Women take charge behind the scenes of While the Men are Away

The cast of SBS period drama While the Men are Away may fittingly be dominated by female performers, but there are also many women in creative roles behind the scenes too.

They include Director Elissa Down, co-creator, writer and director Monica Zanetti, producer Lisa Shaunessy, creator Alexandra Burke, writers Kim Wilson, Magda Wozniak, Jada Alberts, cinematographer Meg White, editor Gabriella Muir, production designer Alicia Clements, costume designer Nina Edwards and more.

“We couldn’t really make a show called While the Men are Away with the optics on men in all the key (departments),” said Kim Wilson. “It would be hard to explain.

“So we deliberately set about as a hiring policy (having) all the heads of department as women on the show. There’s a lot of queer people as well behind the camera and also on screen as well, of course.”

The 8 part dramedy series centres around the Australian Women’s Land Army who undertook rural jobs to keep the nation working while men were fighting WWII offshore.

“The feel of the show of people getting a shot and what they do with it, kind of flowed through behind the scenes as well. So I’m glad that this will be a really needed-credit for lots of people who have been working in the industry and deserved a go at being a head of department or a set-up person. That’s one of the things I’m most proud about.”

The series was produced by Arcadia.

8:30pm Wednesdays on SBS and SBS on Demand.