Newsweek/The Daily Beast has released its annual Women in the World package with a great overview from Leslie Bennetts on where we are with the leadership gap. I’ve got a quote in the piece talking about women and Hollywood. Here it is:
The erosion of previous gains extends far beyond politics. “Last year 95 percent of the top-grossing films were directed by men; the number directed by women has decreased since 1998,” says Melissa Silverstein, founder of the blog Women and Hollywood, which tracks women’s participation in the industry. “Only four women have been nominated for best director in 84 years of Academy Awards, and only one has won. Film is such an important piece of the culture, but Hollywood is very boy-centric, and this means that our world is seen through a white man’s perspective. Most of the movies being green-lit are action-adventure, sci-fi or superhero movies — and the men want to hire their friends. There’s a perception that things are great for women — Angelina Jolie directs a film! — but the reality is that we haven’t improved at all; the numbers are stagnating or decreasing.”
Read the full piece here.
They also include 150 fearless women with several women in entertainment on the list including:
Roseanne Barr — TV star
Glenn Close — actress
Adele — singer
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — Nigerian writer
Panmela Castro- Brazilian Graffiti Artist
Tanaz Eshaghian- Iranian Director
Angelina Jolie — actress/writer/director
Lady Gaga — singer
Melissa McCarthy — actress
Jessica Green Morris — Project Girl Performance Collective (US)
Cindy Sherman — artist
Jennifer Siebel Newsom — Director, Miss Representation
Theresa Rebeck — playwright, creator of Smash
Meryl Streep — actress
Holland Taylor — actress
Kristin Wiig — writer/actress
Oprah Winfrey — queen of all media
Make sure to read about all the women making change around the world. They are amazing.
