Women made up 20% of the roles behind the scenes on the top 100 domestic grossing films of 2019. This number was 16% in 2018. The number of women working in the film industry reached a historic high in 2019, but the ratio of men to women in key roles remained 4:1. According to a study titled It’s a Mans (Celluloid) World, only 35% of films included 10 or more female speaking roles but 82% of movies had at least 10 male speaking roles. The inequality of women in the film industry reaches into every crack and crevice of film, from acting to composing, directing, and more. In something as influential as film, it is necessary that women have their perspective equally represented in every sector of film. Women need to be equally recognized for their efforts in film, and it starts with making an effort to learn about women in film.
Watch this video to learn about some groundbreaking women in film:
Dorothy Arzner
Arzner was an American filmmaker, and the only woman directing feature-length studio films in Hollywood during the 1930s. She is known for many of her influential works in feminist cinema. She began working at Lasky Corporation (Paramount Pictures), typing scripts, and later editing films. She continued to impress Paramount executives with her inventive editing and in 1927 was able to direct her first film, Fashions for Women. Her films portrayed independent and strong-willed women, not common to the time period. After retiring from commercial filmmaking, Arzner established the first class on filmmaking at the Pasadena Playhouse. She also directed training films for the Women’s Army Corps in Wold War II and directed more than 50 commercials for Pepsi-Cola. She also taught a film course at UCLA for four years in the 1960s. Between 1927 and 1943, she made a total of 20 films.
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Chloé Zhao
In March of 2021, Zhao became the first Chinese woman, and woman of color to be nominated for the Academy Award of Best Director for her film Nomadland. Zhao studied in London, Los Angeles, and Massachusetts, before enrolling in the graduate film program NYU Tisch. After graduating from NYU, Zhao moved to the midwest and learned about the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. There, she developed an interest in telling the untold stories of Native American people. Her 2015 debut Songs My Brothers Taught Me was filmed on a shoestring budget, and featured members of the Lakota Sioux tribe.She continued to work with non-professional actors in both her 2018 film The Rider and Nomadland. She is currently directing the Marvel movie Eternals, which is notable for having a diverse cast and breaking many barriers in Marvel.
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Organization Highlight: Women In Film
Women in Film works to advocate and advance the career of women working in the film industry. They work with women of all levels of experience to help transform the culture in film. They have several distinguished programs, including mentoring, a speaker and screening series, a production training program, writing labs, film finishing fund, legal aid, and an annual financing intensive. They also advocate for gender parity, and have built a community centered around these goals.
Visit their site!