File this under no shit sherlock, but new research from the Center for Study for Women in Television and Film at San Diego State shows that women are more represented on independent films that appear in film festivals than in the top grossing big budget films. Now keep in mind some of those films might overlap because 250 is a big number, but lots of the top grossing films don’t go the festival circuit. They don’t need to. They will have big marketing and ad budgets and will get released in enough theatres to make them successful. One example of a film that might overlap would be Juno which started out on the fest circuit and became a big box office hit.
Indie films need the festival circuit to build buzz so they have half a chance at being successful when they are released. This year some examples of the indie films directed by women that are building buzz include Lone Scherfig’s An Education and Jane Campion’s Bright Star. These films would be considered in the research because neither are domestically produced, but you get the picture. Another thing to consider in this discussion is that not all films that play festivals get any type of release at all. Some will be in a festival or 2 and then languish.
The research studied 25 high profile film festivals in 2008-2009 and that data confirms that women comprise 24% of “directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, and editors on domestically produced films at film festivals.” That compares to the only 16% on the top 250 grossing films.
Here are some of the reasons behind these numbers:
1- Indies are lower budget and we know that women have more success with lower budgets because there is still some bizarre notion in Hollywood that a woman can’t be trusted to handle a big budget flick. Can’t believe that sexist bullshit still reigns, but it does.
2- Documentaries are included and women direct a lot more docs than they direct features. You want to know why women direct more docs? Cause they have lower budgets. See the theme here?
3- Film Festivals strive higher for diversity because box office is not their priority. Lots of festivals raise money through grant makers and grants makers ask you questions about diversity. They just do.
Breaking down the numbers:
- Women made up 33% of the producers; 23% of the editors; 22% of the executive producers; 22% of the directors; 19% of the writers; and 9% of the directors of photography. That compares to 23% of the producers; 17% of the editors; 16% of the executive producers; 9% of the directors; 12% of the writers; and 4% of the directors of photography.
- But even on docs where I have previously heard from festival staffers that it is 50/50 the results show that women only direct 28%.
- Women directors of photography were more likely to work on documentaries than narrative films. That makes sense. Women hire women. If the film is directed by a woman she is more likely to hire a female DP. Also, with some docs the director also acts as the DP, especially if the budget is extremely limited.
Here’s the takeaway according to Dr. Martha Lauzen who conducted the study, “When a studio head says something like, “I’d really like to hire more women directors but there aren’t any,” this study provides useful data to suggest that, in fact, there are.”
Even though 24% is better than 16% it still sucks and is just not right. Bottom line, there are women director, cinematographers, producers, editors all ready to work. They just need to be given the opportunity. That’s all they are asking for, an equal chance.
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