Trailblazer Appreciation: Amy Schumer

Ever hear that women can't be funny? Ever hear that women can't be on late night TV? Ever hear that only certain kinds of women can be sexy?

Amy Schumer doesn't give a fuck.

This week the third season of Amy Schumer's sketch-comedy show called Inside Amy Schumer premiered on Comedy Central. Lets be honest, that in itself is an achievement worth celebrating, since the prevailing theory is that women aren't funny. Amy's comedy is provocative and pushes the limit's of what can be shown on TV.

The Inside Amy Schumer premiere included the viral sensation "Milk, Milk, Lemonade" and the epic collaboration of Julia Louie-Dreyfus, Patricia Arquette, and Tina Fey celebrating their "Last Fuckable Day." Her show takes a massive undeniable stand against the physical standards that Hollywood has set for women. A fantastic season opener to a show that often takes a critical eye to the way women are treated in society.

Amy's hilarious comedy also lead her to this year's MTV Movie Awards as the host. Between Shailene Woodley winning literally every award, and buff action movie stars standing in front of pyrotechnics instead of speaking, Amy stood out for her hysterical monologue.

Amy also wrote her first feature film called Trainwreck,  a romantic comedy that she is starring in along with SNL alum Bill Hader. The movie was directed and produced by star maker Judd Apatow. The trailer is up, and with such a funny, talented cast, it looks like it will be a hit this summer.

Are you exhausted yet? You should be. Amy Schumer has been paving the way for women in comedy, and isn't slowing down now. She's been able to take the stereotypes that hold back women, and use them to push herself forward. For her inspiring perseverance and fearless comedy, we are grateful to have such outstanding idol carving her own path. 

In 2014 Women kept disappearing.

If you're not already familiar with the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film from San Diego State University you should be. They do annual reports of the representation of women in front of and behind the camera.

In 2014 among the top 100 grossing movies 
Women represent 12% of the protagonists. The number of women who were represented as major characters and speaking characters were the same as last year,  both figures were about 30%. A staggering 74% of all women characters were white. 

If you further read the study there are interesting statistics regarding the decrease of female characters from their 30's to 40's compared to the increase of male characters in the same age range. There are also statistics regarding the role of women in leadership positions, whether their marital status is known, and whether they were identified via a work related role (ie, doctor, lawyer) vs a personal role (ie, mother, sister.) It's a pretty clear analysis of the ways in which women are marginalized on film.

Their study for the role of women behind the camera looked at the top 250 domestic grossing films in 2014. 
Specifically they looked at the roles of directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers.

"38% of films employed 0 or 1 woman in the roles considered. 23% of films employed 2 women, 29% employed 3 to 5 women, 7% employed 6 to 9 women, and 3% employed 10 to 14 women. In contrast, no films employed 0 or 1 man in the roles considered, and 69% employed 10 to 27 men."

A whopping 93% of films had no female director, and 79% of the films had no female writer.

The figures for women working as cinematographers or composers? Even more depressing.

Women looking to work in these industries should see these figures as empowering. Awareness can change views. These are opportunities for women to break into these new markets. It might be a challenge to find someone out of the ordinary for roles in front of and behind the camera, but we need unique voices to keep movies alive.

Some fantastic films came out this year that told the stories of women, and by women including The Hunger Games, Wild, Maleficent, Selma, Cake, Gone Girl, Camp X Ray, Obvious Child, and more. If you want more films like those, get out there and make those movies.

• It's a Man's (Celluloid) World: On-Screen Representation of Female Characters in 2014
• Celluloid Ceiling: Behind the Scenes Employment in 2014
• The Hollywood Reporter - Major Film Roles for Women drop in 2014

87th Annual Academy Awards Wrapup

The 2014 award season is finally coming to an end, and last nights ceremony seemed to show that one topic was getting ripe on the vine; Hollywood sexism.

