This innovative company, In The Trenches Productions, is the brainchild of four 40+ (55, 58, 62 & 65) female writers and actresses who “made a darn good living 'til they made the ultimate Hollywood faux pas and turned 40. Not quite ready to retire, Jan Bina, Claire Callaway, Judith Drake and Debbie Zipp decided to combine their 200 years of experience in the entertainment industry and make a big midlife transition together. They went from waiting for the phone to ring to running the first entertainment website that celebrates the power and beauty of women over 40. Is this an extreme reinvention? Well, in their world it is. A few years ago they went from barely being able to figure out how to get to their emails to creating and running their own multifaceted website! They had never produced anything and now they are not only producing, but also writing, shooting and editing their own films. Words like Final Cut Pro, blog, search engine, bandwidth, and mini dv's are now part of their everyday vocabulary.

One of their first projects was “Believe It Baby” which features twenty-seven 40+ beauties shooting from the hip about politics, power tools, pantyhose and perseverance. In a few short minutes, these women — some you will recognize, some you won’t — will take you on a journey of discovery and self-awareness. Their inaugural series “Transitions” profiles ordinary women who have found the courage to change, either because of necessity, passion or circumstance, in midlife and have found out that they aren’t so ordinary after all. These are just a couple of examples of the original In the Trenches Productions films you will find on their site and there are plenty of films waiting in the wings.

In the Trenches Productions wants to support other filmmakers out there who feel that it’s time to show the world that stories don’t have to star 20 year olds to be relevant, engaging, and profitable. So they recently added the “Films By You” entertainment center and those insightful filmmakers can now upload their original films to this site. In another supportive effort they’ve also added the “Still Rock’n Music Corner” where they highlight female musicians that are smashing the stereotypes and still rock’n over the age of 40.

Are the women of In the Trenches Productions some of the oldest female filmmakers in this country? You bet they are, and they're darn proud of it. They created the In the Trenches Productions Entertainment Website and it’s content on a shoestring budget without the help of any investors (well, they called on some friends...great thing about being older...they got a lot of super friends!). And they have done it all while fighting breast cancer, lymphoma, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, diabetes, menopause and illnesses affecting family members.

They fervently, FERVENTLY, believe that they can change the way mature women are viewed in this country by providing entertaining films in which the majority of participants happen to be over 40...an extremely novel idea if you've taken a gander at most forms of media lately. Their goal is to provide content that is interesting, upbeat and fun so that viewers will see that life after 40 is not downhill, far from it. It is full of exciting possibilities.

Check out their website, In the Trenches Productions, and see that in their world they have indeed made an extreme reinvention. And they love it.