Guest Post by Morgan Lariah

“Anatomy is destiny, and you, Morgan, are going to have a very hard time.”

I was freshly 18 and a new student at Hollywood’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts when that statement was directed at me. My acting class instructor’s words didn’t really sink in until years later, when I could fully understand their meaning.

Once I started auditioning, his words rang true like the sound of a slap in the face. There were very few roles for which my body seemed to be suited, and by extension, auditions that I could access.

If anatomy was indeed destiny, then whose destiny did I want to emulate? As a tall brunette, Sigourney Weaver seemed the obvious choice for me—and not just for her look, but also for her work. Diversity had been my draw toward sci-fi in the first place, this mystical genre where I saw intelligent, strong, and capable female characters. Women who were sexual but not sexualized. It was as if these characters could only live in a made-up world even though these characters, in reality, mirrored the strong women I’d known throughout my entire life — though generally with less gun-wielding. They stood proudly in stark contrast to the female characters that amounted to little more than the female arm-candy I saw represented in the media.

Sci-fi’s boundless worlds offer creativity that can’t be found anywhere else, and within those spaces anything is possible, for anyone. And after all, isn’t Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” considered the first sci-fi novel? Women have been pioneers of the fantastic since long before Sigourney’s first callback.

When I was approached with the premise for what would become the sci-fi thriller “5th Passenger,” I saw the movie in my mind immediately. I thought, “This is a film I can create.” After years of working on the script with my co-creator, we got the amazing opportunity to repurpose an existing sci-fi set for our film. We were fortunate, and our crowdfunding campaign’s success had catapulted us into production.

Soon, deals were struck—yet, strangely without anyone consulting me, the co-creator. A team materialized in what seemed like no time at all. Even though I was still relatively green, something about the process felt amiss. But the dream was coming true and I wanted to make movies, not waves. I was — and continue to be to this day — so appreciative for the opportunity, and didn’t want to seem ungrateful.

During our pre-production meetings, I was the only woman in a room of men. We had filled most crew positions without a hitch, but still needed a director of photography. We began brainstorming—and by we, I mean they.

“I know a guy….”

“I remember a guy who…”

“Well, I know this guy…”

“I just worked with a guy who…”

Then something sparked inside of me. I felt it move through me. A voice spoke.

“Don’t you know any women? Are there any women we could interview for the position? You must know some women, or have worked with some women in the past.”

Embarrassed by my own rush of boldness, I stepped gingerly down from my soapbox. There was a moment of silence. A pause. Then I saw their faces change. One of them spoke. Yes, he did know a female director of photography. She had actually shot his first micro-budget feature. We could bring her in to interview. Great.

In that instant I knew. I knew that what I was experiencing on my indie film was a microcosm of an industry-wide problem — one that has only recently made waves. I had seen it. It wasn’t malicious or premeditated. It was simple conditioning. The cycle slowly became clear to me. Men hire men, who work with men, who move up the ranks and hire more men.

At the time, I was completely unaware that for many years reports by such institutes as the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film and Geena Davis Institute had been reflecting what I had been piecing together: that behind-the-scenes women make up less than 20 percent on the top 250 films. And the number speaking roles for women increases when films are written and/or directed by women. 

I had been blind. I never questioned what I saw — I just accepted it. Even as a woman, it took being in the middle of the problem for my eyes to be opened. And with this newfound knowledge, I would soon have a new responsibility.

We ended up hiring the female director of photography. Because she was a woman, you may ask? Absolutely not. She came to the interview extremely prepared and passionate about the genre, a genre that up until that point she had not had an opportunity to work on. She had a great vision for the look of the film. And on top of all that, she agreed to work within our budget. During production, it was thrilling to work with her and watch the whole crew benefit from her drive, knowledge, and laser-like focus.

In acting, we bring ourselves to our characters but sometimes our characters bring something to us as well. In “5th Passenger” my character, Lt. Eve Miller, is intelligent, determined, ambitious, and utterly surrounded by men. The year is 2151, but Miller still experiences sexism at every turn. During the writing process, there was no way of knowing how much her experience would reflect my own in making this film, so much so that by the time we got to the editing process, it was difficult for me to watch the footage.