#AskHerMore

Reese Witherspoon

The night started before the ceremony with Reese Witherspoon, nominated for her role as lead actress in Wild, demanding one thing: #AskHerMore

The last few years, women have been showing a distinct annoyance with the Red Carpet treatment. Men who walk the red carpet get asked questions about their co-stars, their upcoming projects, philanthropy, anything really, women get ask a series of condescending questions about frivolous topics, usually clothes hair, nails, shoes, etc. 

Photo posted by @ReeseWitherspoon 

❤️ this movement #AskHerMore..have you heard of it? It's meant to inspire reporters to ask creative questions on the red carpet. I love the Oscars AND fashion like many of you - & am excited to share #WhoAmIWearing later tonight. (not yet!!) But I'd also love to answer some of these Qs....And hear your suggestions?! (Share em below!) There are so many amazing, talented nominees this year..! Let's hear their stories! Spread the word. #AskHerMore #Oscars #Countdown
@ReeseWitherspoon 

Last October at the Women in Hollywood event, Jennifer Garner compared notes to her husband, Ben Affleck who both had similar press junkets scheduled on the same day. She was asked questions about making time for her family, while he was asked about models.

Elizabeth Moss showed her frustration at the Golden Globes. She was asked to use the "E! Mani Cam" where famous celebrated women are asked to walk their fingers up a miniature red carpet "like children." While many other celebrities including Jennifer Aniston and Julianne Moore, opted out, Moss received a lot of praise for showing the camera her manicure - on her middle finger. The Mani Cam did not reappear at this years Oscars.

The #Oscars red carpet is open! Let's #AskHerMore and re-direct the conversation!! 🙌🎉
— AmyPoehlerSmartGirls (@smrtgrls) February 22, 2015

Patricia Arquette 

Best Supporting Actress

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Patricia Arquette

And then of course, the scene stealer herself. Patricia Arquette. She won her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Richard Linklater's Boyhood. A fantastic movie, and a fantastic role she spend 12 years filming. With a prepared speech, she hit some major talking points during the 30 seconds or so winners are given.

“To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s time to have wage equality once and for all. And equal rights for women in the United States of America.”

Congratulations Patricia. Very well said.

Julianne Moore 
Best Actress

Julianne Moore

One of our favorite women, Julianne Moore was also awarded an Oscar for her work in the moving drama, Still Alice. This was her fifth time nominated and her first win. She gave a beautiful speech as well.

"There is no such thing as Best Actress as evidenced by the performances of my fellow actresses."

We're with you, Julianne. Women supporting women is what the world needs more of.



Let us know what you thought of the 2015 Academy Awards in the comments below.

Further Reading...

• The Hollywood Reporter - Is Red Carpet Coverage Sexist?
• The Independent - #AskHerMore: Patricia Arquette, Reese Witherspoon and Julianne Moore back red carpet campaign to take women seriously

87th Annual Academy Awards - The One Where They Forgot about Women

This week the prestigious annual Oscar nominations were revealed for the 2014 year in film.

In the past, there has been commentary about the quality of roles for women, and the lack of representation for women in the writing and directing categories. The awards have always been drama-heavy, almost creating it's own genre of Christmas released biopics. If we are being honest about what happens behind the curtain, then we can be honest about the way studios intentionally create "Oscar-dramas" then campaign to leverage wins. Thank Harvey Weinstein for that.

Last year was fortunate to have women nominated for writing, and Jennifer Lee won for her role writing and directing the animated feature Frozen. Several of the Best Picture nominees, like Her and Gravity actively featured women. A few years ago Katheryn Bigelow even won for Best Director. Against men! I know, pick your jaw up off the floor.

Unfortunately this year's crop are some of the least diverse awards in years. The writing categories snubbed some of this years talent, like Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, and Ava DuVernay and Paul Webb for Selma. Ava DuVernay was also ignored in the Best Director category. This Martin Luther King Jr. Biopic should be the kind of film the Academy falls in love with, like last year's 12 Years a Slave (Best Picture Winner). Instead the general notion is that Selma was snubbed, only being nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Song. Although not as favorited as Selma, some felt Angelina Jolie was deserving of a Best Director nomination for Unbroken. 

