Posted on March 5, 2016 at 3:13 pm
YouTube Spaces has launched a new program for women filmmakers.
51 channels from 6 cities around the world with a combined subscriber reach of over 43 million subscribers produced content as part of a special YouTube initiative to spotlight and empower female creators in 2016. The goal is to support the creation of female-driven content and inspire women to make more videos for YouTube.
Posted on April 28, 2015 at 3:59 pm
Meryl Streep has made a contribution to a lab program for women over 40 who write movies.
The only program of its kind, The Writers Lab evolved in recognition of the absence of the female voice in narrative film, along with the dearth of support for script development. The lab offers 8 promising films by women over 40 a springboard to production.
The Lab will take place September 18-20, 2015 at Wiawaka Center for Women on Lake George. Caroline Kaplan (Time Out of Mind, Personal Velocity), Kirsten Smith (Legally Blond, Ten Things I Hate About You), Jessica Bendinger (Bring It On, Aquamarine), Mary Jane Skalski (Win Win, The Station Agent), Gina Prince-Bythewood (Secret Life of Bees, Beyond the Lights) among others will be serving as mentors, pending scheduling. Mentors advise in one-on-one meetings with additional events to inspire artists to hone their creative vision. The Lab will take place September 18-20, 2015 at Wiawaka Center for Women on Lake George. Caroline Kaplan (Time Out of Mind, Personal Velocity), Kirsten Smith (Legally Blond, Ten Things I Hate About You), Jessica Bendinger (Bring It On, Aquamarine), Mary Jane Skalski (Win Win, The Station Agent), Gina Prince-Bythewood (Secret Life of Bees, Beyond the Lights) among others will be serving as mentors, pending scheduling. Mentors advise in one-on-one meetings with additional events to inspire artists to hone their creative vision.
For submission information or to apply, see the Writer’s Lab.
And here is Ms. Streep talking about why we need more women’s stories.
Posted on January 31, 2015 at 3:38 pm
It is wonderful that directors like Ava DuVernay, Angelina Jolie, and Gina Prince-Bythewood gave us superb films in 2014. But it is an indicator of the challenges still faced by women filmmakers that none of them was nominated for a major directing award.
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists quoted the analysis of Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film and professor at San Diego State University.
According to the latest Celluloid Ceiling study of women’s behind-the-scenes employment, women comprised a meager 7% of directors, 5% of cinematographers, and 11% of writers working on the top 250 (domestic) grossing films of 2014. These percentages do not differ appreciably from those obtained in 1998 when women accounted for 9% of directors, 4% of cinematographers, and 13% of writers. They also belie the fact that women are well represented as students in film schools nationwide….The unconscious bias underlying the stagnant gender dynamics is in desperate need of outing. Notions that there simply aren’t any women directors, women filmmakers aren’t interested in high-profile studio gigs, change is just around the corner, and that this is solely a women’s issue need to be challenged and recognized for what they are – excuses that serve as roadblocks to change.
The New Yorker’s Richard Brody wrote about how critics have not given enough support to women in the film industry.
Calling attention to their work as often and as vigorously as possible is all the more important because the cinematic roadsides are strewn with the wreckage of major artistic careers of independent female filmmakers of the past half century, including Shirley Clarke, Barbara Loden, Claudia Weill, Kathleen Collins, Julie Dash, and Leslie Harris—as well as such men as Wendell B. Harris, Jr., Matthew Harrison, and Rob Tregenza. Critical attention is all the more important for the makers of films that aren’t box-office hits, that aren’t widely advertised, and that don’t have the built-in publicity of celebrity actors. A review and some vigorous follow-ups can make clear the kind of important experience that awaits, an experience that may differ significantly from today’s mainstream but that, with the right breaks, should be tomorrow’s.
In a more encouraging note, Robert Redford spoke about the obstacles women face in his session with George Lucas at this year’s Sundance Festival. The Daily Beast reports:
“Well, diversity is the name of game, as far as I’m concerned,” Redford said. “Independence and diversity go hand-in-hand, in my mind.”
