Can women really "make it" as directors?

so I do question whether there is less interest from females.
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What's the male to female ratio here on this site? I'd hazard a guess it's a number higher than the 5:1 ratio you mentioned.

In my experience, there are more females in filming than males, however, the massive majority of them want to be actors, not crew. Of the women I know in filming, there's one or two who want to be a director. Lots of writers, lots of actors, not so many directors.
 
Some of you should re-read cheeseandachallenge's response:

cheeseandachallenge said:
jobs that "appeal to women" are more a product of the conditioning of society
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Jobs like engineering, programming, military, or filmmaking only SEEM less appealing to women because society tells them those jobs are for men.

If we suddenly had to rebuild society without memories of how things used to be, we'd see a much different job distribution. The only exception might be physically demanding jobs since statistically men will out-perform women.
 
This is a complex issue that isn't unique to directors, but to other professions as well.

Not sure if you've ever read the book LEAN IN by Sheryl Sandberg, who is basically the #2 at Facebook, and she talks about the challenges women face in the modern workplace, having to balance careers and family.

The common denominator you'll find with many leadership jobs that are male dominated such as directing, executive level jobs in business, elected positions in politics is the brutal combination of time away from home (travel), the long hours in the workplace, and the lack of predictability in your schedule.

If you're young and single, whether you're male or female, you won't care: if you're gung ho about it, you'll do whatever it takes, sacrifice whatever personal life you have for any opportunity. But as you get into your 30s, you will see a widening difference between men and women.

Men at any age aren't expected to take time away to be full-time stay at home dads. They can outsource that, or even be a deadbeat dad and not face any significant negative social stigma from it. In plain English, they can focus 110% on their careers, even at the expense of their roles in the family without much social consequence. And you'll see this in spades in film/entertainment, business, politics, sports or any career that requires a huge sacrifice to your personal life.

With women comes the expectations of motherhood. Simply put, when you add children (or even the desire to have children) into the equation, it becomes much more complicated.

Simply put, whether you're a male or female, you will have to make tradeoffs between career and family. And with women, it can be a much bigger tradeoff, both emotionally and socially (regardless of culture, there is a far bigger social stigma for being perceived as a "bad mother" than being a "bad leader in the workplace").

So what does this have to do with directing?

As a director, you'll likely hit your peak (in terms of booking your biggest and most lucrative projects) in your 30s and 40s, right when as a woman, you are also in your most important child rearing years. Now you may say right now that you don't want children, and while that may be true even later in life for you, for many women they do want children, and that balance is hard to achieve.

As a director, in preproduction, you'll be traveling a lot - location scouting, meeting with investors in different cities, and so forth. During shooting, you're on location (and likely not in the same city as where your kids will be) for months at a time. Post production is a bit more predictable, but you'll likely be holed up with the editor. And then when the film is released, you're on a publicity tour, traveling from one city to the next.

Simply put, as a director, your schedule and lifestyle is remarkably similar to a senior business executive, traveling all the time and spending very little time in your home city. This makes it incredibly challenging and a tradeoff that too many are unwilling to make - to make their work a priority over their children.

What you will find then is that it's not uncommon for women directors to not have children (or who are single).
 
Unfortunately, the people that really matter in show biz (those holding the money) are usually old white guys.

Fortunately, they've been dying off and the trend looks to continue. One day the wealth being held in this country will be more reflective of the country as a whole.
 
There's nothing wrong with looking for a little support from other aspirants.

If we can't offer a little friendly support to each other, we're not much good then. It can't all be gear or technical talk. I hope.

Liv said:
I know the path to becoming a grade A-filmmaker (and not just a director of commercials) is a grueling uphill battle. But being a woman, is the battle really lost? Are we doomed from the start for no jobs, and even if we can break in, meager funding and male management?
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No, it's not really lost. No, you're not doomed.

If it were lost, if you were doomed, then I suppose we couldn't even mention those notable successes, women like Lexi Alexander, Kathryn Bigelow, Nora Ephron, Penny Marshall, or Lena Dunham.

List of female film and television directors

You already said it. You know it's a grueling, uphill battle for most, male or female. I am sure it's still tougher for women. If I were king, I would decree that from now on it be a level playing field for all. But even then, you know how it is...just because the king decrees something doesn't necessarily mean the nobles or the populace will go for it. Damn Magna Carta.

Liv said:
I'm not trying to argue how Hollywood is unfair to women. I want someone to prove me wrong. I wish someone could give me an opposing argument, to soothe my worrying mind and tell me it's not so. I don't want this to be accurate

What are your thoughts on female directors (or as I hope to become one day, writer/directors). Is hope lost for us? :(
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I doubt anyone can prove any such thing. But, if you ask me, the proof is in the pudding. Hope for you is not lost. You're indulging in more than a little hyperbole there. That's okay. I say that without judgment. We all do it, at least on occasion, I suppose. =P

I tend to come down more on the nature of things, less so on their nurture, these days. I think there are biological and chemical/hormonal and other differences.

No doubt, if a girl, or a women, wants to play with a G.I. Joe doll instead of a Barbie doll, she should have the un-stigmatized right to do so. If she wants to be a tomboy instead of a "girly" girl, then same thing, good for her.

But, I wonder just how many women regret not having had G.I. Joe dolls pushed on them when they were kids. I wonder how many women feel damaged or deprived because being tough guys, being taught anger is the only acceptable emotion that a "real man" should feel or express, or being more aggressive was not encouraged behavior ("conditioning") for them...unlike it was for the boys.

I wonder how many women resent the dubious "fact" that they were (supposedly) conditioned to prefer "chick flicks", for example, as opposed to something like Predator, or Rambo: A Last Chance to Kill Some of Those Commie Vietnamese Who Attacked 'Merica, After All. And I wonder how many women regret, or would change if they could, how "Patriarchal Society" put this love for chick films in them, and at the same time, instilled in them a general aversion to "guy flicks".

They could have been properly conditioned to go bananas for violence-filled Schwarzenegger films? For horror films?

Having said all that, I'm sure that girls and women ought to be encouraged take more interest in and to pursue math and science more, as well as those careers that utilize them. But I'm not too concerned about the issue of math and science in a discussion about filmmaking and Hollywood (not that I don't realize math and science/technology play a part in the industry).

If the goal is going to be turning women into men, essentially, if that's the new virtuous aim of Society, then count me out. Sounds dystopian to me.

On the other hand, I would say that women ought to have the same opportunities as men, of course. But that shouldn't mean Society (whoever that is) ought to "condition" the sexes until there is really only one sex, some kind of strange, engineered unisexual, unigender species. Vive la Difference sounds like a more healthy approach to me --with equal opportunity.

As far as there being systemic discrimination in Hollywood, I suppose so. But I would guess that at this point it has little to nothing to do with misogyny, and more to do with the legacy of Hollywood being an old boys club, as it still is in so many other sectors today.

And, I would think it has largely to do with the money. Who has it? What kind of films do the people with the money like to see themselves and, considering that, which do they like to promote? Chick flicks? Probably not so much.

But how long is that going to last?

Look at the great successes of films which are apparently being driven by teenage girls and women. Like the Twilight films. The Hunger Games. I'm sure many of the Harry Potter fans were female, and many of those tickets were bought by females. Should we add Divergent? Looks like it's not getting highly rated. How's it doing at the Box Office so far? Does that matter?

Now is the point in the discussion when I'd really like to see some concrete numbers. If such numbers exist. How many of the consumers of theater tickets, home video, and rentals are female? How many are male? How does it break down? And, if there would happen to be a trend of greater numbers of females going to films (and buying and renting), probably with stories of interest to females, then, whether of personal interest to the money people or not, you can bet they will be paying attention. They will follow the money.

And it just seems like a good bet that the more women there are making films in the future, then the more films that are of interest to females will be made, which would likely lead to more female movie goers taking an interest and buying more tickets, and then all the more money will flow in that direction allowing more such films aimed at women to be greenlit, meaning more money and perhaps more women hiring more women, and so on.

