Jenny Fulle (born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

) is an American woman who, at the age of eleven, became the first girl to play

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Visual Effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

producer in Hollywood with over fifty films to her credit.

Little League

Dear President Nixon

In 1972, nine-year-old Jenny Fulle tucked her hair up in her cap, pretending to be a boy, and attempted to sign up for

Mill Valley Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

Little League in Marin County, California. When asked for her birth certificate, she was quickly rebuffed on the basis of her gender. p.1 The

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization p.1 involved with Little League. "They (the ladies) said they really hoped I’d get somewhere. The men just said no." p.1 Jennyatbat2

Undeterred, Fulle wrote a letter to the President of the United States,

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, in March of that year, stating in her letter that, "Most girls who even want to try out are good enough to at least make minor without any trouble. I sincerely hope you will do something." Two months later, she received a reply from Frederick T. Cioffi, a HEW official with the

Office of Civil Rights The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Education that is primarily focused on enforcing civil rights laws prohibiting schools from engaging in discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, se ...

. The letter explained that she could have a case if there is a connection between Little League and the use of public school facilities. Cioffi explained that the Office of Civil Rights was "in the process of preparing guidelines to handle this type of discrimination." The guidelines would apply to a

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Lew Mathis, a colleague of Frederick Cioffi's, at the Office of Civil Rights in Washington DC reiterated that with Title IX, "The regulations now being written prohibit sex discrimination in all school activities." p.68 He and Cioffi's argument was based in the fact that since many Little League teams were using public school facilities, with this amendment, the teams would be forced to include girls or be disallowed from the property. According to the national director of public relations for Little League at the time, Robert Stirrat, safety was the reason that girls were not allowed to play in the Little League. He did not believe Jenny's case was sexist, but instead felt that, "all the medical and physiological evidence indicates baseball is a hazardous sport for girls to play on the same team with boys."

Hazardous sport

"A girl's reaction time to a thrown ball is considerably less than a boy’s. Girls are vulnerable to being hit. Their long bones in their arms and legs are more vulnerable than boys," Stirrat said. p.3 This sentiment was upheld by Dr. Creighton Hale, a research physiologist that was serving as league vice president and director, who believed that anatomically, girls were more likely to be injured, referring to what he considered to be differences in bone length, muscle fiber and reaction time. "In contact sports it is a hazard," he said. "Our position is not a negative one. We’re very much in favor of girls being on teams – in sports like tennis and swimming," he said. "It’s not fair to the girls to let them play." The solution, according to the Little League was for girls to play softball. Though Fulle did play softball, she lamented the fact that it was too easy. "I usually hit home runs" she said. "Last year girls were out there picking flowers. How can’t you hit home runs when they’re out there picking flowers?"

Constitutional issue

At the time there were 8000 Little Leagues scattered around the world with 2½ million boys (but no girls) playing in 31 countries. Throughout the US, there were several instances where girls had attempted to play in Little League with varying results, all of which representing the discriminatory stance of the organization. A team in Concord, NC, for instance, was facing suspension from the Babe Ruth League for playing a 13-year-old girl, Yvonne Burch, while another Babe Ruth team in Schenectady, NY, refused to play, Sheila O’Donnell, 17, who apparently was a solid player. A similar case in Ypsilanti, MI, resulted in the Little League teams breaking their affiliation with the national organization so they could accept a girl into their league. p.11 As a result of so many girls wanting to play in the Little League, Rep. Martha Griffiths (D-Mich) in 1973 introduced a bill to Congress that would substitute the word "boys" in the federal Little League charter with "boys and girls" and drop "manhood" from its objectives of "citizenship, sportsmanship and manhood." p.1 The bill was expected to be reported out of the subcommittee on civil and constitutional rights of the House Judiciary Committee later that summer. Fighting this fight on several fronts, the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

(NOW) had their attorneys researching the law to see if they could open the Little League doors for Fulle. NOW's Marin County president, Lee Hunt pointed out that the teams used a city-owned playground in Mill Valley. She and her attorneys began investigating whether or not it was against the law under the city charter for the baseball teams to use the park if they discriminate on the basis of gender. Hunt said, "We see this as a constitutional issue. We feel the Little League has a discriminatory charter and the city, by allowing them to use public facilities for games, is supporting that policy." Meanwhile, Stirrat, from the National Little League office in Williamsport, PA, stood his ground that any team that allowed girls to play with boys was "willfully violating" part of its charter. As a result, the team could lose its charter and all the financial perks involved, special insurance and discounts on uniforms and equipment.

