‘REEL WOMEN’
75% of blockbuster crews are male, how severe is sexism in the film industry?

This 20 minute long documentary is based on women’s careers in the film industry, how they may be underrepresented, why this inequality persists and how this may have increased throughout the years.
Actresses and women from around the world are calling out sexism in the film industry. “Is there a lack of material and great stories for women to work with?”
These questions will be answered through a compilation of archive footage and interviews with female students to understand how younger women aspiring in strong career paths feel about it – and also women that are already in the industry who experience the inequality first hand.
This leads to my first contributor which will introduce narrative and to give the audience a strong storyline to follow:
Carla Lacey is 46. She has recently graduated from Manchester University and wants to excel in her dream of becoming a successful screenwriter.
She grew up always wanting to be a singer but suffered with heavy bipolar, restricting her from following her dreams.
Carla wrote poems and two novels which are published in books and on the internet – with this not being good enough for her she researched into screenwriting and now aspires to work with many other female screenwriters in the industry. She is passionate about the empowerment of women and wants more material for women to work with in the industry as she feels there isn’t enough.
(Carla and her two daughters on her graduation)
In my film, Carla will travel to uptown New York to find herself and to involve her skills in the screenwriting lab funded and supported by American actress and three-time academy award winner ‘Meryl Streep.’
Meryl made a significant contribution to a new initiative nurturing female screenwriters over the age of 40. * Run by New York Women in film and television, the lab will mentor eight screenwriters at a retreat in upstate New York. They aim to develop and hone the selected writers’ scripts. It comes following a study last year that the number of female screenwriters in the US was falling, from 17% of the sector in 2009 to 15% in 2014. They were also found to be paid less than their male counterparts. But why? Is this fair?
In order to keep my documentary multi narrative and to captivate the audience’s curiosity there will be a brief introduction to my second contributor: ‘Cathy Schulman’ an American producer known for ‘The Crash (2004)’ and ‘The Illusionist (2006)’. Schulman is also the president of Mandalay Pictures and the new elected president of the organisation ‘Women in Film.’ Another contributor similar is ‘Kathryn Bigelow,’ an American filmmaker and television director known for ‘Point Break (1991)’ and ‘The Hurt Locker (2008).’ Bigelow became the first women to win the Academy award for ‘Best Director.’
I am researching and will be interviewing these highly successful female filmmakers because through voicing their opinions they will explain whether they believe women should be an exception as film makers and why this is such a narrow margin for women to succeed in. Both Shulman and Bigelow will focus on the aim of elevating women through education, outreach and professional development in the industry as they know it first-hand.
Figures seen by the Guardian have revealed that gender disparity is entrenched in the film industry, where more than three-quarters of the crew involved in making 2,000 of the biggest grossing films over the past 20 years have been men, while only 22% were women.
The whole industry is male dominated not only in front but behind the cameras as well – leading audiences mislead of just how much gender disparity in the workplace affects women. Only 41 distinct women directed films in the top 100 films over the past 11 years.
By exploring the many degrading mythologies about women in the work place and the first-hand opinions on these matters, my documentaries biased reflection will then juxtapose and move onto how women succeed using stereotypes by turning them into projects.
Meryl Streep being a perfect example. She is the voice of ageism and equality in Hollywood. She memorably gave Patricia Arquette a standing ovation when the actor called for equal pay for women during her Oscar acceptance speech this year (2015). Similarly, ‘Emma Watson’ a British actress and the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador; delivered an address at UN Headquarters in New York City helping launch the UN Women campaign ‘HeForShe’ which calls for men to advocate for gender equality.
I will add a montage of clips from Emma Watson’s speech and also Patricia Arquette’s speech to strengthen the chances of my audience processing the significance of gender equality as a whole.
It is an obstacle for women to even get a job in the industry in today’s society according to Cathy Schulman. “Women aren’t even on the lists to get a directing job anymore.”

