Join me, founder of the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat, as we welcome Emmy‑nominated filmmaker and UCLA professor Becky Smith for an engaging conversation about what it means to find and nurture your creative voice. Becky begins by recalling her improbable journey from a town of just 350 year‑round residents in Okoboji to earning a scholarship at Stanford after her college professor made a single phone call. She reflects on the impact of reading a jazz memoir in her father’s home library, which opened her eyes to issues of race and broadened her worldview long before she left Iowa.
Becky then shares the story of turning 130 hours of women’s basketball footage into a documentary about Title IX, enduring rejection after rejection until PBS’s Frontline took a chance on her work. She describes her excitement and occasional chaos while directing the pilot of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy—herding five charismatic hosts across New York City and earning the first reality‑documentary directing Emmy nomination. That experience led to her independently producing the feature film 16 to Life along the banks of the Mississippi, blending Iowa settings and local talent with her own coming‑of‑age vision.
Throughout the conversation, Becky honors the students and workshop participants she has mentored at UCLA and Okoboji, celebrating their dedication and reminding us that storytelling is both a craft and a community effort. Looking ahead, she talks about her desire to finance one of two deeply personal indie scripts and to write a semi‑fictional memoir inspired by her small‑town roots. This episode is a testament to persistence, the magic of small‑town stories, and the power of bringing diverse voices together to shape meaningful narratives.
The Okoboji Writers’ Retreat Early Bird discount ends at midnight tonight. Save $100
Last chance! Today is the final day to grab the Early Bird discount for the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat. Some of you generously wait to pay full price — and we’re grateful. Your support helps cover rising costs and fund scholarships. But if it helps the budget to save $100, enroll before midnight tomorrow.
We’re also welcoming emerging writers on partial scholarships. Their voices enrich the retreat, and the impact is mutual.
Read about the current faculty coming:
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Invites Our Paid Subscribers to Join us in Winterset
Come meet some of your favorite Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members in Winterset on July 26. We are holding a thank-you event for those who are paid subscribers to any of our members, or this roundup.
Starting at 3:00 p.m., our paid subscribers are invited to join the screening of the film Storm Lake, a documentary about the struggles a family-owned newspaper in Iowa faces. The focus of this story is Art Cullen, who will be on hand to meet y’all.
There will be an after-party, too.
All you need to do to come is RSVP, and be a paid subscriber to any one of us. Still lurking? May we suggest you start with our Madison County hosts, Marianne Fons, Deb Engle, or Vicki Minor.
Barry Piatt will be joining us, trekking back to his home state from Washington, D.C., Dennis Goldford, Robert Leonard, Wini Moranville, Jane Burns, David Thoreson, Jane Nguyen,Marianne Fons,Vicki Minor,Debra Engle,Julie Gammack,Laura Belin,,Jane Nguyen,Douglas Burns,Connie Taylor, Sarah Scull, Matt Russell, The Anglo Back 40,Joan Zwagerman, Cheryl Tevis, Alison McGaughey, Tej Dhawan and Jason Walsmith
We are eager to meet this amazing community of readers from across the state.
Please let us know if you are coming. We need to make sure we have enough popcorn!
Thank you the paid subscribers of this column. Your support is gratifying, and funds help support those who need financial assistance to attend the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat. Together, we are changing lives.
Share this post