The battle begins

The drive to play Little League Baseball by Fulle and a handful of other Mill Valley girls led the Mill Valley Park and Recreation Commissioner Phyllis Joseph, on Monday, June 11, 1973, to introduce a motion to the commission to bar any organization from city playgrounds "that discriminates on the basis of race, religion, creed or sex." The motion failed by a vote of 3-2, thereby deciding not to order the local Little League teams to let girls play. Upon losing this decision, Fulle and the others vowed to continue their battle at an upcoming city council meeting the following week. With the assistance of NOW and the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

, Fulle took her case to the Mill Valley City Council on June 18, 1973. Before the vote, the female Mayor Barnard, ironically on the side of keeping girls out of Little League, called for a show of hands from the standing-room only crowd, noting that the people were evenly split on the issue. p.1 She also asked Fulle, "Why don’t you want to play baseball with the girls?" Fulle, wearing a T-shirt, pants and baseball hat, said, "Girls are expected to play with dolls. We don’t have that much experience playing baseball. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t. I haven’t played with dolls since I was seven years old." In the 90 minute hearing, with a 3-2 vote, the council decided to tell the national Little League organization that the League would not be allowed back to Mill Valley the following year unless it ended its ban of girls. After the vote, Mayor Barnard, on the losing side, expressed her reasoning for not wanting girls to play in the Little League by stating, "I feel there is little difference between the sexes except in muscle power. Viva la difference." Fulle, a strong hitter and solid left fielder, was pleased with the decision.

Ruling overturned

The victory, as it turned out, would be short-lived. On Monday December 3, 1973 - pressured by an appeal from the presidents of the two Mill Valley Little Leagues, R. Bruce Williams and Sam Loy - the Mill Valley City Council overturned their previous decision with a unanimous vote, allowing Little League teams to play one more season on city-owned playgrounds without allowing girls to play. Loy and Williams’ argument was that any change in Little League regulations had to come from the League headquarters in Williamsport, PA. And if they were to come, those changes could not be implemented until the following July. At the meeting, David Moore, Marin representative to the National Little League Congress stated, "We’re not here to do war with the female sex or the City of Mill Valley. We just want to put 350 boys on the playing field this year." He also mentioned that the national organization had formed a commission to study the question of safety for girls. The commission planned to report to the national organization at the end of the 1974 season. If in fact the girls were to be included in the charter, it would actually not be until the Spring of 1975 that they would be included in Little League play. This came as a bitter disappointment to Fulle, who would be 13 in 1975 and not eligible to play in the Little League. In a letter dated December 13, 1973, ACLU lawyer, Fred Hurvich volunteered to represent Fulle if she decided to take the matter to court.

Getting Jenny on a team

As a result of continued pressure on the council from the Mill Valley Human Rights Committee, on Monday, April 1, 1974, the Mill Valley City Council voted yet again, this time barring any organization that discriminates on the basis of sex from city facilities. The vote followed a half hour debate on the subject and meant that the 350 member Little League of Marin County would have no place to play after July 1. This reversal was small solace for Fulle, who would still not be able to play Little League since the season would be all but over and not have an effect on the concurrent season. At that same meeting, ACLU lawyer, Hurvich, threatened to sue the City of Mill Valley to force out the sex-discrimination clause in Mill Valley's Little League so that girls could play that very summer. Their aim, according to Hurvich was to "get Jenny onto a team this year." The council maintained its decision to let the local Little League play for one more summer without girls. Even still, Hurvich pleaded with the city to tell Little League they need to allow Jenny to play, or the League would be banned from Mill Valley parks. He promised to fight for the local Little League so that they did not lose their charter. "We are prepared to be in court on a day’s notice if the National Little League acts against them," said Hurvich. Shortly thereafter, when the National Little League threatened to disenfranchise the Bears if they let Fulle on the team, Hurvich did exactly as he promised and took the matter to court.

