I came across this post from Elizabeth M. Daley the Dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts talking about whether Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar win will help improve things for women in Hollywood.  She’s honest that the numbers are bad, but being in the position of training the future directors, she’s also optimistic that things could change.

Here’s what she writes:

I’m in a unique position to feel very positive about the future of women in the entertainment industry. In fact, were a parent of a prospective female student to ask me, “Should my daughter go to school to study the cinematic arts?”, I would unequivocally, and atop the Hollywood sign if necessary, say “Yes!”

Do you think that parents of young women contemplating going to film school are now! after a woman wins the Oscar saying to their daughters, honey, this might be a bad idea. You might not be able to make a living. I would think that most people who study directing and who want to make films, HAVE to make films. It’s who they are. It’s not like studying to be an account of a lawyer (before the recession.) There are no guarantees even from the best schools.

I’m happy to say that SCA has a 50/50 ratio of women to men for our fall admissions. Despite the disappointing numbers in the Lauzen study, progress has been made, and is continuing to be made. Each year, SCA trains more and more women who will join those already entrenched in the industry, and work to tell stories that resonate with audiences everywhere.

My understanding is that it has been 50/50 for some time. (Does anyone have real numbers?) The issue is not that women are not being trained to be directors cause we know they are, the point is that men get the jobs, get the meetings, get the big movies.

So no matter if they train 50% women or 20% women, if men still get 93% of all the jobs, there is something wrong.

Women In Hollywood – Are The Numbers Changing? (Huffington Post)

• Filed Under:  
• Channels, Entertainment, Film, Career, College, Sexism

• Tags:
• Women Directors
• Sexism
• Statistics
• usc
• Dr Martha Lauzen
• Elizabeth M Daley

View Original Post at womenandhollywood.com

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