From a media release:

THE MOTHERLOAD: A documentary by Cornelia Principe Executive Produced by Bob Culbert

• World Broadcast Premiere on CBC Television’s Doc Zone Thursday, January 9, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. (9:30 NT)

Border City Pictures is pleased to announce the world broadcast premiere of their new documentary, THE MOTHERLOAD on CBC-TV’s Doc Zone on Thursday, January 9, 2014 at 9:00p.m. (9:30 NT).

“I made this documentary, in part, because it was only when I had a child 5 years ago did I realize that things were not the same for men and women. And it was – strangely – shocking to me. “– Cornelia Principe, Director/Producer

Why would a recent article in The Atlantic called “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” create such an international sensation? Why does the announcement of a new CEO of a Fortune 500 company make headlines because she is also pregnant? Why does a billionaire Facebook boss feel compelled to break her silence and speak out about the lack of women at the top? Why all the fuss?

Perhaps it’s because it was all supposed to have changed by now. Dads were supposed to carry more of the load. Motherhood was not supposed to become so idealized. Employers were supposed to be more flexible. Women were supposed to climb higher up the ladder, but feel less guilty. Society was supposed to live up to the promises our mothers made. From single moms to CEOs – a generation of burnt-out, disillusioned moms are waking up and smelling the coffee. Forget having it all – today’s working moms are doing it all. Call it “The Motherload”.

“If you ratchet up the standards at work, and you ratchet up the standards of motherhood, you’re gonna get to be overwhelmed,” notes Joan C. Williams, Law Professor and advocate for better workplace practices for both women and men.

THE MOTHERLOAD takes an in-depth and new look at the subject of working mothers – the current issues, challenges and triumphs that come from trying or having to do it all. And compares Canadian women’s lives to their even more troubled American counterparts – where women are struggling with work-life balance and paying a heavy price with their health.

And it doesn’t stop with women, as now men are starting to feel the weight of “The Motherload”. As writer and Washington Post reporter, Brigid Schulte says “this is not just a mommy issue. This is a human rights issue.” When we meet Brigid, she is working on a book called “Overwhelmed” about her struggles to maintain a demanding career and be an attentive mother of two.

As a key foreign policy advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Anne-Marie Slaughter appears to have it all. Some would say a dream job, a real position of power. But when time comes to sign up for another two years, Anne-Marie, a mother of two, surprises her boss and herself- she quits. “You cannot tell Egypt to hold the revolution because your policy planner has to go home for the weekend”. She returns home to her family and her job as a University Professor and writes “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” for The Atlantic Magazine. The article becomes an international sensation, sparking debate, discussion and a whole lot of controversy.

Sheryl Sandberg is the billionaire COO of Facebook, but she is also a mom – one who was afraid to admit that when she leaves work at 5:30 pm, it’s to have dinner with her kids. Her best-selling book “Lean In” is, she hopes, a call to arms for women to not give up on their ambition. ”The revolution has stalled” states Sandberg and that “It’s important we acknowledge this stagnation for women.”

In the documentary THE MOTHERLOAD, we profile several working mothers struggling to just keep working – much less advance in their careers. Emilie, a prosecutor for the federal government and mother of three, who has just returned to work after her third and final maternity leave (Emilie also happens to be the daughter of former Canadian Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour), Kimeiko, also a mother of three, on a year leave from her job as a college professor, and Helen, a divorced mother of two, who chose to be let go of her position as a plant manager instead of continue to strain under the high expectations at work while trying to care for her kids. We also meet the ultimate in doing it all mothers — divorced, single mom Cathy is on her own – she works two jobs when we first meet her while also caring for her two young sons.

As a producer for over 15 years, award-winning producer (The World Before Her), Cornelia Principe directed, produced and wrote THE MOTHERLOAD. She had produced the feature documentary, The World Before Her (produced/directed by Nisha Pahuja and producer Ed Barreveld) which won the Best Documentary Feature Award (Tribeca Film Festival, New York City, 2012) and Best Canadian Feature Award (Toronto’s Hot Docs International Film Festival, 2012).

THE MOTHERLOAD Executive Producer Bob Culbert has more than 40 years of experience in broadcast journalism, independent production and consulting. From 2000 to 2009, he was Vice President of Documentaries for the Canadian Television Network, (CTV). From 1994 to 1999 he was Executive Director of News and Current Affairs at CBC responsible for all news and current affairs programming at both the network and regional levels. He was also responsible for Newsworld, CBC’s 24-hour news channel and was the recipient of the Academy Achievement Award at the 2006 Gemini Awards.

Award-winning director Matt Gallagher is the Director of Photography on THE MOTHERLOAD, and has more than 17 years experience in documentary production.

THE MOTHERLOAD is produced and directed by Cornelia Principe and her company Border City Pictures and Executive Produced by Bob Culbert. It is produced in association with the CBC, with assistance from the Canada Media Fund, and the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Completion Fund, and the Support of Rogers Telefund.

From a media release:

SLAVES TO HABIT: New documentary examines our battle with bad habits and the secrets to conquering them

• Premieres THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014 – 9:00 P.M. (9:30 P.M. NT) on CBC TV’s Doc Zone

Happy New Year! With the start of every new calendar year comes a fleet of well intentioned New Year’s resolutions – among them, losing weight, quitting smoking, getting more exercise.

On THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. (9:30 p.m. NT) CBC-TV’s Doc Zone premieres SLAVES TO HABIT, a new documentary that takes an in-depth look at bad habits, the behavior that surrounds them, and the startling new science on the interaction between brain chemistry, habit and self-control.

Just about everything we need to know about resisting temptation can be found in ‘The Marshmallow Test’, a famous experiment conducted by Walter Mischel, at Stanford University in the 1960s. In The Marshmallow Test, a researcher places a marshmallow in front of a pre-schooler and tells them that if they can wait about 15 minutes before eating it, they will get a second marshmallow. Over the course of the 15 minutes, we watch each child desperately try to resist the impulse to eat the marshmallow. The hilarious and fascinating results demonstrate the power of habit and willpower – who has it and who doesn’t.

SLAVES TO HABIT features some of the world’s foremost authorities on how our habits affect or control our lives including Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times Reporter Charles Duhigg, author of ‘The Power of Habit – Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business’. Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific
discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Along the way we learn why some people struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight According to Duhigg, a habit consists of three parts: “There’s a cue, which is like a trigger for an automatic
behaviour to start, and then a routine which is the behaviour itself, and then finally a reward. Most people focus on the behaviour and the routine – but it’s the cue and the reward that shapes how the habit functions.”

SLAVES TO HABIT follows three individuals over a 6-week period as they struggle to break their bad habits – smoking, overeating and compulsive shopping. In the end, we understand that habits aren’t destiny and that by harnessing the new science on habit, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our
lives.

SLAVES TO HABIT is written, directed and produced by the award-winning veteran filmmaker Andy Blicq (Faking the Grade, Conspiracy Rising, Information Overload, The Truth About Shoplifting, The Truth About Liars).