A FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
(IN DEVELOPMENT)

Her Second Act

Yellow stylized chess king piece with a sunburst design behind it.

This film is about more than menopause.

Her Second Act is about one of the most profound and misunderstood transitions in a woman’s life: midlife.

a Feature documentary from directors

Abby Epstein &
Constance Zimmer

and producer

Julie Flakstad

Every woman is told the same story about midlife: It’s about decline and invisibility. That the best is behind her.

What if the years she’s been told to dread are the ones that set her free?

It turns out we’ve had it backwards. Midlife isn’t where a woman’s story winds down. It’s where it cracks open.

Aging is not about growing invisible.

It’s about waking up to what may be the most powerful, most purposeful chapter of our lives.

That’s the film nobody has made, yet.

Every woman will transition into midlife.

It’s not a question of if, but when.

Her Second Act offers audiences a midlife roadmap unfolding through three interconnected narrative threads.

The women living it. The celebrities speaking out. The experts revealing new science.

The Women
Living It

The film follows co-directors Constance Zimmer, Abby Epstein and producer Julie Flakstad as they gather women across the country to navigate midlife in real time.

They’re calling it the Dressing Room Confessions Tour because at every stop they invite women to step behind a dressing room curtain and anonymously record their “midlife truth” — things they feel but never say out loud.

We will intimately follow several women whose midlife transitions and recalibrations take radically different paths.

Some rediscover confidence in a changing body, chase a long-buried dream, reclaim their sexuality, or finally give themselves permission to ask:

What do I want now?

The Celebrities
Speaking Out

Committed talent to date

Featuring (from left) Laura Benanti, Margaret Cho, Heidi Clements, Carla Hall, Ricki Lake, Padma Lakshmi, Stacy London, Paulina Porizkova, Melani Sanders, Amy Schumer, and Constance Zimmer.

Co-directed by Abby Epstein and Constance Zimmer.

Produced by Julie Flakstad.

A woman with wavy brown hair in a pink and white lace top standing against a textured dark pink wall.

A woman with gray hair styled in bantu knots, wearing red glasses and a sleeveless black sequined top, sitting on a white chair and smiling with her chin resting on her hand.

A woman with black hair in a floral red blouse posing with both hands touching her face against a gray background.

A woman with blonde hair wearing a wide-brimmed beige hat, white shirt, and small earrings, smiling outdoors with greenery and flowering plants in the background.

A woman with long hair and tattoos, wearing a white shirt and a cowboy hat, sitting indoors and resting her chin on her hand, smiling softly.

A smiling woman with long brown hair wearing a yellow sleeveless top and a gold watch, resting her hand on her face, with a visible scar on her arm, against a gray background.

A woman with long dark hair and gray streaks, wearing a red satin blouse, red lipstick, hoop earrings, and a necklace with a black and white pendant, smiling and leaning slightly to her right against a plain light-colored wall.

Woman with long blonde hair in a beige top sitting on wooden stairs.

A woman with silver hair and blue eyes, resting her face on her hand with a thoughtful expression, wearing a black blazer against a dark background.

Constance Zimmer

Woman wearing a pink robe, leopard print neck pillow, black headscarf, and glasses, smiling against a pink background.

The Experts
Revealing New Science

Featuring experts in medicine, neuroscience, sexuality, and culture, the film draws on new research to explore what happens in women’s bodies and brains during midlife.

Their insights don't just challenge what we’ve been told about aging. They rewrite it.

Midlife is more complicated and powerful than the story we’ve been told.

This film will capture this transformative second act as women actually live it and show what’s possible when they define it for themselves.

Help us bring Her Second Act to the screen.

Interested in supporting the film? Get in touch to learn how you can be a part of rewriting the story for women everywhere.

Executive Partner