org/award-winners-liff/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830014401/https://www.lifilmfest.org/award-winners-liff/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 August 2017 |website=Louisiana International Film Festival |access-date=5 August 2019 |date=30 August 2017}}
• 2017, "Best of Festival", "Excellence In Producing A Documentary", and "Excellence In Directing Documentary" – The Red Pill, Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema{{Cite web|url=http://www.idyllwildcinemafest.com/awards-iifc-2017/|title=Awards – IIFC 2017|website=Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020210410/http://www.idyllwildcinemafest.com/awards-iifc-2017/|archive-date=October 20, 2017|url-status=}}
• 2017, "Women In Film" – The Red Pill, Digital Hollywood DigiFest Film Festival{{cite web |url= https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/cassie-jayes-film-on-the-mens-rights-movement-shocked-australia-why-20170726-gxj34p.html |title= Cassie Jaye's film on the men's rights movement shocked Australia. Why? |last=Callaghan |first=Greg |date=28 July 2017 |website=Sydney Morning Herald |quote= Jaye, who won a Women in Film award for The Red Pill at the Hollywood DigiFest festival}}

{{Anchor|Evan Davies}}Cassie Jaye and Evan Davies married in June 2018.{{cite web |url= http://cassiejaye.com/2019/08/30/waitingtomiscarry |title=Waiting to miscarry |date=30 August 2019}} Davies worked as director of photography on The Red Pill.{{cite web|url=https://www.inc.com/joshua-spodek/how-to-lead-under-stress-filmmaker-cassie-jaye.html|title=How to Lead Under Stress: Filmmaker Cassie Jaye|date=30 November 2017|publisher=}}

In September 2018, Jaye discovered that she was pregnant, but then miscarried about a month later. She recorded the events of her pregnancy and miscarriage in footage code-named Robin, the name she gave to the miscarried baby. She has given consideration to produce a documentary project based on that footage, which would be named, Waiting to Miscarry.

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{official website|url=http://www.cassiejaye.com/}}
• {{IMDb name | id=1787884}}

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Category:Living people

Category:1986 births

Category:American documentary filmmakers

Category:People from Fort Sill, Oklahoma

Category:Female critics of feminism

Category:Former feminists

Category:Film directors from Oklahoma

Category:American women documentary filmmakers

Category:Actresses from Oklahoma

Category:Palo Verde High School alumni

Category:21st-century American women