Women work more in Indie Films than in Hollywood: Discrimination?
The playing field in the film and movie business is not level for women – specially in Hollywood. So, what do they do? They flock into an area that is fast growing and doesn’t require “Godfathers”. It requires talent.
As per a new study, more women are working in independent films than in Hollywood. Results shared at the recently held 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah showed this.
“Sundance Institute believes that stories and characters told through film play an enormously influential role in determining audiences’ perceptions of themselves, one another and the world around us,” said Keri Putnam, executive director of the Sundance Institute. “Seen through that lens, the results of this research are encouraging in that they show a higher representation of female filmmakers in independent film compared to other types of media — but they also highlight the work that is still to be done.”
Other findings include:
Of U.S. films selected for the Sundance Film Festival from 2002 to 2012, 29.8 percent of filmmakers (directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and editors) were women.
Women were half as likely to be directors of narrative films than documentaries (16.9 percent vs. 34.5 percent).
Female directors of Sundance Film Festival movies exceeded those of the top 100 box office films: 23.9 percent of directors at the Sundance Film Festival from 2002 to 2012 were women, compared to 4.4 percent of directors across the top 100 box office films each year from 2002 to 2012 who were women.
Across 1,100 top-grossing movies of the past 10 years, 41.5 percent of female directors had been supported by the Sundance Institute.
When compared to films directed by men, those directed by women feature more female filmmakers behind the camera (writers, producers, cinematographers and editors). This is true in both narratives (21-percent increase) and documentaries (24-percent increase).Across all behind-the-camera positions, women were most likely to be producers. As the prestige of the producing post increased, the percentage of female participation decreased. This trend was observed in both narrative and documentary filmmaking. Fewer than one third of all narrative producers but just over 40 percent of associate producers were women. In documentaries, 42.5 percent of producers and 59.5 percent of associate producers were women.
Five major areas were identified as hampering women’s career development in film: gendered financial barriers (43.1 percent); male-dominated industry networking (39.2 percent); stereotyping on set (15.7 percent); work and family balance (19.6 percent); and exclusionary hiring decisions (13.7 percent).
Opportunities exist to improve the situation for women in independent film. Individuals mentioned three key ways to change the status quo: mentoring and encouragement for early career women (36.7 percent); improving access to finance (26.5 percent); and raising awareness of the problem (20.4 percent).
Related articles from External Sources
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Women fare better in independent films than in Hollywood, study finds
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There’s Only 1 Female Film Director For Every 15.24 Male Ones, and Things Aren’t Getting Any Better
