To recap: Our friends Rocco and Rachel own a production company, so they couldn’t help but film us while Riese (editor-in-chief), Alex (design director), Brooke (chief operating officer) and Tess (web manager) were in Los Angeles last month. Riese & Tess both hate being on video, so as much as this series is about what happens behind the scenes of Autostraddle, it’s also about what happens when you keep filming people who don’t want to be filmed!
This week Rocco enters our uber exciting team meeting and tries to find out “What is Autostraddle?” Because it’s impossible to really answer that question in 1-3 takes, she later inquires Haviland Stillwell while Haviland is tucked away in the backseat of her car. Have I mentioned that Tess hates being on video, ’cause she does.
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Riese is the 40-year-old Co-Founder and CEO of Autostraddle.com as well as an award-winning writer, video-maker, LGBTQ+ Marketing consultant and aspiring cyber-performance artist who grew up in Michigan, lost her mind in New York and now lives in California. Her work has appeared in nine books including "The Bigger the Better The Tighter The Sweater: 21 Funny Women on Beauty, Body Image & Other Hazards Of Being Female," magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Nylon, Queerty, Nerve, Bitch, Emily Books and Jezebel. She had a very popular personal blog once upon a time, and then she recapped The L Word, and then she had the idea to make this place, and now here we all are! In 2016, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism. Follow her on twitter and instagram.
IT’S TESS!
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i wish this would turn into a Before They Were Stars / VH1 Behind the Music-ish hour-long documentary w/ voiceovers and title sequences and confessionals and EVERYTHING. i could watch this all day.
oh hai haviland.
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autostraddle is like that liquid place between waking and dreaming, where carmen de la pica morales rubs your shoulders aboard an olivia cruise ship while kim stolz passes you a stiff mojito and erin foley gives you back-handed compliments.
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autostraddle is like realizing that you’re gay all over again.
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autostraddle is like coming IN.
Autostraddle is like a girl-fucking flavored smoothie that has kind of an insane aftertaste that you kind of like and you kind of have to keep coming back for more.
My strategy for answering “what is autostraddle” is to repeat the question back to you, apparently.
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I love Tess, superior programmer extraordinaire.
is alex using a bottle of pills as a shaker? awesome central.
i’m not ok with this.
Next weeks installment: When Tess called Intern Elizabeth in the middle of the night to fire her. And then again to say she loves her ;)
On the other hand, I am 100% more than okay with this. LOOK HOW CUTE TESS IS! Everyone is so #autowonderful.
Carly has already requested Tess’s voicemail as her ringtone
yes the entirety of the voicemail, please. as one ringtone.
If you can tell me how to take the voicemails from my phone and turn them into a ringtone, you can have them… ;)
what’s up marie lyn bernard?
i love everyone in this video and i love brooke’s cloak. especially brooke’s cloak.
Tess is amazing at the end!
Brooke’s robe-cloak-technicolor-dreamcoat.
NEWSFLASH: Tess exists!
IT’S TESS!
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i wish this would turn into a Before They Were Stars / VH1 Behind the Music-ish hour-long documentary w/ voiceovers and title sequences and confessionals and EVERYTHING. i could watch this all day.
ONE person in that vehicle was NOT happy about the spice girls being played at an obscene volume, which is crazy! wannabe ftw.
i have two feelings: homygod brooke’s cape. homygod tess will motherfuck you.
Oh my. Is that a snuggie? Cause it should be.
I was cold. It’s a blanket! A blanket without sleeves, but I found ways of making it work.
for hanukkah i’m getting you a slanket with your name on it.
oh hai haviland.
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autostraddle is like that liquid place between waking and dreaming, where carmen de la pica morales rubs your shoulders aboard an olivia cruise ship while kim stolz passes you a stiff mojito and erin foley gives you back-handed compliments.
–
autostraddle is like realizing that you’re gay all over again.
–
autostraddle is like coming IN.
omg I think quite a few Autostraddlers just fell even more in love with bcw than they were before.
I didn’t know that was possible. But yes, you’re right, I’m more in love with both bcw and also Team Autostraddle.
are you referring to me and laneia because if so you are absolutely .. right?
I just noticed that during Wannabe, Alex is playing auxiliary percussion with what looks to be a bottle of pills.
Hey well Autostraddle doesn’t just run on Dunkin’
That was my favorite part.
Autostraddle is like a girl-fucking flavored smoothie that has kind of an insane aftertaste that you kind of like and you kind of have to keep coming back for more.
Ditto.