Must see video from Women and Hollywood

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Got this email and video from Melissa Silverstein, founder and editor of one of my favorites blogs, Women and Hollywood:

It’s that time of year, The Academy Awards, the “Super Bowl for Women.”  It’s the night where we all get catty about whose dress doesn’t work, who has a new boyfriend or girlfriend, and who looks like they haven’t eaten all month.

Because the world is paying attention to Hollywood in a bigger way this week there is an opportunity to raise awareness about gross inequities in the business.  So we here at Women and Hollywood are taking this opportunity to say that THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE WOMEN CONSIDERED FOR BEST DIRECTOR.

Here is a short video (it’s only a little over a minute) highlighting some of the women directed films from this past year that were passed over.  We’re not trying to say that all of them should have been nominated (though we think a couple of them should have), what we are trying to say is that we have to find a way to get women directors into these conversations.

Please feel free to use this video:
Post on Women and Hollywood: To the Academy: Consider the Women

Just to being home the point a little bit more, here are the stats:

  • In 2011, only 5% of the top grossing films in Hollywood were directed by Women.  The number has decreased since 1998.
  • In 84 years only 4 women — Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow — have been nominated for best director.  One 1 has won.

Please feel free to send this video out far and wide, and on Sunday, remember that women directors voices and visions are missing from this very large cultural conversation.   Telling people this is a cultural problem and not just a gender equity problem is a first step.

Thank you

3 thoughts on “Must see video from Women and Hollywood”

  1. Lynne Ramsay should have definitely been nominated.
    Haven’t seen the other ones yet. My local cinema only gives love to mainstream movies.

    I wanted to tell you a little about myself and my experience so as to give hope for the future. I am an 18 old girl and this year I am going to start studying film. I still don’t know what I want to become (so many choices) but I know I most surely want to work in the film industry. I would love to become a director though, or work for Pixar because I have always loved to draw and I am pretty good at it and besides, I mean seriously who wouldn’t love working for those guys? or maybe, if I am good at it, as a director of photography or a production designer or art director. (I am still very indecisive as you may see)

    I really think this no-females-in-movies trend will shift in a decade or two. Because (and I just think this is weird) from the people I know four girls are studying film, and it’s not like I know them from any film related places like workshops or anything like that. They are just people I know from different schools I studied at. Only two of them want to work in making movies. One of them as a director and the other one as a scenographer while the other ones want to work doing music videos and tv.

    If I ever make it to become a director I am going to work in changing this women-less dimension in movies.

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