... this place seems to me like a sausage fest!

... this place seems to me like a sausage fest!

lol. You're probably right. :) Welcome to the club. It would be nice to have the opinion of the fairer sex here.

I scream like a girl when I see spiders.

There's Spinner... uh... you... uh, Poke (j/k).... hmmm... there's a few others kicking around.

Actually, I believe ZenSteve has a list of female members as is contractually furnished to him as part of the original Indietalk Rico Suave Act-Alike Club.

Oh, BTW Leah...do you have anything online we could see?

Hi to all of the ladies. :welcome:

I have a show reel online at www.gloryboxstudios.com , but I'm not a filmmaker more a composer/sound designer/post/mix/master kind of person.

I would love to know why the indie film scene is full of boys and not many girls. it's the same in the music technology/recording industry. The courses I teach on at college and uni (music tech) are almost exclusively to classes of young men. I have no idea why this is... lack of female role models?

Not sure Leah...because men like their toys, and want power and money...and the film industry gives them all of that? Not sure...

On the acting end, there are more women then men trying out for roles...so it's not totally true that filmmaking is mostly men. As far as on the more important crew members, it's safe to say there are more men...who knows. Women directors are out there though...two good friends of mine are director/dp's, and their doing great. Plus I know several female editors. On the indie scene in NE, there are a lot of women around, in all roles of the game.

*shrugs*

I’d love to know that, too.

When I crew up I go out of my way to find women and I always end
up with nothing. I find excellent Firsts and, of course,
costumers and makeup, but rarely juicers, camera or editors. And
my two favorite pro editors are women - I’d love to work with a
woman editor.

Could it be lack of role models? Do women really think if they
don’t see a woman doing it, they can’t?

Could it be lack of role models? Do women really think if they
don’t see a woman doing it, they can’t?

Maybe back in the day it might have been difficult for females to get involved in the industry (old hollywood sexism, etc), which could be partly why we don't have any equivalent female Kubricks or John Williams' getting around these days (?) ... after all the feminist movement is still rather young...

I have no ideas why it seems females are less inclined to want to work with technology, electronics, creative toys. It can't be an unwillingness to work in film, we have loads of actresses, writers, artists, costumers, etc. My mind is boggled.

I suppose I shouldn't be complaining, perhaps I have a higher chance of engagement because people like directorik employ a little positive discrimination...

Did someone say... ladies? http://zenweasel.com/images/smilies/smiley_creepy.gif

That's all I got. :mope:

Here is a website for Women in Film - you can meet other women who share similar interests. When you do, perhaps you could ask them to kindly join this forum: http://www.wif.org/

It's not a film thing, it's an internet thing. Most internet forums are male dominated.

I work with a female producer on a regular basis; she's terrific! Her preproduction meetings are lively and productive, her shoots run with militaristic precision on the logistical side allowing the director & talent to be creative, and her post schedules & budgets are realistic. She also treats the crew and talent like gods. I've worked with two female directors as well; they were both serious and professional, and they were able to articulate their sonic desires for their projects in great detail, much more so than most of their male counterparts.

There is no argument that women in this business aren’t excellent
at what they do. I just wonder why when I put out a crew call I
get no resumes from women outside of AD, makeup, costumes, art
department and production. I was in special makeup efx for many
years. I can count on one hand the woman I met in that field.
It’s so rare to work with a woman juicer or grip that I can still
remember the names of the ones I’ve worked with.

Alcove, do you see a lot of women as location mixers or boom ops?
And in post audio I so rarely see women that it’s quite a novelty
when I do.

C’mon Spinner. What is your experience? You’re out there working.
Do you see many women doing what you’re doing?

:hi:
Hey! I edit! I edit!
I really consider myself to be an editor more than anything which is one of the reasons I want to extend what I know, I should have FCP Motion ordered in about 3 weeks! I'm so excited!


C’mon Spinner. What is your experience? You’re out there working.
Do you see many women doing what you’re doing?

I personally only know one other woman filmmaker. She did a pretty good doc that made it to local PBS, but now she is turning her focus to narratives. I will be editing her film short once it gets to post. I know and have met a few women screenwriters, but that is about it. Even in tv, I didn't come across many women who wanted to do production, only 3 in my 16 years, one of whom I trained. Most of the women wanted to be producers, anchors or reporters.

Otherwise, I don't know of any women doing what I am doing or attempting to do. In some ways I think its kinda cool. I get to be the non-bimbo girl hanging around the rock bands. :lol: I think that initially I may be seen as a novelty -- african american female doing video for hard rock/heavy metal rock bands, figure that one out -- but I think when they see my work, all that novelty stuff goes out the window. I know that I can do better than what most local bands have on their profile pages or EPKs, so I can kind of back up what I say I can do. (The problem is finding a good price to charge so that both the band and I can comfortably afford to these docs or videos.)

