Women in Early film.

Women have been central to the film industry since its inception in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From Nickelodeons to full-length feature films and from silent films to talkies, as writers, directors, actors, and audience members, women have influenced the trajectory of the film industry. Female stardom was an essential component of the rise of the industry, though many of these women were celebrated more for their appearances than for their acting ability.

While the popularity of certain female stars offered them legendary status, the kinds of roles they were asked to play often reinforced traditional gender roles. That story is the familiar one. This exhibit intends to reveal a lesser known part of the story. Women actually played a powerful role in shaping the early film industry. As both consumers of film and professionals in the field, both in front of and behind the camera, women dramatically affected the development of American film.

Prior to the 1930s, Hollywood provided many opportunities for women to work on films behind-the-scenes. Many studios had prominent female directors, and female screenwriters created some of the most popular movies of the period, while female film editors exercised creative control over the visual appearance of film. A few women even headed their own studios. Though these women earned their jobs through their creative talents and shrewd business sense, their presence behind-the-scenes helped legitimize film as an art form and as morally acceptable for audiences.


Alice Guy Blache directing her cast in 1915.
Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02978. Like men, most female directors started their careers in other areas of the film industry before making their directorial debut. Alice Guy Blaché, for example, began as a secretary and rose to studio head. She is credited as being the first female film director, and also was known for experimenting with film technique and narrative form. She began her career in France at Gaumont Film Company, owned by Léon Gaumont, and directed her first film in 1896, where she directed all the films made by the studio until 1905.

She continued to work for Gaumont until 1907, when she married Herbet Blaché. After following him to the United States in 1910, she founded the Solax Company. As its president, she both directed and supervised production of the company’s films. In 1913 the company closed down, but Blaché continued to direct for her husband until 1922, when she returned to France with her children after her marriage failed. Though her career as a director faded, she is still remembered not only for being a pioneering woman in film, but for helping to shape the early film industry.7

Alice Guy Blaché also mentored Lois Weber, one of the most famous female American directors. Weber got her start under Blaché at Gaumont in 1908. Although Blaché initially hired her as an actress, Weber’s talent allowed her to develop a career behind the screen, as well as in front of the camera. Along with acting, she “wrote scenarios and subtitles, acted, directed, designed sets and costumes, edited, and even developed negatives for her films.”8 Along with her husband, Weber was also one of the first directors to experiment with sound. Weber is also remembered for her skillful use of film to convey social messages. Weber’s 1914 Hypocrites, for example, used a nude statue to represent “the naked truth”—and she accepted the criticism she knew she would face because of this nudity. Much more daringly, Weber made a film about birth control, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, in 1917, the same year that birth control advocate Margaret Sanger faced criminal charges.


By the early 1930s, American culture and the film industry were inextricably linked. While most industries struggled during the Great Depression, Hollywood continued to boom as Americans turned to movies to escape from the hardships of their lives into the imaginary worlds of beautiful people, slapstick comedy, and happy endings. Women would continue to be at the center of this story; new stars, like Katharine Hepburn, would emerge to once again change the feminine ideal, and women of color would continue to overcome racial stereotypes and the limited roles available to them. Just like today, the film industry during the first part of the 20th century was responsible for reinforcing patriarchal norms; with men occupying most of the positions as directors and producers, female actresses were often cast in roles and publicized in ways that led them to become the objects of the male gaze.

And yet, women were very much at the center of the evolution of the industry. The growing independence of white middle class women and their increasing power as American consumers, for example, profoundly influenced the direction of the film industry. The celebrity achieved by many of the leading ladies opened up a new opportunity for women to be front-and-center and acknowledged not only for their looks but also for their work as actors. Furthermore, women like Lois Weber and Anita Loos found ways to rise to the top of this male-dominated world and led in ways that had previously been virtually impossible for women. Progress is gradual, and while Hollywood still faces many injustices—leading men are still paid more than leading women, actresses continue to be judged and revered on the basis of their looks, and there are still more men than women behind the camera—women have been and continue to be involved in all aspects of the American film industry.

Natonal Womens history museum. Women in early film. http://www.nwhm.org/

This is from an american website I think it is looking at things in a quiet positive light there really. One or two rich white women.

Film & Entertainment Industry Facts

There are 39 film festivals solely dedicated to showing the work of women directors throughout the world. -Women in the Director's Chair

Twenty one percent (21%) of the top 250 domestic grossing films released in 2007 employed no women directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, or editors—a 2% increase since 2006. None of these films failed to employ a man in at least one of these roles. -Celluloid Ceiling 2007 Report

Women accounted for 6% of directors of the top 250 domestic grossing films released in 2007, a decline of 1% since 2006. This figure is approximately half the percentage of women directors working in 2000 when women accounted for 11% of all directors. -Celluloid Ceiling 2007 Report

A historical comparison of women’s employment on the top 250 films in 2007 and 1998 reveals that the percentage of women in all behind-the-scenes roles (directors, writers, executive producers, producers, editors and cinematagraphers) has declined. -Celluloid Ceiling 2007 Report

Women accounted for 10% of writers working on the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2007. Eighty two percent (82%) of the films had no female writers. -Celluloid Ceiling 2007 Report

Women working behind the scenes influenced the number of on-screen women. When a program had no female creators, females accounted for 40% of all characters. However, when a program employed at least one woman creator, females comprised 45% of all characters. -Boxed In: Women On Screen and Behind the Scenes in the 2003-04 Prime-time Season, by Martha Lauzen

