Meet Joyce Johnson: A brief bio of CG’s hosted speaker
Joyce Johnson is the co-producer of several films, including Mother: Caring for 7 Billion. Photo courtesy of motherthefilm.com.
By CG Lifestyles & People Editor Sarah DeCarlo
This week, College Green Magazine is hosting filmmaker Joyce Johnson. She was one of the producers of the documentary film “Mother: Caring for 7 Billion” that CG will be screening on Wednesday in Ohio University’s Walter Hall.
Johnson is originally from Denver, Colo. where she gained an eco-friendly outlook at a young age. “Growing up we spent a lot of time in the Rocky Mountains and this gave me an appreciation for the environment,” she wrote in an email.
She stayed in-state for post-secondary schooling, earning a B.S. in Business from Colorado State University and a B.S. in Biology from Metro State College.
After graduating, Johnson worked as a health educator and teen counselor in Title I schools, primarily teaching students about pregnancy prevention. She later began creating documentaries on similar issues, thereby advocating for women’s reproductive rights. “Empowering women is key to saving the planet,” she wrote.
Although her most recent film, “Mother: Caring for 7 Billion,” is primarily about population growth, it has strong environmental ties and ties to women’s rights. According to the online press kit, the title of this film refers to people’s relationship with Mother Earth. “The message in Mother is about giving people the full story so they understand how both population growth and the resulting consumption impact the planet, particularly in developed countries,” Johnson wrote. “Like most people I always looked at the environmental impact, but never the entire equation. Environmental Impact = consumption/waste x the number of people.”
Johnson enjoyed producing “Mother,” which was partly filmed in Ethiopia, because she was able to meet new people. “I enjoyed traveling and interviewing the interesting people featured in the film,” she wrote. “Through our research and interviews I learned a lot about this issue. ‘Mother’ could have been a four-hour mini series as there are so many ways to examine population.”
The most surprising thing she learned through producing this film was the stigma associated with population among the right and left political groups.
The director and co-producer of “Mother” is Johnson’s husband, Christophe Fauchère. According to the press kit, Fauchère founded the filmmaking company Tiroir A Films in 2001, through which he and Johnson have produced two other award-winning and eco-conscious documentaries. They also have two children, so, as a mother herself, the impact of population growth is close to home for Johnson. “Preserving the environment for our children and grandchildren to use and enjoy is very important,” she wrote. Johnson and her family currently live in Denver.
Johnson is joining College Green for a screening of her film “Mother: Caring for 7 Billion” Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Walter 145. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session.
