Remember the “cast-iron ceiling” for women directors in the British film industry that Sally Potter mentioned last week?
The BBC and Directors UK (Britain’s version of the DGA) are taking a first step in correcting the embarrassing state of affairs over there by organizing two workshops aimed at “women TV directors returning to work after a career break or repositioning their career,” according to Screen Daily. The workshops will take place on March 20 in London and April 10 in Salford and will conclude with networking sessions with BBC execs.
A recent Directors UK study revealed that female helmers made up only 8% of TV drama directors between 2008–2012. That’s a figure that’s even worse than Hollywood’s, where women make up (a still paltry) 12–14% of the TV directing workforce.
While every acknowledgement of gender disparity is important, this is still a half-measure. The bottom line is that people in power need to hire women, and a couple of workshops aimed at the women facing discrimination — and not at the people doing the discrimination — isn’t enough.
