Tracey real star for girl power push with films

The outgoing head of Screen Queensland has made it her mission to put women on screen, behind cameras and in production while also resurrecting our dying industry by enticing Hollywood blockbusters to the Gold Coast

Bulletin IT was just a normal business meeting.

Tracey Vieira sat down at the table with her male counterpart, ready to discuss details of a new deal over dinner.

Except, after just a few minutes, she discovered he was looking less for a business connection and more for a personal hook-up. The fact they were both married to other people bothered him not in the slightest. Welcome to the wonderful world of women in the film industry.

For Tracey, the outgoing head of Screen Queensland, this business is always personal – as a woman in power she has used her position to put girls in their place – on screen, behind cameras and in production.

And while she may be leaving at the end of this month after a five-year tenure, during which she resurrected our dying industry by wooing such projects as the Gold Coast-based Thor and Dora blockbusters – and making our city the centre of the state’s industry, it’s only because her work here is done.

Instead, she’s about to bring her girl power to a whole new audience.

“One of my greatest passions in Screen Queensland was working on gender equity. The lopsided representation in this industry is huge – in Hollywood and over here,” says Tracey.

“The truth is that 80 per cent of writers in drama in Australia are male; only 15 per cent of directors are female. Those figures are really not great, we’ve worked in that space to support our women in the film industry.

“We negotiated the first feature film for Stan – and it was with a female director. She had released a short film seven years ago that made it to Cannes – which is amazing – but then nothing ever happened beyond that moment. That’s the story for many females in the industry.

“It’s so important to focus on female representation when it comes to writers, directors and producers because then that is reflected on screen. Even when you look at a film like Frozen, which was celebrated for having two female leads, yet the actual talk time was still dominated by male characters. There is so much work still to be done if we want to show our daughters true representation on-screen.

“I’m leaving at a time where I feel like we’ve got our ducks in a row. Screen Queensland is in a position of strength and we have some great policies to promote both women and indigenous representation. I feel like I need to take that fight to the next level – and that’s what my next step will be about it.

“I want to move away from the government side of the industry and back into the commercial side. I am so passionate about diversity and inclusivity and I think I can continue to make a difference … in a different way.”

Tracey understands the uphill battle for women in film because she’s lived it.

As well as the disastrous business “date”, she’s been belittled even by other women in the industry. She says many women still feel that there is only one seat at the table for their gender – and that they have to fight for their place.

“There was a period in my life where I thought ‘I can’t wait until I’m 30 and they take me seriously’. Then I turned 30 and that didn’t happen. So I thought, ‘right, when I’m 35 they’ll take me seriously’. And then I eventually realised it had nothing to do with age and everything to do with gender. I’m blonde and not unattractive and the narrative says that means I’m not smart. I feel like I have to be the hardest-working person in every room.

“Having said that, I have never tried to not be me. I am unapologetically a woman. I cry. And I say to my team that if they have tears, there is nothing to be sorry about. I am a leader and I lead as a woman – I am kind, I don’t yell and I don’t need to behave like a man to assert myself.

“As well as being the CEO of Screen Queensland, I sit on a number of boards as well – and I am often one of the only women. Men think nothing of reaching out to friends and recommending them; whereas I think many women, especially in the generation above me, feel that you have to earn your place. You don’t just get invited.

“We need to mentor each other and understand there can be more than one woman in power. We don’t have to fight for that one place.

“Even in this position, during a time when I was being celebrated for being a woman who had achieved success not just for herself but for the industry in this state, I had pushback from other women.

“There was one woman who was my boss – she’s not here anymore – and we hosted a day around female empowerment and helping women rise and she said to me: ‘I think your profile is too high – you need to stay in the office’. I honestly didn’t know what to say. It was a lesson that female leadership can still be perceived as threatening.”

However, Tracey says overall her time in Queensland has been a positive, powerful experience.

Announcing her resignation, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk thanked Tracey for her leadership, noting last year was a record year for Queensland with 32 screen productions generating $262 million and creating 2600 jobs.

Tracey says in the five years before her arrival, the total state expenditure on film was $374 million. In the five years she’s been in charge it’s soared to a staggering $1.1 billion.

She says while she is still weighing up her job prospects, she is uncertain whether she will be staying in the state, or even the country.

With her husband Joey a successful American actor, she says they are torn between the two continents.

“Actually, if Joey could have his choice he’d live at Burleigh Heads,” she laughs.

“We lived in America for 10 years before this job came up – and it happened literally almost overnight.

“It was a huge change and we had a young son to consider as well – although, personally, I gave up on the motherhood guilt a long time ago. I may not make it to every