Maybe that's not true. Maybe that's magical thinking on my part. What in the world do I know? Too true. But it sounds like an upbeat and hopeful note to end this absurdly long post on. =)
 
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I love their work and contribution to this field ,or any other field.

I love to watch sci fi most
if to choose action movies, love to see women performing action in tight lether jeans.perfect than any male macho.

About behind the scene, Can comment only on looking at kind of story line /script they choose or opt for movie making.

I THOUGHT of writing a script on CANNIBALISM.
A real story, that happened in India.
(2006 Noida serial murder investigation The 2006 Noida serial murder investigation began in December 2006 when the skeletal remains of a number of missing children were discovered in the village of Nithari, India on the outskirts of Noida, a planned industrial township in Uttar Pradesh near New Delhi.
On December 26, 2006, a rich and politically connected Punjabi businessman, Moninder Singh Pandher, and his servant, Surender Koli, were arrested by the Delhi Police on the suspicion of murdering a call girl named "Payal". Charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code included rape, murder, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy. Pandher and Koli were sentenced to death on February 13, 2009.)

i dont see that kind of interesting macho in the above content.I have learned to compromise(?)

Some typical american guy touring europe scandinavian region for hunt.It's sounds very macho and interesting.
When I say this , women don't understand why I do that.I sound as stupid to them.

Aren't women action pact .
I SAY , they are stronger than me in all way. I get scared while writing script like this.
Women script writer / director will NOT get pissed off.
They try to stick to the good side instead . and they feel for the victim.
This might make their story choosing skill to be less interesting for the viewers , compared to story choosing skill of male.

I'm not bothered about victim anymore. I like to choose the interesting line . that's it.
Interesting that make production house think , viewers will like watching it.
nothing more than this.
 
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Just do it.

The reality is that people (in the case of film, the producers) have a tendency to hire people who are similar to them. Historically they've been white men, but that's changing.

You can't sit around worrying whether you'll succeed or not. Find a producer who you work well with. Or produce your own work. Learn to work with people who are different from you. Find role models to look up to. Learn as much as you can, and work hard. And don't listen to anyone who says you can't do something - prove them wrong.
 
Sweetie said:
What's the male to female ratio here on this site? I'd hazard a guess it's a number higher than the 5:1 ratio you mentioned.
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All that says is that less women are interesting in conversing on online message boards. And I can't blame them. While IT is a great place, very friendly and welcoming, that's more the exception than the rule.
 
girls dont like the internet, everyone knows that..

5 out of 5 of females derived from at least 50% of my genetic material disagree with the above statement.
 
One day The Lord came to Adam to pass on some news. "I've got some good news and some bad news," The Lord said. Adam looked at The Lord and said, "Well, give me the good news first." Smiling, The Lord explained, "I've got two new organs for you. One is called a brain. It will allow you to create new things, solve problems, and have intelligent conversations with Eve. The other organ I have for you is called a penis. It will give you great physical pleasure and allow you to reproduce your now intelligent life form and populate this planet. Eve will be very happy that you now have this organ to give her children." Adam, very excited, exclaimed, "These are great gifts you have given me. What could the bad news possibly be?" The Lord looked upon Adam and said with great sorrow, "You will never be able to use these two gifts at the same time.
 
I know its complicated to understand, but I pointed out the same data in my way anecdotal way in the second part of my comment, thereby invalidating the first part... in other words, yes, I was joking.. I have 5 daughters, they all are iJunkies.
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I thought so...but too complex of a sentence for me :)
 
You can shoot a movie or sell a script, and nobody's gonna care if you're woman or not. Just think about that:

Code: 
The startled Producer stares into the script (TV screen), and occasionally drops his 
cigar into the coffee.

                                       PRODUCER
                   That's damn good!

PRODUCER'S P.O.V. of a random female name as the author (credits).

                                       PRODUCER
                   Oh... she's a woman? That's a no no! 

He writes a RE: email with a few words, capitalizing the "REJECTION" word.

Can you imagine that happening? I don't.
 
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