Kickstarter has announced two new advancements for women in their company. Elise McCave has joined Kickstarter as the new Director of Narrative Film. Liz Cook, who previously served as Documentary Outreach Lead, has been promoted to Director of Documentary Film. “Both will partner and work with filmmakers and creators worldwide to build communities of support and bring their film and video creative projects to life with Kickstarter,” the announcement reads.
McCave comes from eight years at BRITDOC, where she served as Deputy Director and “led diverse programming and events supporting international family of filmmakers and funders, as well as overseeing Good Pitch, the pitching forum that connects top social justice filmmakers with new allies and partners from across civil society — foundations, NGOs, campaigners, philanthropists, policymakers, brands, and media.”
“I look forward to diving into my new role at Kickstarter,” McCave said in the announcement. “Working with narrative stories represents a fresh opportunity to continue my work supporting filmmakers. In the current climate, it’s critical that our family of storytellers is as diverse as it’s ever been and I’m excited to ensure that the voices finding their place on Kickstarter come from all corners of the community — producing work that explores the form to the fullest,”
Cook has been with Kickstarter since 2013. Her previous role was as Film Outreach Lead for Documentary Film. Notable campaigns she advised on include Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack’s “Maya Angelou And Still I Rise” and Griffin Dunne’s Joan Didion documentary.
“Over the past year, our film team has worked really hard to grow the backer community that fosters and supports documentary film and video projects on Kickstarter — and so far, we’ve seen more than one million backers rally to help these documentaries come to life.” said Cook. “The documentary category is an incredible tapestry of our collective, shared history and our 2017 plan is to find new ways of providing tangible resources to filmmakers looking to tell their stories,” Cook commented.
Congratulations to these two women of Kickstarter. Having more women in prominent positions at major companies can only lead to greater gender equality in the film industry.
