Susan Hess

“If somebody doesn’t want to put me in front of the camera, I’ll get behind it,” says Susan Hess Logeais, the writer, producer and co-star of “Not Dead Yet.”

That’s exactly what happened when this Portland, Ore., former Hollywood actress, age 51, decided to give it another shot.  Prior to leaving the entertainment industry in 1990, Logeais had accomplished in 15 years what few people achieve in a lifetime. Beginning at the age of 17, the classically-trained ballerina spent a year performing with the San Francisco Ballet under Artistic Director Michael Smuin.

Then, in 1977, she began a twelve-year modeling stint during which she graced over a dozen magazine covers – including Italian, English, and German versions of Vogue, Marie Claire, and Elle; walked the runways in Paris, Milan and New York; starred in countless fashion spreads; and appeared as the face of Karl Lagerfeld perfume, among other exclusive brands.

In 1984, Logeais scaled back her modeling to pursue her passion: acting. During the years that followed, she co-starred in four network television movies including “Dress Gray” with Alec Baldwin, a Sidney Sheldon mini-series for CBS with Tom Berringer, the 2 hour 2nd season opener for “Miami Vice,” and episodes of “Knightwatch,” “Spencer: For Hire,” and “Christine Cromwell.”

Prior to making the transition to acting, Logeais augmented her breasts, believing that her success depended on having a certain bra size. Unfortunately, the movie roles she was screen-testing for required nudity and Logeais feared that filming might expose her scars or the un-natural look of her breasts. Ironically, the very thing she hoped would guarantee her success contributed to her decision to stop acting.

After years of being in front of audiences and the camera, Logeais decided to step behind the lens, and began learning the craft of screenplay writing. At the same time, she formed her own production company, Two Chicks with Cameras, and co-directed and produced a series of short films.

During this period, Logeais’ body began to reject the implants and after a year of pain, numbness, headaches and a depressed immune system, she chose to have them removed. Acknowledging her shame and the lack of self esteem that drove her to get the implants in the first place, Logeais decided to share her story with other young women and convinced ALLURE magazine to cover her story.

Soon after, Logeais travelled to France, where she met her husband, Olivier. She had her first child at the age of 38, and second at 40.  In 1998, they moved to Southern Oregon, and then to Portland in 2003, where her desire to create films rekindled.

Teaming up with local talent and crew, she produced her screenplay “Not Dead Yet” as a SAG ultra low budget feature. The project was funded entirely from her own resources, earned during her career as a model and actress.

Her goal in producing the film was threefold; to see one of her screenplays produced; to star in a feature film; and to produce a story that would encourage women over 40 to embrace themselves and the wisdom their age represents. “Not Dead Yet” was completed in early 2009 and won a Best Feature award from the Rhode Island International Film Festival and the Baltimore Women’s Film Festival, and was an official selection of the LA Femme Film Festival and of the Women’s International Film Festival.  

During Logeais’ efforts to find festival screenings and distribution for the film, she quickly discovered that the male dominated entertainment industry wasn’t interested in films about women over 35.  More disturbing was the realization that the same media imagery of overtly sexualized women that drove Logeais to get breast implants in her 20’s was now directed at tweens.

Determined to share what she’s learned, Logeais decided to offer event screenings of “Not Dead Yet” as a fundraising, educational, and social gathering tool for women’s non-profits. The screenings are intended to bring awareness to the power of media imagery to effect our beliefs and behaviors and to provide material for writer/producer Susan Hess Logeais’ new documentary series on the subject.