Film industry’ s drive to tackle gender gap
ARTS: Figures in the Yorkshire film industry hope to build on the momentum of tackling the gender divide in the sector amid concern that the most senior roles remain male dominated.
Women in film and television will be the focus of the next conversations between industry experts and a Yorkshire screen organisation streamed online.
FIGURES IN the Yorkshire film industry hope to build on the momentum of tackling the gender divide in the multi-million pound sector amid concern that the most senior roles remain male dominated.
Women in film and television will be the focus of the next conversations between industry experts and a Yorkshire screen organisation streamed online.
Bradford UNESCO City of Film has been hosting Screen Talk, weekly online videos during lockdown of conversations that took place last year with people who work in the sector, who usually have links to the region.
As part of the organisation’s efforts to play its part in redressing a lack of gender balance in some quarters of the industry, its next few streams will focus on women.
David Wilson, the organisation’s director, said: “As a UNESCO Creative City, we strive to promote diversity in the creative industries and the speakers in this series have the ability to inspire people who may be considering a career in this area in the future.”
Today’s Screen Talk, airing at a later-than-usual 11.30am slot to observe the VE Day two-minute silence at 11am, features Rebecca Harris, whose short film producing debut The Silent Child won an Oscar at the Academy Awards in 2018.
On Friday next week, viewers will hear from Anne Sheehan, a finance and business affairs consultant for a number of media clients, including Magnolia Mae Films.
Between 2014 and 2018 she structured the finance and executive produced films including Chef, The Tale of Tales, Miss You Already, Eye in the Sky, Brimstone and The Limehouse Golem.
And on May 22, Rebecca Parnell will discuss her role as a producer on shows including GPs: Behind Closed Doors, which was partly filmed in Bradford.
Controversy surfaced at this year’s Oscars, with some criticising the lack of women directors included in the shortlist – an issue brought up in the context of the #MeToo movement, which fights exploitation – while a debate about the under-representation of minority ethnic communities has continued for some years.
Mr Wilson said: “There is a really good gender balance across the number of jobs but most people who get the top jobs is still very male dominated. You see that in the Oscars.”
Asked about the UK situation, Lauren York, the Leeds-based northern representative of the Women in Film and Television network, said: “For women in Yorkshire, pre-Covid, there was lots more opportunity [than previously].”
She said Channel 4 had been proactive in including under-represented people ahead of its setup in Leeds.
To watch Screen Talk, visit www.bradford-city-of-film.com/ online-content/screen-talk/
When it comes to the top jobs, it is still very male dominated.
David Wilson, director of Bradford UNESCO City of Film