A success for one woman is a success for all of us.
"Women don't work in the creative field, creative work is reserved for young men"
paraphrased by Vicky Jenson, Life After Film School interview.
Vicky Jenson directed the film, Post Grad. She started out doing storyboard for various films, painting cells, working in animation and as a prod., designer. Talk about no one path to directing! Oh and yrs before she was asked to lecture at AFI, her application to AFI was rejected. No one way.
To answer Melissa at Women and Hollywood's question about why there are so many female producers, yet so few female directors-
here are some of my thoughts.
I have Produced, I have Directed, not at that level
yet, getting there though!
As a Producer I am nurturing, supporting, managing, setting boundaries that maintain the integrity of the project with out going over budget. The producer is liaison between the exec prod. (often limiting budget and vision) and the director (limitless creative space). A Creative Producer can guide and assist a vision if it needs that, but, for the most part, her work is overseeing all aspects of Prod. and problem solving problems that dept. heads/ keys can't handle on their own. She is bringing the team together, scheduling (prod. manager with AD) and making sure everyone in the team has what they need to do their jobs. She budgets and makes sure that it doesn't go over budget (line producer). She supports the Director and her vision while setting limits.
She makes sure everything is where it is when it needs to be there (prod. coordinator).
The entire production
office supports the production and sees it all the way through from development to distribution. Support support support, but, not in a creative way. From an office, the place women have been allowed to work for quite sometime now, in supportive positions. It's the
home base after all.
As a Director, I am creating a vision from my writing or what a writer is allowing me to work with (writing that I am likely to change). I'm working with my DP, casting, prod. design and wardrobe, m/u and hair to clarify and solidify the vision. If I don't know which Prod. Designer, DP, etc, can give me what I envision, the producer finds them and runs them by me. I share my vision with them and they help shape that with their talent and skill. When choosing from the actors that casting has found, it is who I see in the character that works. I'm guiding or allowing their best performance to come through (if they're great, you just get out of the way) as I see fit for the vision. As a director, EVERYONE is collaborating to support the vision coming through me primarily. It's a huge responsibility.
Still, it's not even close to the responsibility of giving birth and raising humans~ which is something we are expected, encouraged and told women are good at.
SO, it's not the responsibility or the authority that has limited the amount of support female directors experience in this industry.
As Director it's my creative choices that guide the film.
~ That level of creativity is like orgasm ~
And remember how long it took for people to accept that most women can and do and love to orgasm~ oh, and we often excel at it (multiple)?Writers get away with being so creative and in control of a story (till the director gets it) because writing is solitary and quiet. In publishing women writers are represented and published because the writing industry knows women buy books. Is it the same with screenplay writing? Writing is the least expensive medium and can be done while the kids are asleep or after work.
In film, the only other "last word" on the creative vision is the Exec. Producer and/or studio (sometimes limiting the directors creativity), hence, the directors cut.
Executive Producers are usually men. Studio's are patriarchal.