“Have women had enough?”
Women are being stopped by primarily male controlled networks. By using this as a subject matter – it could create a small controversy within my documentary. Meaning, my audience could agree that the prominent mythologies against women are the reason or if it is due to blockage of available funding to do the projects they want to:

(Example of 2 Mythologies) 1. Women are too emotional, being emotional is bad, and bad emotional people can’t control money. 2. Women are so busy juggling home, family, husbands and work that they will not be able to handle the money correctly because they are multi-tasking.

Through YouTube videos, articles etc. I will portray in a factual way that not only female feel this way, but males have increasing opinions, making it a less ‘aggressive’ and ‘male directed’ film. (E.G. Joseph Gordon Levitt’s ‘requested’ feminist video on YouTube) and footage of males from panel discussions etc.

The next sequence in my documentary will consist of interviews with university students of today’s society. “What chance do we have?” A range of questions will be asked to get a clear understanding of younger opinions and if this issue has ever occurred to them personally. I will ask the students what could possibly be done to put a stop to the negative connotations and assumptions about the word ‘Feminist’ and what it means to be a feminist.

Cutting back into Carla Lacey, we see her travelling to New York. The camera focusing on her personal journey.
Providing guidance at the lab will be the likes of Gina Prince-Bythewood, writer-director of cult romantic hit Beyond the Lights, Boyhood producer Caroline Kaplan and Legally Blonde writer Kirsten Smith. Carla will meet many inspiring people on her journey.
We will also get a slight taste of Carla’s back story to personalize it and for the audience to sympathise with her and want her to develop her skills.
Cut to clips of old cartoons that the audience may be familiar with – portraying what we have considered a traditional men and women’s roles from a young age. (Women making dinner for the whole family and the men holding bags of money.) This will be anchored with audio of men and women discussing women’s rights on a panel show to educate the audience of the REAL definition of feminism.
“Will Carla increase opportunities for women in the future?” – As Carla is seen as a strong influential woman. The camera acts as an almost video diary for Carla, capturing footage of her in the ‘city of opportunities’ and interviewing her daily – especially when she is at breaking point.
The end of Carla’s story is left on a cliff hanger, making the audience want more. She starts to develop her ideas and we see her family proud of her.

OVERALL: this documentary is different because it compares and contrasts the different points to the controversy of the sexism in the film industry – and the workplace as a whole? It also creates its own controversy and highlights the false representation that the media builds of the ‘glamorous’ lifestyle of a woman in the industry.

SEQUENCES 1. “Is there a lack of material and great stories for women to work with?” – This bold question will introduce the doc. A compilation anchored with music will create a debate. Including strong facts in my proposal. 2. Introduction to Carla Lacey. Will she make it as a screenwriter?
We will interview her at her house in Manchester and get a brief back story on her to emphasise her character and to impact the audience with emotion as Carla has battled a serious case of bipolar her whole life and is seen as an inspiration.
We see some of her published novels and poems she has written. 3. Carla flies to New York and meets the organisation set up by New York women in film and television. We follow her as well as a voice over of her narrating the documentary. 4. Fade into interviews with Shulman and Bigelow and their opinions and personal experiences with gender disparity within their workplace. Snappy cuts between interviews to keep it upbeat. 5. Meryl Streep interview. Clips from a range of Meryl Streep films and questions asked to do with ageism and equality with pay in Hollywood. (footage of Patricia Arquette’s Oscar speech) 6. Back to Carla, we see her meeting the influential women who help at the screenwriting lab. We see her undergoing possible tests. Her ‘video diary’ showing her struggling and missing her family. This acts as an almost gear changer. 7. ‘Have women had enough?’ mythologies told by Schulman are anchored with Emma Watson’s HeForShe speech. This is to empower women and to show that women are making a stand. Carla being one of them. 8. Carla is now overcoming her nerves – she battles through and we see her excelling. Upbeat music to change the mood to positive again. 9. Interviews with female students and montage of YouTube videos. 10. Finally, we leave the documentary on a cliff hanger. “Will Carla increase opportunities for women in the future?” The audience will then stay curious about sexism in the film industry and now women are making a stand to change this.