“Not a level playing field” for women directors

A lack of support for Women Directors needs to be addressed with a 50% target for funded work, says the Australian Directors Guild.

Statistics in Screen Australia-funded features between 2009-2014 revealing alarming participation by women in key creative roles:

Directors 15%
Producers 32%
Writers 23%
Protagonists 28%

ADG CEO Kingston Anderson says, “The statistics are the starkest for dramatic feature films, but are inequitable across all forms of production supported by Screen Australia. The obstacles confronting women are complex and spread across all sections of the industry.”

The ADG is proposing a 50% quota for female directors be set towards projects funded by state screen agencies and the ABC.

The ADG’s President Ray Argall said today: “The screen industry has been funded by the Federal Government for more than four decades for reasons of cultural representation, economic stimulus, and professional development and innovation. Across all these criteria the current funding is not being shared in a representative way. The ADG is concerned with diversity of all types, but is particularly concerned with the dramatic lack of equity in the funding of women and, in particular, female directors.”

Director Gillian Armstrong agrees: “For years I have been asked about the lack of numbers of women directors in film. My feeling has always been that it has to be based on merit. But the data from Screen Australia shows that the increase has only been about 6 per cent in 30 years. It is pretty obvious that the current system is not about merit – There Is Not A Level Playing Field.

“Equally talented young women film makers are graduating from film schools in the same numbers as men, and winning short film awards, but they are not getting the breaks as film directors. It doesn’t even make commercial sense, given that women are more than 50% of the audience. The same pattern is seen around the world. It is time to take action about this obvious gender inequality.”

Director Phillip Noyce added: “Worldwide, the number of working female directors is disturbingly small compared to their male colleagues. In Australia, with significant funding from government agencies, we have the infrastructure in place to correct this inequality through decisive action from all funding bodies and the ABC.”