Some great news for female directors in the UK: London’s National Film and Television School (NFTS) is launching three initiatives to increase the number of women film directors working in the UK.
According to ScreenDaily, the three initiatives to be launched in 2017 are:
- A mentorship program for each female student on the school’s four MA Directing degrees.
- A directing workshop for women who are graduates of the NFTS or have at least three years professional experience in the arts, which is tuition free and includes access to NFTS facilities to work on short film or series projects, with the completed work screened to agents and producers. Participants will be required to raise £3,000 in support of their productions by the first day of the workshop.
- A paid internship for all participants of the workshop with a director, writer, or producer.
As we’ve come to learn, sexism in the industry isn’t just a Hollywood problem — it’s a global problem. As ScreenDaily points out, a report from Directors UK last month revealed that only 13.6 percent of all film made in the UK between 2004 and 2014 were directed by women. Another study revealed that only 20 percent of production personnel on UK films in 2015 were women.
Of the initiatives, James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli said, “[I am] excited by the initiatives announced today to boost the number of female filmmakers but there is more to be done by the industry itself. We women in film, especially those in positions of influence need to now really focus on supporting working with families so we don’t find ourselves losing valuable, talented and enthusiastic members of our industry.”
Tessa Ross (producer, “Room,” “12 Years A Slave”) added, “[This] is a great opportunity to…celebrate the work of the great British women who are blazing a trail through the film, television, and games industries.”
Students enrolled at the NFTS have been 49 percent female and 51 percent male since 2014.
