'Hot Flashes' Gives New Life To Women

On April 24th, actresses Jessica Hecht, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Amy Brenneman and Kim Raver  read excerpts from Hot Flashes, a fictional blog started by writer/producer Mimi Schmir.

Now in its 22nd episode exclusively at www.firstwivesworld.com, the hysterically funny and smart serial follows modern day heroine Esme, a feisty, pre-menopausal mom in her late 40s, as she moves forward with her life post-divorce after her husband leaves for a younger woman.  In recent episodes, Esme has discovered her ex-husband spent over $100,000 on prostitutes (Episode 17: Elliot Spitzer Stupid); revealed the news – out of concern -- to her husband's current lover, who is Esme's ex-best friend (Episode 18: Missionary Position); and described in delicious detail, her romantic first date with handsome HBPD – i.e. "hot birthday party dad" (Episode 19: How To Dress Your Age).

Hecht, Rubin-Vega, Brenneman and Raver, while very different actresses, all read different stories in the hilarious and poignant life of Esme. Each actress and story brought a very different tone to the evening yet still managed to communicate the central feelings of confusion, excitement, hurt, and rebirth as Esme reclaims and re-identifies herself in her mid-life. Ranging from issues of inter-school dating, tattoos, the healing power of shoes, and regretful 'ex-sex', the readings combined the right doses of humor, sadness, and overall- strength.

Danielle Montalbano, Head of First Wives World Productions, said, "The event marks a new approach to television packaging; using the web as a platform to engage potential viewers and excite development executives. 'Hot Flashes' is one of four projects currently being developed for First Wives World's "featured entertainment" division. First Wives World.com wraps its arms around the over 30 million divorced women in the United States, providing advice, entertainment, and social networking for every woman, at every stage of divorce."

"Hot Flashes" is a perfect fit for the web, venturing into a subject area that has yet to be explored on television: Menopause as mid-life reinvention. Now the primetime world will sit up and pay attention to the women who control the pocketbooks of the American Family.

19 episodes of "Hot Flashes" have already been posted on www.firstwivesworld.com, and from the comments it's receiving the audience is wild about them. The site is the first-of-its-kind designed for divorced women of all ages, offering dedicated community, cutting-edge resources and information, and relevant video programming and entertainment.

What started out as a blog has turned into a boisterous online community of women from all different walks of life finding comfort and strength in Schmir's words and each other.

Paul Lambert and Jonas Neilson, two of the founders of First Wives World, reveal that they were were looking for something fresh, edgy and smart when Mosaic talent agent Ann Blanchard pitched Mimi Schmir's brilliant concept. "The web today is a creative incubator for new entertainment properties finding an audience.  'Hot Flashes' works on so many levels and is building a huge following."

Neilson and Lambert are also the producers who re-united Brian and Eddie Holland with their Motown partner Lamont Dozier to join book writer Rupert Holmes and director Francesca Zambello to create The First Wives Club Musical.  The musical is one of the many projects of First Wives World and will be coming to Broadway in the Fall 2009, and is based off of the 1996 film of the same title. Hot Flashes also shows great theatrical potential, which became clear at the reading on April 24th. Producers hope to expand Schimir's blogs to eventually produce a play along the same structure lines as the Vagina Monologues.

Mimi Schimir has been a television writer and producer in Los Angeles for over ten years. Her crediits include the ABC television movie "Trapped in a Purple Haze" about teen heroin addiction in the suburbs, as well as multiple episodes as a writer and producer on the series "Sweet Justice," HBO's "Strangers," "Promised Land," "Felicity," "Party of Five" and "Grey's Anatomy," for which she won a Writer's Guild Award and was nominated for both Golden Globe and Emmy Awards.  Her Grey's Anatomy episode "Save Me," which explores the issue of breast cancer and pregnancy was nominated for an Environmental Media Award in 2005, and her episode "Let It Be," about the BRCA gene and prophylactic surgery was honored at the 2006 Sentinel for Health Awards.

Mimi was most recently a Consulting Producer on the CBS drama "Shark," starring James Woods. She has written pilot scripts for Universal Television and Warner Brothers and currently has a project in development at Sony Television Studios. Originally from New Haven, Connecticut, she is a graduate of Harvard University, is married to the writer/producer Gary Glasberg and is the mother of two young boys.

Photo Credits Frank Siciliano