That seems insane, except when you stop to consider how few women directors there are. You could probably count the well-known modern American female film directors on one hand; apart from Bigelow and Ephron, there is, Sophia Coppola (Marie Antoinette and Lost in Translation), maybe throw in Valerie Faris (co-director of Little Miss Sunshine), Julie Taymor (Frida and Across the Universe), and Penny Marshall (Riding in Cars with Boys and Big). There are some notable foreign and indie directors such as Jane Campion (Bright Star and The Piano). Ask people in the business and you get a decent list of names such as Mimi Leder, Floria Sigismondi, Penelope Spheeris, Allison Anders... But ask the uninitiated, the average Joe, and the only one they can name is “oh that woman who did The Hurt Locker, didn’t she just win an Oscar, what’s her name?”
This site presents some findings of a 2002 study by Martha Lauzen, a media studies professor at San Diego State University, who examines the overall lack of women in the film business. She found that in 2002 of the top grossing 250 films only 7% employed female directors. Possibly even worse was that only 1% employed female cinematographers. Granted this was 8 years ago, but her 2009 numbers were published in this recent NY Times article about Bigelow and Lauzen found, again, only 7% of the top 250 grossing films employed a female director.
The barriers for woman seeking to direct are manifold according to this Salon.com article. Some coincide with the traditional barriers women face everywhere: demanding schedule which is tough on family, older men have control over the industry and seek out young men who remind them of themselves to direct their films, and women themselves often feel they cannot succeed in this role. The article also suggests that film school professors openly discourage female students from even considering directing or cinematography. This article also discusses, what seems to be a more systemic problem, that studios and investors don't have confidence in women to direct films with traditionally “male” subject matter and they think that films with traditionally “female” subject matter don’t make money, a premise which the article refutes numerous times.
I don't want these thoughts to be divisive or turn any male readers away. I simply wanted to collect some figures which bothered me. I don’t believe individual people are to blame (except for any professors male or female who would outright tell female students not to try to do something). We all have a responsibility, men and women, to examine these numbers and consider what they mean. More than anything it just feels like a missed opportunity to me. Women do make up, after all, 50% of the world’s population. We definitely have disposable income to burn, but more importantly I think, we have ideas and stories to share.
Check out the articles below for more:
