Robin Parker posted an update on the TM Hub

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Should broadcasters and indies be held to 50:50 gender quotas in the factual directors they use?We Are Doc Women's survey of more than 700 people makes for grim, if unsurprising, readinmg about the genre, with women more typically stuck in lower-paid producer/AP/researcher... Read more

Should broadcasters and indies be held to 50:50 gender quotas in the factual directors they use?

We Are Doc Women's survey of more than 700 people makes for grim, if unsurprising, readinmg about the genre, with women more typically stuck in lower-paid producer/AP/researcher roles

https://www.thetalentmanager.com/blog/705/women-frozen-out-of-directing-docs-as-men-take-three-quarters-of-jobs

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10 comments

Sarah Lee @ The Talent Manager

A hard to read but essential report. Well done @JaneMerkin @ClareRichards. @KateHampel thanks too for sharing news of this on the TM Hub

4 years ago

Kate Hampel

The industry has changed enormously over the last 10-15 years and now the role of director is very different on the whole from what it was, but there seems to be this hankering for the days gone past where there was the perception that a single role, the director, is responsible for the creative vision, when this is rarely the case. None the less men still get this title more than women, and the kudos that comes with it, and the pay. Change needs to happen.

4 years ago

Zan Barberton

@KateHampel I'd risk saying that the idea of a single creative point - the "genius" director, is perhaps part of the fallacy that makes it such a male dominated role. It was hard to continue to direct when I had small kids, and personally I moved to non-broadcast films where the schedules didn't necessitate weeks of location work away from home. And also I'm lucky I can edit.

4 years ago

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Toral Dixit

Add to this the 'BAME' factor, and the picture is unimaginably bad. BAME direct less than 2.5% of factual programs, with women suffering similar or worse levels of representation.

4 years ago

Zan Barberton

I know it's so depressing Toral! Giving someone the role of director takes a leap of faith, the belief in a safe pair of hands. Gatekeepers rely a lot on "instinct" which sadly often boils down to prejudice when it comes to the crunch. And to compound it the amount of talented female directors I've seen returning to work after kids as edit producers is just heartbreaking. I'm so glad that this report has come out - it can't undo the damage but it can at least go some way to owning it. :-(

4 years ago

Kate Hampel

@ZanBarberton The only silver lining is that edit producers often have more say in the final product than the director, but they still don't get the creative recognition, formally at an rate.

4 years ago

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Zan Barberton

Yes in many cases the EP totally shapes the final product... it can be a key role, requiring a high level of editorial judgement. Essentially it's the role of the director in the Edit. But as you say seldom recognised and often sidelined and sort of sandwiched between the Editor and Exec.

4 years ago

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Toral Dixit

@ZanBarberton "totally shapes the final product "? Presumably with Rushes created by the directors..usually with a specific purpose.

4 years ago

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Zan Barberton

@ToralDixit I did say "in many cases"! It kind of depends on the type of production. But there are many directors (not you!!) who have little or no experience in the edit, and I have personally had several experiences of completely restructuring and rescripting a film from a director's cut that simply didn't work, or from no script at all. In which case - yes - I would say I shaped it. "Totally"? It's always a team effort so I probably went a bit far to use that word! ;-)

4 years ago

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Toral Dixit

@ZanBarberton 😊

4 years ago

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