Work samples

  • PN Intro

    The World According to Pussy Noir.

  • Daniel Really Suits You

    Learning to drive, learning to shave, capturing the moment. Daniel’s story is about the quiet milestones of youth that connect us all as he finds the freedom to be himself.      

  • Lucie and Annie

    Lucie and Annie explain their history and community activism. 

  • Weirdo

    password: bronnie

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About Amy

Baltimore City  

Multiple Emmy Award winning producer and director Amy Oden is best known for her person-first documentary and multimedia work.

Amy served as senior director of the video team at the Human Rights Campaign, where she produced and supervised the production of projects like “Daniel Really Suits You,” along with a major studio overhaul, and production and branding oversight on major campaigns. The “Daniel Really Suits You” film and campaign, supported by the Red Nose Foundation, won the… more

View Amy's Resume
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Weirdo

In the summer before her freshman year, Bronwyn tells us what it's like to grow up in two very different places. 

  • Weirdo

    password: bronnie

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    Daniel Really Suits You

    Daniel’s story is typical of any teenager with the same quiet milestones of youth that we all experience. He’s also one of more than two million people who are transgender or non-binary in the United States.  Catch this short, heartwarming film and discover, in just 7 minutes, how you can help create a world where Daniel has the freedom to be himself. 

    • Daniel Really Suits You

      Learning to drive, learning to shave, capturing the moment. Daniel’s story is about the quiet milestones of youth that connect us all as he finds the freedom to be himself.      

    •

    The World According to Pussy Noir

    A local drag performer combines haute couture and history, exploring her community heritage, as she prepares to put on her final show at the Kennedy Center.

    Pussy Noir, or Jason Barnes, has been a drag performer in the Nation's Capital for several decades. A classically trained artist, the majority of Ms. Noir’s professional background is in theater and fashion design, but she combines a variety of artistic mediums and cultural influences in her performances. Working as a fellow at the Kennedy Center’s Culture Caucus for the last year, Jason has sought to elevate drag onto one of the biggest stages in the region. 

    This twenty minute vérité documentary looks at the work that Jason is doing at the Kennedy Center, his evolution and education as an artist, his relationship with drag, and his family. Jason’s interest in history also takes him on a brief exploration of some early sites for drag culture in D.C. and Baltimore. The development and completion of his final project at the Kennedy Center serves as the overall background story arc for the film.

    This project is currently in development/early production.  

    • PN Intro
      Intro to forthcoming short documentary, The World According to Pussy Noir.
    • P. Noir on CCRH
      Work sample & extra scene from upcoming short "The World According to Pussy Noir". Here, Ms. Noir discusses her work styling the Chocolate City Rocky Horror fashion film.
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    • Lucie and Annie

    Lucie and Annie discuss their struggle to become officially recognized as a married couple in their home state of Maine, and encourage a younger generation of activists to take up the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. 

    • Lucie and Annie Still
      Lucie and Annie Still
      Lucie and Annie at their home in Maine.
    • Lucie and Annie

      Lucie and Annie explain their history and community activism. 

    •

    • Seeing Women

    Who are community tarot readers and how is their work inherintly feminine? How did they get involved in “SEEING WOMEN”? 

    Women who “see” have been maligned throughout much of Western history, and yet psychics remain ubiquitous. SEEING WOMEN are marginal migrants, representative of a specific type of feminized labor and emotional work. Who are they? In “Witches, Midwives, and Nurses”, Barbara Ehrenreich writes that “we know the witch only through the eyes of her persecutors”. SEEING WOMEN seeks to change this narrative. 

    • Screen shot from Seeing Women
      Screen shot from Seeing Women
      Screenshot from Seeing Women, in the festival circuit.
    • Seeing Women
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    • Lipstick and Leather

    In a buttoned-up city like DC, what happens when drag queens go rogue? LIPSTICK AND LEATHER explores the “alt-drag” community in the nation’s capital, and how these performers are spreading their influence across the east coast. 

    LIPSTICK AND LEATHER was released in 2020, with Culhanimal Productions as co-producer. It has screened at the Indianapolis Film Festival, Q Fest St. Louis, Cinema Diverse: The Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival, Reel Affirmations, the Virginia Film Festival, and the LGBT Toronto Film Festival. LIPSTICK AND LEATHER has also been distributed by PBS's Reel South. 

    For more information, visit: http://lipstickandleatherdoc.com
    • Lipstick and Leather Trailer
      Trailer for LIPSTICK AND LEATHER, released in 2020.
    • Lipstick and Leather Sample Scene
      Sample scene from the documentary short, "LIPSTICK AND LEATHER", released in 2020.
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    • Calasag

    CALASAG follows two first-generation Filipino-American entrepreneurs , exploring culture and identity through cuisine, as they work to bring Filipino food traditions to Baltimore. 

    Maryrose and Dylan worked together as CALASAG for two years. This pop-up restaurant in Baltimore City enabled a passion for Filipino cuisine to connect both young chefs with their heritage. The business grew over the years, but but was ultimately shuttered during the pandemic of 2020. This documentary, originally intended to be a feature, chronicles part of their journey, as they sought to learn more about their food culture and legacy.

    CALASAG benefitted from the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, as well as fiscal sponsorship by the International Documentary Association.
    For more information, visit: https://www.documentary.org/project/calasag
    • Calasag Trailer
      Trailer for independent documentary Calasag, released in 2020.
    • Calasag the Documentary
      Calasag the Documentary, out now on Vimeo to benefit the Liyang Network. This nonprofit helps to create sustainable, long-term support for indigenous communities in the Philippines
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    • Exotic

    Dotted with palm trees and coral reefs, Guam is United States territory where military men and Japanese tourists abound. A seemingly perfect backdrop for a strip club, the island should sound ideal to any girl coming from Portland, Atlanta, or Anchorage to work as an exotic dancer.

    But is it? Exotic foregrounds the stories of workers, as they discuss this fluid and secretive world…

    EXOTIC was released in 2016, and had the benefit of fiscal sponsorship through Women in Film and Video. It screened at the Indie Capitol Awards, the Guam International Film Festival, the San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival, SECS Fest, and the International Freethought Festival. It has aired on Italian Television and is available to stream on Amazon Prime. 


    For more information, visit: http://exoticdocumentary.com
    • Exotic Trailer
      Trailer for EXOTIC documentary, released in 2016.
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    From the Back of the Room

    Many people have the impression that the Riot Grrrl movement in the mid-90s was the end-all, be-all of female involvement in DIY punk. This is definitely not the case! Plenty of amazing ladies prior to this era paved the way for it, and plenty of amazing ladies continue to help keep DIY together today. This documentary chronicles the past 30 years of female involvement in DIY punk, and has interviews with over 30 women from across the country, ages 17 to 40. Race, gender, sexuality, motherhood, class, and activism are all addressed in this film, giving a more complete picture of how these women participate in the DIY community, and how it affects their daily lives.

    FROM THE BACK OF THE ROOM was released in 2011. It screened at numerous festivals and venues across seventeen countries, and is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. FROM THE BACK OF THE ROOM is available to stream on Amazon Prime and Kanopy.

    For more information, visit: http://fromthebackoftheroom.com/ftbotr.htm

    • From the Back of the Room Trailer
      Trailer for FROM THE BACK OF THE ROOM, released in 2011.
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