I have found once or twice, not many times, where a couple of production guys didn't want to listen to me. Okay.*shrug* I'm not pushy. I believe that there is always someone out there who knows more than you do, and that being the case I will listen and try to learn something new. But if I think they are wrong, I am pretty good at diplomatically giving my opinion and if I'm wrong fine, if I'm right fine. I have never been a I-told-you-so kind of person, besides if I'm right, you already know, so lets keep going and finish the project.

I do know that I do have to step up and be involved. I can be a shy person, but I learned how to make myself get past that a long time ago. I schlep my own equipment and don't look to the guys to do it for me unless they ask and I usually say no. Its my stuff, I should be able to carry it. NOBODY carries my camera but me (its the heaviest piece of equipment I have) with the exception of going downstairs - I get vertigo, but I don't play that 'girlie' thing because I think if you are in production, you are in production, schlep the equipment with everybody else, business is business. You can't be worried about breaking a nail.

I have had a couple of good role models. I am a big fan of Barbara Kopple. I studied "Harlan County, USA" in college. And there is Penelope Spheris who did "The Decline of Western Civilization: The Metal Years". You don't see them around as much as other filmmakers, but I am taking from both of them in what I do.

I don't know why there are more men than women in this field. On a personal level, I just knew what I wanted to do. I think there is a lack of numbers and a lack of jobs, but not a lack of talent. I don't mind working with the guys, though. I've worked with 'the guys' from the beginning when I was just running the teleprompter in tv news right up to when I became a technical director. After leaving tv news, I am director/editor. I'm still broke:D but I am really hoping that will change and I am trying to put myself into a better position to get my work out there and make some money as well.

I am reminded of an interview with Lemmy of Motorhead when he was asked about women in rock and roll. He said 'the girls can do what they guys can do, they're just graceful'. I kinda like that and I think it can be applied to film as well. Hope this wasn't too long....:)

-- spinner :cool:

Hi Leah,

I am a female set constructor, scenic artist, set dresser, and props maker. I actually work closely with a female production designer in the independent film industry of the Bay Area. I have to admit that even though women are making their marks in the film industry, it still does seem to be dominated by males. I say, power to us women though! I hope to soon have an all female shop. (Not to discriminate, but it happened by chance that the team I usually work with, including a spfx artist, are very talented females and we get along so well, in business and friendship.)

Alcove, do you see a lot of women as location mixers or boom-ops? And in post audio I so rarely see women that it’s quite a novelty when I do.
I've worked with one female boom-op and one female 1st AD, lots of PAs. I've only met one woman who does audio post, but communicate with two other gals who are at the top of the audio post food chain. But you are right, they are not as well represented in the highly technical fields.

Hi Leah,

I am a female set constructor, scenic artist, set dresser, and props maker. I actually work closely with a female production designer in the independent film industry of the Bay Area. I have to admit that even though women are making their marks in the film industry, it still does seem to be dominated by males. I say, power to us women though! I hope to soon have an all female shop. (Not to discriminate, but it happened by chance that the team I usually work with, including a spfx artist, are very talented females and we get along so well, in business and friendship.)

Yeah! girl power! Cool to hear about your shop :) In my line of work I tend to do things remotely and in solitude, but it's the same in music - not many film composers or sound designers/studio operators out there with vaginas. There are some, but no where near as many as men.

It's perplexing, for sure.

... this place seems to me like a sausage fest!

Find me a filmmaking site that isn't.... ;)

I'm executive producing a series of short films for women by women. I'm trying to cope with the inequities of the female directors and writers in our region.

What are you doing here? Get back into the kitchen!

What are you doing here? Get back into the kitchen!

http://www.sonnyboo.com/images/sarcasm.gif

I have a show reel online at www.gloryboxstudios.com , but I'm not a filmmaker more a composer/sound designer/post/mix/master kind of person.

I would love to know why the indie film scene is full of boys and not many girls. it's the same in the music technology/recording industry. The courses I teach on at college and uni (music tech) are almost exclusively to classes of young men. I have no idea why this is... lack of female role models?

I write and produce independent films and videos and have recently branched out to direct projects for other filmmakers, which has been fun.

There may not be a lot of women role models who are in the spotlight but there are dozens of women based film organizations that prove there are women working in various aspects of film and TV. They just may not be on many filmmaking forums and I don't really know of any good reasons for that. I know of some women filmmakers who have children or other responsibilities that may keep them busy outside of film and so they would probably spend more time on Parenting or Shopping forums than filmmaking forums. As for others, well, maybe they are discouraged or intimidated by the male forum dominance.

As far as role models, Sophia Coppola may be a good example, especially for women who believe that they MUST have some other woman to look up to and prove that women can work in the business. She's like the only female that was ever nominated for a Best Director Oscar. Women who need female role models can look to her for inspiration.