Jenny held her own

On Wednesday, April 10, 1974, Superior Judge Joseph Wilson signed a temporary restraining order that said the Mill Valley Little League baseball team, the Bears, could not bar Jenny Fulle from membership on account of her gender. He also banned the National Little League from releasing Mill Valley from their charter. After the judgment by Wilson, Mill Valley Little League Commissioner, R. Bruce Williams said, "We wanted to allow Jenny to play, but we feared that without a court order the National Little League would lift our charter." p.2 Wilson's decision solved that problem. Four hours after the judge issued the restraining order, Fulle showed up at practice for her Little League team, the Bears. The first pitch was a wild one, hitting her in the helmet and dropping her to the ground. She stood up, smiled and went on playing. Of twelve pitches, she hit nine of them beyond the outfielders. In a practice game that followed, she excelled at first base, making three solid plays without error. At the end of practice that day, Fulle said simply that she was, "really happy." On Wednesday, June 12, 1974 Little League Baseball, Inc. announced it would open all competition to both boys and girls. p.14 The decision at Little League headquarters stated that girls who want to play Little League baseball must prove to the local team coaches and management that they had "equal competency" with boys "in baseball skills, physical skills and other attributes used as the basis for team selection." In New York, NOW issued a statement praising Little League for correcting "its discriminatory policy toward girls." The statement went on to say, "NOW chapters and members throughout the country have devoted much effort to enacting this kind of change for equal sports opportunities for girls and women. This victory is an important step." In the final week of December 1974, President Gerald Ford signed into law a bill that opened the Little League baseball program to girls. p.26 The wording in the League's charter was amended by changing the word "boys" wherever it appeared, to "young people". In 1975, after Fulle had officially played her first and final season of Little League, the Mill Valley American League President, Robert Williams had this to say about the decision, "It worked out real well last year. It may have been a big thing over nothing…Jenny more than held her own. She was in the upper half of the league when comparing talent." In 2000 Fulle was invited back to Mill Valley to lead the Little League's opening day parade and throw the first ball in celebration of the city's centennial.

Visual effects producer

Early career

In 1980, at the age of 18, Fulle began her long and highly successful career in the film industry, starting as a janitor at George Lucas'

Industrial Light and Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...

. Her step-father at the time was not only the landscape architect designing at

Skywalker Ranch Skywalker Ranch is a movie ranch and workplace of film director, writer and producer George Lucas located in a secluded area near Nicasio, California, in Marin County. The ranch is located on Lucas Valley Road, named for an early-20th-century l ...

, but was also in charge of general services, including the mailroom and janitorial. Jenny had taken a few classes in college, but had yet to find her niche when her step-father asked her to take over for an injured janitor at ILM. It was to be a temporary job but when her step-father moved on from his position, the person that took over for him liked Fulle enough to keep her on. Fulle rose up from janitorial services to eventually become a Visual Effects Production Assistant on '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.'' She continued her path at ILM unabated, growing into the position of Visual Effects Coordinator on '' Cocoon: The Return'', '' Back to the Future Part III'', ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 19 ...

'' and '' Ghost''.

Producer, executive and Sony Pictures Imageworks

In the early nineties, Fulle moved to Los Angeles to further pursue her career in

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

, landing her first Visual Effects Producer credit on ''

Batman Returns ''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman'' (1989) and the second installment in the 1989–1997 ''Batman ...

''. From there she went on to produce for several different films and companies including ''

True Lies ''True Lies'' is a 1994 American spy action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Art Malik, Tia Carrere, Bill Paxton, Eliza Dushku, Grant Heslov and Charlton Heston. ...

'' for Boss Films in 1994, '' Apollo 13'' for Digital Domain in 1995, ''

Eraser An eraser (also known as a rubber in some Commonwealth countries, including South Africa from the material first used) is an article of stationery that is used for removing marks from paper or skin (e.g. parchment or vellum). Erasers have ...

