Women behind the camera at Citizen Jane

Posted on 17 October, 2009 | No Comments

by Gwen Ragno

One of the best parts of film festivals is the opportunity to meet and talk to the filmmakers. This panel discussion included Georgina Lightning, writer and director of Older Than America; Karen Skloss, director of Sunshine; Beth Mickle, production designer on Cold Souls; and Lindsay Bosch, video art curator and distribution manager for Video Data Bank. The discussion was moderated by marketing consultant and writer Melissa Silverstein.

Silverstein said that only 15% of female filmmakers are represented even at film festivals, which are known for being very open to women compared to the rest of the movie business. In the industry itself, that percentage is even lower. A lot of the discussion this afternoon was centered around why this is. One problem is that films by women about women tend to end up as chick flicks. They brought  up the example of Julie and Julia, a film that came out this summer. It wasn’t a big box office hit at first, compared with the usual summer blockbusters, but is still drawing in audiences now and has slowly but steadily drawn in over $100 million. Still, nobody talks about it because it wasn’t an immediate success and attracted audiences of 25+ females – an audience that Silverstein said Hollywood doesn’t care about.

Another movie discussed was Whip It, Drew Barrymore’s recent directorial debut. It absolutely flopped, and Silverstein said it was because of the marketing. It should have been portrayed as a sort of girl-power film, about strong women doing amazing things. But marketing to women “scares the crap out of them” in Hollywood, so it was marketed more as a date movie and it failed.

Georgina Lightning and Karen Skloss both commented that they want to be known simply as filmmakers rather than as feminist or female filmmakers. They want to compete in the larger arena rather than being filed away in a niche. But for now, Hollywood just doesn’t support female-directed films. So if women are going to come forward, the push as to come in the independent arena first.

Silverstein ended the discussion by urging the women in the audience to, any time they hear about a movie by or about women, go see it immediately. “It’s like voting,” she said. “It counts.”

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