Before I graduated, many of my classes had mostly male students with maybe five females at most, including me, and guess where many of the other female students were on campus? In the Fashion Design and Graphic design departments! Sure, some were also sprinkled throughout other majors but I also think that this may exhibit the way that people grow up. Call it gender socialization if you will or whatever, but there may not be many parents who are raising their daughters to be filmmakers or camera operators or grips or boom operators, etc. because they may not see those fields as appropriate types of work.

Males dominate much of the internet communities as a whole, so it may not be exclusive to filmmaking. Gaming sites and those HTML/CSS websites are also one of the most male dominated areas.

I'M A GIRL, TOO!

I am a screenwriter in Vancouver, BC, and also am a partner in an independent production company.

While I do some producing, my main focus is my writing career -- I really only became a producer because I got tired of sitting around waiting for someone produce my stuff.

Ultimately, I plan to hand over the "reigns" of the production company to my partners, once I have my writing career where I want it to be.

There are a lot of females in the industry in Vancouver -- many award-winning writers as well as directors.

*Shameless plug follows*

My dear friend, Lidia Stante, a female director based out of Vancouver, just got accepted into the "Crazy 8's" Film Competition.

The only female to make it. Yeah, Lidia!

Check out Women In Film & Television Vancouver (http:///www.womeninfilm.ca/) -- you'll find many female filmmakers, as well as links to local Women In Film Chapters in your area.

It can be a great resource.

www.highdeafproductions.com (http://www.highdeafproductions.com)

I think it's the minds of the women. People all grow up a certain way and I'm sure all of us have something common in our lives that links to film. Maybe women being grown up a certain way causes their minds to kind of, steer away from film?

And does anyone know any good female directors? I only know the woman who directed Twilight and well...she was terribad with that. I have yet to see her other movies but after Twilight...I don't want to. Oh! The woman who directed D.E.B.S.! That movie was aces.

Hi there,

I too, am a woman in film. I'm based in Toronto, have been in various fields of the film production industry for 10 years now, from PA'ing, to sound editing, to production. I've been production coordinating animated series for broadcast and the web for 4 years now, currently working on an animated game show for kids from the UK we're adapting for Canadian audiences. I'm also trying my debut at producing a feature film with a small but determined team. It's in development stages now, and I'm doing mad research on US independent distribution and production companies, budgeting, and grant programs. Hey, who here would like to see a fictional film about William Shatner's life? eh, Eh?

Cheers, Courtney

haha yeah..there seems to be a lack of our gender.

I would SOO like to see a fictional film about Shatner. Like, way.

Good female directors off the top of my head: Mira Nair, Sophia Coppola (debatably ;p), Leni Riefenstahl (reeeeeeeally debatably), Julie Dash, Amy Heckerling, Kasi Lemmons, Nora Ephron, Hito Steyerl, Claire Denis, Margarethe von Trotta... aaaaaaand me! :D ;)

Involvement in film simply IS, to a large degree, a case of becoming involved with technology. While not everyone's course/direction, my own involvement in film presently involves a ton (tonne?) of research around a number of technological areas:

-cameras;

-the parts that make up the box & how they work;

-the throughput/product from camera through the box to final product/output;

-this does not touch on the areas I mentioned earlier in another thread eg. sound, lighting.

I think that an independent director, if he/she takes the craft seriously, has no choice BUT to get involved with these, to obtain a good, solid foundation or working knowledge.

We are not friends, technology and I, but certainly over the past two years I have learned to have a begrudging respect for it.

I think that generally,many women in the West at least, do not like to get deeply involved in & with technology--it is an almost geeky involvement. And, let's face it, it is.As a filmmaker, you have to try & reconcile the art & the science/technology.

On the other hand, I know that there are lots of female engineers in my part of the world, and that one of my female friends is an Associate Professor in Operations Research, which is _heavily numerate_.In the earlier communist countries, there were quite a number of women produced who were working in the hard sciences, & technology fields.

Just an observation.

It'd be awesome if I could have a female in my small crew but unfortunately I can't find a female interested in film in my age group where I am.

I'm hung like a lady, does that count?

Haha! What does that even mean? I mean, that can be taken in so many ways and I'm just thinking something dirty, and even through a dirty way it can be taken in multiple ways.

I'm a girl! I just haven't had much time to be on here.

The OP has been catalyst for commentary relating to the absence/perceived small numbers of women working in the technical components (production-side) of the film industry.


The women themselves note some of the issues which perhaps influence this shortage--they're working mothers, wth families, who in their online lives are more inclined to spend time with sites dealing with family-related issues than technology and/or film. Or, it is part of gender socialisation.

Of the men who have worked with women in the production-side, they have had good results, and offer praise. My experiences, though limited, have been quite mixed in this regard.

im a girl :)

hooray for boobies

I would say that it's simply a personal choice. But that's just me.

Personally, I have seen plenty of women doing certain types of jobs on set. Most of them have been really good to work with, and there are times when I wish I was dealing with a woman instead of some arrogant prick with certain things.