Big Impact on the Big Screen
Author(s)
Lorne Fultonberg
Writer
Women鈥檚 College alumna Betty Heid is winning awards for putting Colorado women in the spotlight
The documentaries Betty Heid produces always have a turning point. There鈥檚 a moment when the soon-to-be-successful Colorado women she features get the opportunity to reach their full potential.
In Heid鈥檚 own story,听the plot twisted at the unlikeliest of times: as a newly divorced mother, unsure of what lay ahead.
鈥淚 knew I was going to be successful,鈥 says Heid (BBA 鈥84, MSS 鈥93), a trustee at the 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know how. I didn鈥檛 know what I was going to do, but I knew I was going to do it. I knew that I was going to make a life for myself and my son that was good. And had I not gotten divorced, I鈥檓 not sure I鈥檇 have ever thought that way.鈥
A passion for documentary filmmaking certainly wasn鈥檛 on her mind. Nor were her dreams registering the awards the Heartland Emmy chapter and the Los Angeles Film Festival would bestow upon episodes of her series, airing Thursday nights on Rocky Mountain PBS.
At the time, the path to success was only marked by an article in The Denver Post, promoting an opportunity to finish the college degree she had sacrificed for marriage and a husband鈥檚 career. As it happened, the CWC was offering a weekend program on what was then its Park Hill campus, specifically for women like Heid working demanding jobs.
It was the opening Heid had been looking for.
鈥淚 like learning,鈥 says Heid, who had been a manager in the telecommunications industry, 鈥渂ut I also felt for my career it would be important for me to get a degree.鈥
The skills she learned at the CWC 鈥 which became part of the 91桃色 midway through her education 鈥 translated naturally to a pair of consulting businesses she created later. But when the economy took a downturn, she began to recognize the worth of the diplomas she had earned.
She got involved with the rising to the role of chair and learning still more about the women who have shaped the Centennial State.
鈥淸I realized,] the world doesn鈥檛 know the stories of these women,鈥 Heid says. 鈥淎nd I thought, 鈥榯here鈥檚 got to be a way to tell their stories.鈥欌 Recognizing the power and reach of film, she started the Film Library Project to memorialize as many of the hall of fame inductees as possible. Each production was produced with schools, colleges, libraries and other organizations in mind.
For Heid, it was just like starting a business. She identified a need, hired the most qualified filmmakers to help and began honing her new craft.
In the years since, 鈥淕reat Colorado Women鈥 has ballooned to 10 half-hour installments. They include the stories of Marion Downs, a pioneer in newborn hearing screenings; Dana Crawford, the visionary responsible for preserving Larimer Square; and Marilyn Van Derbur Atler, a Miss America winner and an advocate for incest survivors.
The impact, Heid says, has been tremendous. The films have been a vehicle for starting conversations, inspiring confidence in young girls and teaching young boys. She鈥檚 already at work on season three of 鈥淕reat Colorado Women鈥 and hopes to revise her documentary on Van Derbur Atler for consideration at the Academy Awards.
鈥淭hese films are critical for history,鈥 she says, 鈥淧eople need to know that women are smart, they can achieve. Sometimes they need the chance to do it.鈥
So much of Heid鈥檚 chance can be traced to the CWC, where a brick engraved with her name is part of a third-floor wall. She doesn鈥檛 often climb the stairs to look at it, but she doesn鈥檛 need to to feel the connection to the institution and its supportive, knowledgeable faculty and alumnae. The CWC community, she says, offered a sense of family and an environment where women鈥檚 voices were powerful. The education she received, she adds, set her up with the people skills, confidence and mindset to pursue her passions.
鈥淚鈥檒l never forget that experience I had at Colorado Women鈥檚 College,鈥 she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 pleased to be a part of something that鈥檚 growing and moving in a good direction.鈥