It’s time to storm the barricades

Even though 50 per cent of those entering film school are female, only a few go on to direct. But is that about to change?

F rom Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow speaking out on being paid less than her male co-stars, to two major Hollywood studios announcing they are releasing no films directed by women between now and 2018, it appears gender inequality in the film industry has finally come to the forefront of debate.

According to the recent Directors UK study, Cut Out of the Picture, the number of female film directors hasn’t improved in 10 years, with women making up just 13.6 per cent of film directors.

From struggling to get their first break to not being chosen for certain genres or given a chance to direct a second, third or fourth film, the statistics make for depressing reading. Particularly so when you consider that the proportion of women who enter film school and wanting to be directors is 50pc.

Which begs the question: why do so few of them get the opportunity to go on and make films, especially ones with big budgets?

Susanna White, who directed TV adaptations of Jane Eyre and Bleak House, as well as the recent John le Carré film Our Kind of Traitor, says the study reveals how women in the film industry continually meet barriers, beginning at entry level jobs.

“I knew people who struggled to get their foot in the door,” she says. “To me it wasn’t a case where women were saying, ‘I want to have a family and I don’t want to be a film director’, it was something much more insidious that was going on.

“If you get more women directing, you get more people interested in telling female-driven stories, and you get better parts for actresses. As a director you influence lots of things – you decide which extras are in the scene, and how you see the make-up of the crowd – you get to reflect something back on society.”

The research discovered an innate reliance on the stereotype of the male director, and the freelance nature of film-making discourages any co-ordinated or long-term thinking that might encourage producers to employ women. “Everything is done on a project-by-project basis, so there’s no HR compared to if you worked at a law firm,” says Ms White.

“I understand you’re going to want to hire someone with a track record who’s proved they can do it. But it’s hard for female directors to get a track record in the first place. We’re trying to break the vicious circle and create opportunities so women can prove themselves.”

Speaking in Cannes earlier this year, the British Film Institute (BFI) voiced its support for gender equality in the industry and pledged a commitment that 50pc of its funding will go to women directors before 2020.

Sarah Gavron, who directed the hugely successful Suffragette, says that although we don’t need to smash any windows, no one can ignore the facts.

“It’s time to act and be radical. To use the Suffragette’s phrase, ‘deeds not words’. The reason I’m so passionate about opening this dialogue is not just because of gender equality in the workplace, but because film directly influences our culture,” she points out. “It’s a bit like the chicken and the egg – if you don’t have role models then women either don’t go into it or are discouraged. Hence there are not many films made by women so people don’t trust films made by women, and are less likely to employ women.” While the focus has been on women directors, there are other sectors of the industry where women are also woefully underrepresented. Another report, Calling the Shots, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and carried out by researchers at the University of Southampton, found that women accounted for only 20pc of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, cinematographers and editors on the 203 UK films in production in 2015. “By looking at those other roles we get a broader understanding of gender and equality,” says Dr Shelley Cobb, who co-led the report. “A director isn’t the only kind of author of a film – though we often think of them that way. What’s interesting is how collaboration between genders is happening across these key roles. “Women producers are very good at hiring other women. If there’s one women producer on a film, there’s a much film, there’s a much better chance of there being a woman in one of those other roles,” she adds. An observation that is backed up by the fact that 74pc of films with a woman director also had a woman producer. Celine Rattray, who cofounded Maven Pictures

with fellow producer Trudie Styler, agrees that when given the chance, they actively develop films with other women.

“We try to hire women as department heads as often as we can,” says Ms Rattray. “As women in the industry that are fortunate enough to get to make hiring decisions, we feel we have a responsibility to do what we can to create change.”

So what are we waiting for? Lights. Camera. Action…