'' as head of Warner Digital Studios in 1996, and '' MouseHunt'' for

DreamWorks SKG DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and ...

in 1997, among many others. After a stint as a Visual Effects Production Executive at Disney, Fulle was tapped to become Executive Vice President/Executive Producer for

Sony Pictures Imageworks Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a Canadian visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. SPI is a unit of Sony Pi ...

in late 1997. For the next eleven years Fulle oversaw and managed production, strategic planning and business development at SPI. During this time, in 2004 she was elevated to the position of Executive VP of Production at Imageworks. Under her leadership, the company grew from 300 employees to over 1200, while developing a first of its kind pipeline that could manage both live action VFX and animation under one roof. At Imageworks, Fulle worked on over thirty films, including ''

What Lies Beneath ''What Lies Beneath'' is a 2000 American supernatural horror thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a couple who live in a haunted house. It was the first film by Zemeckis' production comp ...

'', '' Spider-Man 1, 2, and 3'', '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'', ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, tele ...

'', '' The Aviator'', '' I Am Legend'', ''

Open Season (2006 film) ''Open Season'' is a 2006 American computer-animated adventure comedy film, directed by Jill Culton and Roger Allers from a screenplay by Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman, and Nat Mauldin with a screen story by Culton and co-director Anthony Sta ...

'', ''

Surf's Up (film) ''Surf's Up'' is a 2007 American computer-animated mockumentary comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation. Directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck, the film features the voices of Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder, Mar ...

'' and many more. During her time at SPI, Fulle was recognized for her success in the entertainment industry by various trades and organizations. In 2006, Fulle was named in Variety's Women's Impact report for her work overseeing the animated movies ''

'', ''

'', while also running the production department at Imageworks. Then in October of that same year, she was named number 11 of The Hollywood Reporter's ''the digital 50''. Also in 2006, Fulle was nominated for the Los Angeles Business Journal's 2006 ''Women Making a Difference Awards''. And in 2008, the Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up (Power Up) named Fulle as one of its Ten Amazing Women, in which they honor highly successful gay women in the entertainment industry. Toward the end of her tenure at SPI, Fulle helped spearhead Sony's exploration of the Indian market of visual effects and animation. This ultimately resulted in Imageworks India in 2007; a partnership between FrameFlow, India and Sony, which Fulle served on the board of until she left Sony to pursue the next phase of her career. Fulle's experience in helping set up Imageworks India sparked for her a new understanding of the visual effects business. It opened her eyes to the fact that quality VFX houses were springing up and thriving all around the world. This knowledge coupled with her deep experience in visual effects production led Fulle to start her company, The Creative-Cartel in 2009.

The Creative-Cartel

The Creative-Cartel was conceived as a new way of doing business, to get beyond the traditional brick and mortar, overhead-heavy studio production facilities to a leaner, more nimble entity. The concept was to have a core team of asset managers, production coordinators, project managers and digital pipeline wizards that could work with VFX houses from around the world that were specifically chosen for each project. As Fulle put it, "I certainly do have go-to people, but because no two shows are the same, and the requirements of shows vary, I wouldn’t want to have to go to the same person, because it wouldn’t always be the right fit... we go to whoever is best suited for the work." For The Creative-Cartel's first major project, ''

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

'', Fulle and her team used over a dozen VFX vendors from around the world - England, Australia, the US and Canada. Managing that many VFX houses was a challenge, but Fulle's company succeeded in overseeing all of their work while also serving as a centralized hub for all VFX on the film. Since then, The Creative-Cartel has honed its process, successfully producing visual effects for '' Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance'', ''

Ted TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

'', Seth MacFarlane's directorial debut, and the

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

, M. Night Shyamalan collaboration, ''

After Earth ''After Earth'' is a 2013 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who co-wrote it with Gary Whitta. The film was loosely based on an original story idea by Will Smith about a father-and-son trip in the wilderness be ...

''. In 2012, The Creative-Cartel was chosen by Sony Pictures Entertainment to be the first company in the world to provide workflow for their new F65 camera for the film "After Earth." Having implemented a unique workflow in the past with both ''Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance'', and ''Ted'', The Creative-Cartel expanded their services on, ''After Earth'' so that they could have control of all data from the moment it is shot all the way through to the Digital Intermediate (DI), this included near-set lab, dailies and post-production management of all digital assets. The Creative-Cartel joined a team of companies supporting the F65 that includes Colorworks, Sony Pictures Entertainment's digital intermediate facility, FilmLight, a color management and color grading developer, and camera supplier Otto Nemenz, post production services provider

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

. Their aim is to support productions using the F65 "from the sensor to the screen."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fulle, Jenny Visual effects supervisors