He then paused. “I think the future—and this is just my opinion—but for us to move out of where we are now, and to move to something more sustainable and exciting, I think it will be in the hands of women and young people. With the young people that are coming on today, we’ve messed up what we’re handing them in terms of a planet, and they have less to work with than they would have years ago, but young people today are really, really smart. What I saw a few years ago was that young people were disenchanted with the system to where they didn’t want to get into politics and didn’t want anything to do with it. I think that’s changed. Now young people want to be given the reins. Women, because of their nurturing sensibilities, are also the way to go. If you put those two things together, I think that’s our future.”
Posted on January 27, 2015 at 3:55 pm
“What’s wrong with bossy? It’s O.K. for a man.” Barbra Streisand, Director (“The Prince of Tides”)
It’s a conundrum: We can’t change it ourselves, but no one can change it but us.” Jennie Livingston, Director (“Paris Is Burning”)
“It was Gina Bythewood who told me, ‘If someone is just a pig to you on set, don’t deal with it behind closed doors, because you have to show the whole crew that you will deal with it and you will not have it.’ ” Ava DuVernay, Director (“Selma”)
Posted on January 6, 2015 at 3:38 pm
I’m glad that we are seeing more spirited, strong female characters, especially in movies for kids, really I am. But we still have a long way to go, as discussed in an excellent analysis on Tor.com from Emily Asher-Perrin. She notes that even movies with central characters who are girls and women surround them with men in major and minor roles.
At the very least, some of the dignitaries who stay behind with Prince Hans once Elsa runs away could have been ladies. And in a kingdom like Arendelle—where none of the subjects seem to balk even slightly at the idea of accepting a female monarch without a husband—it would have been equally compelling to see some women in their army. Both Elsa and Anna are forces to be reckoned with; we should know that the rest of the women in their kingdom are too. Otherwise the message boils down to princesses are special! Only princesses. So you better want to be a princess.
For Tangled’s part, it would have been pretty adorable if Pascal—or Maximus the war horse!—had been lady animals. Or even better, that band of gruff ruffians at the tavern? Women. Just, the whole lot of them. Why not? Or if Flynn had been pulling his heist with twin sisters. And I’m sure someone is saying “But if they were ladies, he would have flirted with them!” But you know, he could have just… not. He doesn’t have to be interested in every age-appropriate female with a pulse just because he’s a scamp.
All three of these films feature specific and wonderfully complicated relationships between women. From the misunderstandings and mutual hurt between Merida and Elinor to the emotional manipulation and continual backhanding that Mother Gothel inflicts on Rapunzel to the deep abiding bond and need that exists between Anna and Elsa—these are all relationships that we should find on screen. Not just for young girls, for all children. But when you omit other women from these worlds, you rob the entire story of its credibility. Other stories have reason built in; Mulan goes off to war to fight in place of her father, so she was never going to be training amidst an army of women. In Mulan, the reason for making that critical choice is a logical one that is explained within the context of the narrative. But Tangled, Brave, and Frozen have no narrative reasons for the absence of women. What’s Arendelle’s excuse?
When Indiewire asked me to make New Year’s Resolutions for 2015, I suggested the two steps recommended by Geena Davis:
Step 1: Go through the projects you’re already working on and change a bunch of the characters’ first names to women’s names. With one stroke you’ve created some colorful unstereotypical female characters that might turn out to be even more interesting now that they’ve had a gender switch. What if the plumber or pilot or construction foreman is a woman? What if the taxi driver or the scheming politician is a woman? What if both police officers that arrive on the scene are women — and it’s not a big deal?
Step 2: When describing a crowd scene, write in the script, “A crowd gathers, which is half female.” That may seem weird, but I promise you, somehow or other on the set that day the crowd will turn out to be 17 percent female otherwise. Maybe first ADs think women don’t gather, I don’t know.
