A recent WA Women In Film and TV (WIFT)/
Film and Television Institute (FTI) seminar sparked a number of important
discussions, mainly the representation of women in the film and television
industry and the causes behind the dire statistics. As a background, here are just a few of the
important stats you need to be aware of as a female (and male) film and
television professional:
- Only four women have ever been nominated for Best Director: Lina Wertmüller for Seven Beauties (1976), Jane Campion for The Piano (1993), Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation (2003), and Kathryn Bigelowfor The Hurt Locker (2009). Bigelow was the first, and to date the only, female director to win the Academy Award for Best Director.
- 16% of the behind-the-scenes roles (such as directing, producing, writing, editing, cinematography, etc.) for 2013’s Top 250 Films were held by female practitioners.
- A historical comparison of women’s employment on the top 250 films in 2013 and 1998 reveals that the percentages of women directors, writers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers have declined.
- Women comprised 6% of all directors working on the top 250 films of 2013.
The statistics raise an important question:
why? What are the compounding factors on our female
filmmakers and why are they impacting their influence within the industry? The answer lies in the one activity that only women are capable of doing:
making babies.
We all know the story of the birds and the
bees and how babies are made and it is definitely not the right time and place
to discuss this process here. Neither is it to comment on current political
correctness when it comes to RAISING a child (that is not the point in
question). Taking 9 months out of your year to produce a gorgeous, beautiful,
specimen to be enjoyed by the world for the rest of its life is a full-time,
energy-sapping, mind-blowing experience. As is making a film.
To do both at the same time is just not
easy. According to Director Beeban Kidron (Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit,
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason) “motherhood
has affected her career ‘more than gender” and that “the question of who
brings up the kids has a material effect on all women's careers."
Angelina Jolie was famously photographed in December last year juggling her
directing on Unbroken whilst taking care of her 6 children whilst Brad Pitt was
overseas filming another feature. Assistants and nannies aside, any mother
knows how difficult it is to manage the demands of your children with the
demands of a filmset.
Luckily, the tides are
changing and support for female directors who want to make a family, are in the
middle of the process, or have succeeded in doing so, is becoming stronger. Sue
Taylor commented on the production of her feature film, The Tree, in 2010 on which
a crèche was set up not just for the children in the film, but also for the children
of her director and other members of the crew, allowing them to spend time with
their children whilst at work. This kind of support is incredibly rewarding for
female filmmakers and its hoped that in the future, Hollywood and other large
film industries will start to acknowledge the benefits of supporting are great
film and baby makers with the necessary resources.
