Comments on: Still Sucks to Be a Female Writer in Hollywood

By: New Moon: The Lowest Common Denominator « Rational Reposte

New Moon: The Lowest Common Denominator « Rational Reposte — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:24:12 +0000

[...] more films should be made (written, directed, generally worked on) by women. For fuck’s sake, women only hold 19% of film jobs! This is appalling but do I want Twilight used as a benchmark for women-made/oriented films? [...]

By: Jutarnje kozoklikanje: Uskoro ćemo klikati pogledima | rozakoza

Jutarnje kozoklikanje: Uskoro ćemo klikati pogledima | rozakoza — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:04:48 +0000

[...] * Biti žena, scenaristica, u Hoolywoodu? It sucks! [...]

By: Tammy

Tammy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:08:41 +0000

Earl, women make up 50% of the film schools. Just as they are now 50% of the law schools and medical schools. The difference is that women have made virtually no progress in the film industry, whereas in other fields the companies were sued for discrimination back in the 90’s. EVERYONE, including the infamously sexist Wall St, has made progress on these issues. If you’re a woman in science, there are all sorts of scholarship programs and opportunities for mentorship. I think part of the reason there has been no progress in this industry is because there have been no lawsuits. Who is going to sue? It would be career suicide.

Correct itself in time??? I can be an astronaut, work secret service detail guarding the president, target missiles in Afghanistan, but we will be sitting here until doomsday waiting for things to change in Hollywood. In the meantime, I have wasted my entire adult life in a business that refuses to hire women.

By: Earl

Earl — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:11:23 +0000

Part of this could be a self-selection process. The proportion of women and people of color who pursue writing careers in this industry could be much lower proportionally than white males. That’s not to negate any bias that may exist in the industry, but it shouldn’t be discounted as an explanatory factor. The same goes for the wage discrepancies. It’s not clear whether you’re comparing apples and apples or not. The wage difference could be a reflection of experience. Because women and people of color have had such a difficult time getting writing jobs, when they do actually get hired, their list of credits isn’t as long or high profile, so their wages are lower. That sort of thing should correct itself in time.

Again, this isn’t to negate the potential for bias in the industry, but it pays to consider all sides.

By: Diana

Diana — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:12:00 +0000

While the idea of the Writers Access Program is great, the reality is that you must be a member in good standing with the WGA and have produced projects in order to apply. So within the WGA membership, what is the % of women and ethnic minority members? As was pointed out, much of the idea of ‘getting in’ is about access and opportunity – so how does this program or even the WGA do to actually help with that? What is being done to cultivate new women and ethnic minority writers?
http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3792

By: stephanie rosenfeld

stephanie rosenfeld — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:21:50 +0000

And somehow I don’t find Myers’ meant-to-be-inspiring words inspiring: Write your passion, close your eyes and hope, basically: trends could always change; or make your own movies. I think the fact that this is best that a director of a diversity program can come up with is pretty bad news. Even if she’s not part of the problem, it does kind of indicate the intractability of the problem.

By: Scott H.

Scott H. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:37:00 +0000

I just wanted to thank you very much for this illuminating article. I have already bookmarked your site, when I have more free time I am going to have to do some further research. Well back to my dreaming of Panama or back to the books - I wonder which one is going to win out. :)

By: Tammy

Tammy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:17:51 +0000

Every single studio should have a diversity program. They could take a sliver of their massive 100 million dollar film budgets and have a woman or minority writer/director trainee on every single film set. The stars get the biggest salary 20 million, 10 million. If they wanted to get publicity for their diversity initiatives, the studios could have the stars, such as Angelina Jolie, George Clooney and friends, donate $50,000 of their huge salary to fund the George Clooney diversity trainee.

Sooner or later it’s going to become a huge PR problem that Film & Television is the most sexist, racist business in the nation. They make Goldman Sachs look good by comparison.

By: wellywoodwoman

wellywoodwoman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:40:41 +0000

From my own research in New Zealand, I believe that women who hold powerful positions in television are more supportive of women than (the few) women who hold powerful positions in the film industry. And even in television, where women writers are more likely to find work and to do very well, often it’s men who give them their first opportunities. I think it’s really important to consider the two industries separately. The Feature Access Project sounds exciting, what a great initiative.

By: Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist

Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:50:14 +0000

And the shitty thing is, last week you posted an article Marsha Norman wrote and she said that she gets better opportunities as a female screenwriter than as a playwright!

Ugh…

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Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:27:49 +0000

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