Gender equality and inclusion have been among the main topics of conversation at this year’s Banff World Media Festival. The Canadian fest saw the announcement of the Banff Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media, a fund supporting women in Canadian TV. Plus, filmmaker/outspoken ally Paul Feig discussed on-screen gender representation and the ways the entertainment industry fail women and other marginalized communities.
According to Deadline, the Banff Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media is a $2 million fund (about $1.5 million USD) “designed to help a range of media businesses, including TV production companies, with a focus on helping women finance larger budget projects.” “The investment is [intended] to help empower and train female entrepreneurs to build and grow their own TV businesses and is expected to help at least 50 woman grow their business and support 16 new businesses,” the source detailed.
The Banff Accelerator is part of the Canadian government’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, a $2 billion program focused on doubling the number of woman-owned businesses by 2025.
The fund will “fill a systemic and sizeable gap in our industry — a gap at the very top — a gap in ownership and control of independent Canadian media companies,” said Jenn Kuzmyk, Executive Director of the festival. She explained, “Our program will empower and train women entrepreneurs to build and grow their own businesses within the screen based industries — be it production, post production, visual effects, animation, or other specialties.”
“Diversity is at the very core of this program,” Kuzmyk emphasized. “Its sole mandate is to advance gender equality in the media sector, bolstering the economic success of all women. Women of color, Indigenous women, women with disabilities, and LGBTQ women. Studies show the biggest obstacles that women face in the media business are: difficulty financing larger budget projects; not being able to advance past middle management; pay inequity; and difficulty accessing capital,” she added.
Feig, who attended Banff to accept its award of excellence and to deliver a keynote speech, talked about the need for better representation in an interview. Per the Montreal Gazette, he humbly refused to give himself too much credit in terms of being an “activist.”
“The industry has been so bad in representation, especially for women but for anybody who is under-represented, that to try and right that wrong makes you an activist,” the “Bridesmaids” director said. “I think that’s more of a bad reflection of the industry itself. You shouldn’t be considered an activist for just trying to get women into a movie or get people of color into a movie or behind the camera. You realize it just means you’re trying to break out of the status quo and challenge the default setting of the industry.”
Feig might not consider himself an activist, but he has definitely been an advocate for women throughout his career. His filmography includes women-centric titles such as “A Simple Favor,” “Spy,” “The Heat,” and “Ghostbusters.” He also created the beloved high school drama “Freaks and Geeks,” which was anchored by Linda Cardellini’s Mathlete-turned-outsider Lindsay Weir.
Feig’s fight for equality extends far beyond his own projects. He is a founding member of ReFrame, an initiative committed to boosting gender equality and inclusivity in the entertainment industry, and one of the first adoptees of the inclusion rider, a contract clause ensuring projects have diverse casts and crews. Earlier this year his digital media production company Powderkeg introduced Break the Room (BTR), a development program that brings writers of color and community leaders of specific locales together for week-long writers’ rooms. Previously, Powderkeg hosted an incubator for women directors working on short films.
The Athena Film Fest Leading Man Award winner wasn’t fully aware of how limiting show business can be for women until he arrived in Hollywood himself. The roles created for women were a far cry from the female characters of the screwball comedies, such as “His Girl Friday,” Feig grew up watching. “I started befriending different comediennes and comedic actresses who I knew were so funny. I’d see them on stage and doing great stuff or just hang out with them and then I’d see them in a movie and they weren’t allowed to do anything,” he recalled. “They were either made to be one-dimensional, shrewish girlfriends or boring wives.”
Feig’s next film is “Last Christmas,” a holiday rom-com due in November that counts Emma Thompson, Michelle Yeoh, and Emilia Clarke among its cast. He’s producing Stella Meghie’s London-set comedy “American Princess” and Eva Longoria’s feature directorial debut, workplace comedy “24-7.”
The 2019 Banff World Media Festival runs through tomorrow, June 12, in Banff, Alberta, Canada.