Miller taught me a lot – she being more intelligent than me. She felt the collective rage. Her fate was intertwined with my fate. I found comfort in that. As odd as it sounds, she gave me strength during this entire filmmaking process.

Ask anyone — making a movie, whatever your gender, is a difficult process. I respect this process. I respect those who’ve experienced this process. But I was never sure if it was the genre, just moviemaking, or my gender, when people would approach me surprised that my name was listed among the writers. Or when at business meetings, being the only woman, the potential financiers or sale agents interested in a sci-fi thriller wouldn’t look me in the eye. Or fast forward to our cast and crew screening, when people, knowing I had acted in the film, asked me if I had seen a cut of the movie yet.

During the lull between “5th Passenger’s” production and post-production, I was invited to a Film Fatales meeting. It was exhilarating to be surrounded by so many intelligent, opinionated, passionate and talented women. My soul was fed so well that only then did I realize how much I’d been starving. I was hooked. Through the Film Fatales I soon found many other organizations, including Women in Film, Alliance of Women Directors, Cinefemme, Women in Media, The Director List, and Film Powered, each one was working toward gender equality in its own way.

By the time we were able to find the finishing funds for post-production, I was a different artist. I actively sought out women to bring in for post-production job interviews when I could. I researched lists, and asked around in my female filmmaker groups for referrals. I looked at websites and watched reels. Time wasn’t really a factor as it took the same amount of time and effort as it did when looking to hire men. And while not every woman turned out to be the best fit, I felt at the very least, I was participating in this one small step toward equality.

Inclusivity is now on the forefront of our collective consciousness. I have to echo what you’ve already heard: Hire more people who identify as women. Women can’t do it alone. If we are going to make any strides in this area, we must all do it together.

But where do you start if you don’t already have “binders full of women” to hire? The great news is that a lot of groups have already done the legwork for you.

If you need crew, try posting on the Women in Media and Film Powered job boards. Women in Film sends out a weekly list of jobs to all of its members as well. Do you need a director? Film Fatales, Cinefemme, Alliance of Women Directors, and The Directors List have massive databases of qualified directors. Would you like to mentor a woman to help break the glass ceiling that much sooner? Women in Film has a stellar mentorship program, and all of the organizations aforementioned would be more than happy to assist in pairing you with the perfect mentee.

You can also support the movement from your couch, by paying to watch female-helmed projects on your platform of choice; this support will funnel the economy toward more female-created content.

Make it a point to have half all of the people you interview be women, and make sure that also includes women of color. Women don’t need charity, but they do need a chance. As indie filmmakers, I know sometimes we don’t have the luxury of absolute choice—we often have to pick the strongest person who will agree to work within our budget. But we can all work collectively to get more women in the door. There is so much talent in this town, and there’s no reason any should go to waste.

Since filming “5th Passenger,” I have penned two more sci-fi scripts. In worlds rich with metaphor and social commentary, how could I leave the genre just yet? I muse at times if sci-fi shapes our future or do the writers of sci-fi channel it? In this beautiful age of so many diverse voices, I look forward to the new stories within the genre that will spring forth. Ultimately, the joy of sci-fi is the ability to create any world the human heart and mind can imagine. Is anatomy destiny? If so, then let us create a new destiny.

“5th Passenger” will be available on digital platforms July 10. In addition to co-writing and co-producing “5th Passenger,” Morgan Lariah also stars in the pic. 

Lariah’s first short film, “2-Star,” premiered at the East End Film Festival in London and went on to screen at festivals around the world. “5th Passenger” marks her first feature film as co-writer, producer, and actress. “5th Passenger” had a limited theatrical run and was picked up for distribution by Epic Pictures. Her current script, “Full Take,” was a semi-finalist for the 2017 Sundance/YouTube New Voices lab.