Back in 1995, Andrea Meyerson was a recently out thirtysomething frustrated with trying to meet women through the Los Angeles lesbian bar scene. So she decided to start her own bicycling club, Women On A Roll (WOAR), in hopes of meeting women with similar interests. WOAR had its first ride on August 5, 1995 and soon grew into an all-encompassing social, sporting, cultural, and travel organization for lesbian singles and couples. Over 200 couples have been met through WOAR, but Meyerson's (who's been in a long distance relationship for over a year) has kept her own love life separate from the organization. “I have the biggest black book in the world and I can't use it,” Meyerson jokes.
Meyerson became passionate about producing events for lesbians and decided to leave the financial safety net of her successful corporate sales career to start her own company StandOut Productions. With StandOut she has produced gay and lesbian fundraisers and lesbian comedy and music events.
Her experience producing lesbian comedy led her to form her own film production company, All Out Films, and direct her first film, Laughing Matters, a documentary profiling lesbian comedy pioneers Kate Clinton, Suzanne Westenhoefer, Marga Gomez, and Karen Williams. Now Meyerson has made its follow-up, Laughing Matters…More!, profiling four more lesbian comediennes--René Hicks, Sabrina Matthews, Elvira Kurt, and Vickie Shaw.
The film has been quickly picking up awards at LGBTQ film festivals around the country including the Audience Award for Best Documentary at its premiere screening at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, the Jury Award for Best Documentary and Audience Favorite at the Fort Worth Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, and the 1st Place Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. The film also screened at Outfest in Los Angeles.
Meyerson, 49, radiates with an energetic, upbeat, bubbly personality, her great passion for the work she does with the lesbian community always in evidence. During our interview, Meyerson spoke with amazing candor about the wild days of her 20's, her long road to coming out, and the genesis of Laughing Matters.
AfterEllen.com: You're such an accomplished entrepreneur, what had you intended to be when you grew up?
Andrea Meyerson: You know, just to make it, an adult. (laughs). I had a pretty volatile childhood and so I became (laughs) a juvenile delinquent for awhile…I let life guide me more than guide it…I was a beach bum and I was a freestyle Frisbee champion. I spent my days putting my time in work, getting home and putting on my shorts and my bikini, either playing freestyle Frisbee on the beach or roller skating at Venice…In those days I was in my 20's, I was bisexual and my life was very much sex, drugs and rock and roll.
AE: Whooohooo!
AM: I know. That is my past! And you know I can't deny it and I'm grateful for it because you know it's all of those things that get you where you are. I had a wild streak and I lived it out to the fullest and I thank God I survived it…I cleaned up my act at 28 and I just said, “Okay, I can still have a good time in life, but you gotta slow down.”
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