Women's Studies coverage now added

Women's Studies tells the story of Mary, a pregnant grad student, and her friends
who are held captive at a women's academy that's actually a cult of feminists bent
on the enslavement of men. Rather than a typical "hack & slash" horror movie,
writer/director, Lonnie Martin, describes it as "an intelligent look at group think,
women's issues, and how blind belief in any one sided dogma can create a terrorist."
Principle photography was slated to begin in July of 2007. Instead of a horror movie
website, the Women’s Studies site is designed to look like a promotional site for the
“Ross Prentiss Women’s Academy,” the fictional college where much of the film will
take place. The site features links to cast and crew, a weekly updated production
blog, and a ten minute promotional video with cast and crew interviews.

"We’re very excited about the site. The design idea is that it’s a haunted site with
hidden links and easter eggs galore that lead to juicy little details about this Woman’
s Academy and the people associated with it," said Cindy Marie Martin, Co Producer
and Marketing Director for Ningen Manga Productions. "New hidden links will
periodically be added each month so that it stays fresh," she added. The main cast
of Women’s Studies is made up of six talented actors from in and around the
Washington, DC area. Ningen Manga Co Producer Cindy Marie Martin, best known for
the short films Ten Minutes and Under the Bed, will be playing the lead role of Mary
while Tara Garwood, soon to be seen in the upcoming Nicole Kidman Body Snatcher
remake, The Visiting, will play Judith, the mysterious leader of the women’s academy
girls. Also featured are DC independent actors Kelley Slagle (FELT, Noir) as Judith’s
lieutenant, Diane, and Melisa Breiner Sanders (Holler Creek Canyon) as Mary’s
cautious best friend, Beth. Rounding out the cast are Laura Bloechl as Mary’s
insecure friend Iris, and Tiffany James as the “newage” academy girl, Melissa.

Earlier this year, Women’s Studies sparked controversy between two feminist blogs
simply over its casting announcement. The Independent Women’s Forum, a group on
conservative feminists, interpreted the film’s concept as support against radical
women’s studies programs, which prompted a response from the liberal blog, Amanda
Marcotte’s Pandagon, which blasted the Women’s Studies concept as anti-feminist.
Though Writer/Director Lonnie Martin thought both the responses were
overreactions, he wasn’t too worried about them. "The movie has no political
agenda except to show how scary cults can be. It’s all done in the spirit of horror
movie fun. Feminists, misogynists, pagans, abortionists; we skewer everybody,
both figuratively and literally." Martin thinks horror and non-horror fans alike will be
attracted to Women’s Studies.

"It’s very topical," he says, "and yet it also deals with universal ideas and emotions
that are timeless. It’s also scary as hell." Andrew Gifford of the webzine, Great
Society.org sums up Martin’s work with a warning stating, "When you see Martin's
name on the screen, you're going to be sleeping with the lights on." In 2005, Ningen
Manga Productions completed the short film, First Session, which went on to garner
positive reviews and was accepted as an Official Entry to both the Temecula Valley
International Film Festival and the West Chester Film Festival. Earlier this year
Ningen Manga won “Best Sound Design” during the 2006 Washington, DC 48 Hour
Film Project for their short, Under the Bed.