Guest Post by Tema L. Staig

I run Women In Media, a networking group for above and below the line women — and the men who love making movies with them. We host regular networking events and support a number of women-focused screenings and film festivals such as Seeking Our Story, Etheria Film Night, and Bluestocking Film Festival.

I believe that until there is parity in the crew, there will not be equality in the film industry.

The Top Down Approach Still Isn’t Working

For decades, the feminist film movement has focused primarily on women directors, producers, actors, and writers thinking that parity above the line would promote better hiring practices, women-led projects, and the female gaze in film. As we know from the dire statistics, the needle has not moved in front of or behind the camera.

Seems crazy, right? Women and men graduate from film schools and make their first films at the same rates. Women perform exceptionally well at the box office, despite terrible release schedules and advertising budgets. Women make films in every crew position at the lower budget levels, so our biggest disconnect comes with bigger budget indies and studio projects that repeatedly do not hire women. Despite their having the same talents and experience as their male counterparts, women do not get hired below the line, whether it’s due to stubborn lack of will, knowledge, or effort on the part of those doing the hiring.

Changing the Focus

We must put pressure on our industry to hire not just from the top down but also from the bottom up in order to created sustained, meaningful change. Our goal at Women In Media is to normalize a 50 percent average of women crew on any given set. This is not a lot to aspire to, being that women make up 52 percent of the population.

A common misconception is that there are not enough qualified women to hire in the crew. I have been told this point blank by multiple groups who sincerely want to create change in the industry. They mean well, but continue doing exactly what has held us back for so long. I have met women in every crew department at Women In Media networking events for years, and I know that a balanced crew is not difficult to accomplish with just a little effort.

We all have our excuses as to why someone can’t hire more women or why we can’t personally put demands on our industry. We make these same types of excuses for unequal pay. Quite frankly, I’m tired of it, and you should be too.

If We Aren’t Hired, We Can’t Get Hired

Since people who can hire don’t hire women and rarely, if ever, see women adjusting lights, hauling cable, or pulling focus, they don’t think of us doing technical jobs. This becomes an unbreakable cycle — if folks don’t see women doing the job, they don’t hire them, or worse, take them seriously enough to move them up. Many directors start in the crew, including Catherine Hardwicke (“Miss You Already”), Mimi Leder (“Deep Impact”), and Rachel Talalay (“Doctor Who”). The barrier for entry for women behind the camera gets that much steeper when women are not seen working in the crew.

No Excuses

The Women In Media Crew List started while I was line producing the Women’s March LA Why I March PSA. Simultaneously, a male documentary producer asked me for female DPs to cover the Women’s Marches in multiple locations. I couldn’t let this guy down. I had previously called him out on the lack of inclusion in his crew — that’s how we became friends in the first place. This man made a conscious decision to have a more balanced crew. I respect that and I felt a responsibility to help him be the change — after all, I run Women In Media.

Even though I maintain tons of contacts, a Facebook group, and multiple contact sheets of women crew members, I found it frustrating to find female crew at the lighting speed needed in production. I needed something easy, organized, and sortable, so I put together a Google doc with tabs for 20 crew departments and started inviting female filmmakers to sign up. Within a week, hundreds of women added their information to our document.

Inclusive Stories

Conceptually, the United States will not accept women as leaders and heroes until we change the perception that women are competent, capable, and interested in all kinds of jobs. As Geena Davis says, “If you can see it, you can be it.” Movies are persuasive. If people can see something, it can be attained.

We create more imaginative stories from different points of view when women average 50 percent on set — both in front of and behind the camera. “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway has described films as “empathy machines.” I don’t think people can sustain empathy for marginalized groups without proximity to those groups. If we could, our industry wouldn’t have the rampant, institutionalized sexism — and racism — that pervades in hiring and content.

The Will To Hire Inclusively

No one can say that women don’t exist or don’t want to work in any crew position on set. Ava DuVernay was able to hire an entire season of women directors for a “Queen Sugar,” and the upcoming second season of “Marvel’s Jessica Jones” and Hulu’s debut season of “Harlots” are following suit. There are many, many women ready, willing, and able to crush any job in the industry. Imagine all that female talent going un-tapped below the line. We, and other groups such as CINEMATOGRAPHERS XX and the Alliance for Women Film Composers are making it that much easier for Indiewood and studios to hire women above and below the line.

How to Participate

The concept is simple. Email WomenNMedia@gmail.com with a request to join the Crew List. Women must send in details themselves in order to ensure the information is a) accurate and b) included with their full consent and participation. Each department has lines for women to add their contact information, IMDb, and website. Once they’re on board, women may invite other women using the editing privileges setting on the document. International crew are welcome.

The response to this list from our Women In Media male members has been tremendous! They believe in fairness and want to hire more women in the crew. Men who love a balanced crew have participated in our movement by hiring and spreading the word about the Crew List. Men are invited to view (not edit) the Crew List and we appreciate their help spreading the word as well as checking out our resumes and websites.

Please peruse The Women In Media Crew List.

Tema L. Staig is a producer and production designer. She’s worked on numerous features and shorts including “Kissing Jessica Stein,” “Happy Hour,” and “Battlefield America.” She teaches Design for Theater, Film, and TV at the LA City College.