Men write 70% and women 30% of all film reviews published in the nation’s top newspapers. -Thumbs Down Report

Forty seven percent (47%) of the nation’s top newspapers do not include film reviews written by women, whereas only 12% do not include film reviews written by men. -Thumbs Down Report

On average, films employing at least one woman as director, executive producer, producer, or writer earned slightly higher opening weekend U.S. box office grosses ($27.1 vs. 24.6 million) than films with only men in these roles. -Women @ The Box Office

On average, films employing at least one woman as director, executive producer, producer, or writer grossed approximately the same at domestic box offices ($82.1 vs. $81.9 million) as films with only men in these roles. -Women @ The Box Office
In Academy Award history, four female filmmakers have been nominated for best director (Lina Wertmuller-1977, Jane Campion-1994, and Sofia Coppola-2004, Kathryn Bigelow - 2010), but only Kathryn has won. -Women's E-News

http://www.wmm.com/resources/film_facts.shtml Women make movies

http://gu.com/p/2h4jy

Film industry still a man's world, reveals major new report.

9 February 2005. First ever in-depth study of film production workforce highlights need to broaden recruitment and tackle the barriers faced by those within it, or risk losing valuable skills and experience

LONDON: Women working in the film industry earn less than their male counterparts, despite being better qualified, and most people working in the industry get their jobs through word of mouth and live in London and the South East, according to the most in-depth survey ever of the UK's film production workforce published today.

The survey, which was conducted by the UK Film Council and Skillset, underlines the need for the film industry to be more open and recruit from the widest possible pool of talent, while providing better skills training for new entrants and those already working in the industry.

Increasing opportunities and improving skills training for new entrants and existing industry workers are key areas being addressed by A Bigger Future, the five year, £50 million UK Film Skills Strategy launched last year by Skillset and the UK Film Council, and through the industry's Leadership on Diversity Group which is developing an industry-wide equality standard.

The Feature Film Production Workforce survey also found that:

Gender

Women make up 33% of the workforce and earn less than men. 35% of women earn less than £20,000pa compared to 18% of men. In the higher salary brackets 30% of men earn £50k+ compared with 16% of women;


women are more likely to be qualified to graduate level than men (60% compared with 39%). While 17% of men had no qualifications, this was the case for only 5% of women;


women working in film were less likely than men to be married or living as part of a couple (44% compared with 69%) and less likely to have dependant children under 16 (21% compared with 39% of men); and


there were almost no women in the camera, sound, electrical and construction departments while the majority of those working in make-up and hairdressing were women.
Ethnicity
Film production is also predominately white with only 1 in 20 from a minority ethnic background. This represents just 5% of the workforce. In London, where the survey found the majority of the workforce was concentrated, minority ethnicity groups make up 24% of the working population.
Finding work
The main route into the film industry is through word of mouth - 81% had been recruited in this way. More than half had been approached directly by a contact on the production;


before the 1980s, only 5% of people had done unpaid work prior to getting their first paid job in the industry, this climbed to 45% for those entering in 2000 or later; and


more than half the respondents (58%) lived in London and a further 20% lived in the South East.
Training
Film production has a highly qualified workforce. 46% are graduates compared with 19% of the UK workforce as a whole. However, very few people had experienced formal, organised film industry training. 13% had attended a course (with 45% of those paying the fees themselves) while 33% had taught themselves relevant skills - of those that had attended a taught course, 33% had gone on a health and safety course;


55% of people felt they needed further training and almost a third wanted it in business and finance (32%) and to keep up with changing technology in the industry; and


60% of people face barriers in getting training - most commonly taking time off work (32%); the fear of losing work through committing time for training in advance (23%); 19% felt that the possible loss of earnings while training was too high a risk; and a similar proportion found the training fees too high.
Working in film production
Incomes vary hugely in film production - 25% of survey respondents reported a gross income of £50,000 or more from all their audio-visual work, yet 23% earned less than £20,000. Almost half (48%) of all 16-29 year olds surveyed earned less than £10,000 in the past year; and


Unemployment rates are high with 71% having been unemployed at least once over the previous year and more than a third (35%) having spent more than 10 weeks of the year unemployed.
A Bigger Future will support a range of initiatives including the creation of centres of academic excellence for film in the form of a national network of Screen Academies, the establishment of a new film business academy to raise the level of business, leadership and management skills in the industry, as well as mentoring programmes, and a new industry approvals scheme for film courses.

Dinah Caine, Chief Executive of Skillset, said:

"Film has a highly qualified workforce but one which faces a multitude of difficulties keeping their skills levels apace with the changing needs of the industry. The industry also has, on average, an older workforce with few structured, equitable routes in for new talent from a diversity of backgrounds. A Bigger Future was introduced last year to address many of the issues highlighted by these results. It's a five year strategy but is already making a positive impact and with skills development firmly at the top of the industry's agenda, can only go from strength to strength."

John Woodward, Chief Executive of UK Film Council, said:

"Whilst the UK has benefited hugely from its highly qualified film production workforce there are still many barriers facing people who want to get in and stay in the industry. Developing the film production workforce must be underpinned with a commitment to diversity as well as training.

"These findings show that if we are to attract the brightest and the best into the industry, and make the most of our existing talent we need to make significant progress in opening up more concrete career paths into the industry and opportunities for advancement for those already working within it."

http://www.skillset.org/skillset/press/2005/article_3774_1.asp