Best Picture

American Sniper

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Achievement in Directing

Alejandro G. Inarritu - Birdman

Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher

Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game

Richard Linklater - Boyhood

Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel

In the Acting categories we saw Jennifer Aniston get overlooked for her groundbreaking role in Cake. She's an actress I often dismiss for the "Rachel" typecast, but Cake turns her into a broken down, suicidal woman dealing with chronic pain. Both Amy Adams for Big Eyes and Emily Blunt for Into The Woods were considered front runners early on that got overlooked. While Julianne Moore and Marion Cotillard gave excellent performances, to be blunt, no one saw them. It's hard to get excited about a movie that didn't even make it to theaters. For a comparison, 4/5 of the Best Actor nominees were from Best Picture nominated movies. 1/5 of the Best Actress nominees were. 

Actress in a leading Role

Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)

Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)

Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)

Actress in a Supporting Role

Emma Stone (Birdman)

Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)

Laura Dern (Wild)

Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

While Rosamund Pike picked up a Best Actress nom for Gone Girl the film was snubbed in all other categories. Similarly, Wild picked up acting nominations for Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern, but nothing else. Both films should have been contenders for Best Picture. Interestingly, both films were produced by Witherspoon's newly founded production company Pacific Standard. Perhaps the takaway for her is that good movies aren't enough, political lobbying is needed for the win.

Adapted Screenplay

American Sniper (Jason Hall)

The Imitation Game (Graham Moore)

Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson)

The Theory of Everything (Anthony McCarten)

Whiplash (Damien Chazelle)

Original Screenplay

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo)

Boyhood (Richard Linklater)

Foxcatcher (E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman)

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson)

Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy)

Fempire Movies in 2015

As 2014 comes to a close, we here at Fempire Movie Club have loved seeing the diverse films that have been written and directed by women. Before the New Year hits, we wanted to give you all a sneak peek of what's being released, besides the film we can't get away from, 50 Shades of Grey. Here's a preview of some of the Fempire movies to come in 2015.

Spare Parts 

The real life story of how underprivileged Hispanic students took on a challenging national robotics competition with no experience, and almost no money. George Lopez stars as Fredi Cameron in this heartwarming underdog story. Based on an article first published in Wired Magazine by Joshua Davis, this film is directed by Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer) and was adapted by screenwriter Elissa Matsueda. This is Matsueda's first screenwriting credit, although she first became noticed on the scene for winning screenwriting competitions with her spec script Happy for You.

Release date: January 16th, 2015

The Boy Next Door

 A psychological thriller starring Jennifer Lopez and Ryan Guzman as neighbors who become entangled in a dangerous and sinister relationship. After taking a bit of a break from the big screen, 2015 seems to be the year JLo wants to return in full force, with 3 pictures due to come out. This film was directed by Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious, Alex Cross) 

The Boy Next Door was written by Barbara Curry, one of the most fascinating screenwriters you've never heard of. Although this is her first production credit, her scripts have won many major screenwriting competitions, this script being part of the 2011 Bloodlist. She has a MFA in screenwriting from UCLA, and that's only half her career. For almost 10 years she worked in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles, in the major violent crimes unit. Curry also taught at the U.S. Department of Justice, and at the FBI Headquarters. Needless to say, she's one to watch out for. 

Release Date: January 23rd, 2015

Jupiter Ascending

For some fans, The Wachowski's is enough to put this atop the "Must-See" list for 2015. For others it's Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum. As a self-described "Space Opera" this film is about a young, ordinary girl who's intergalactic fate lies beyond her own planet. The Wachowski's had been on a streak of adaptations, and this marks a return to creating original content with their sci-fi screenplay. 

During the release of 2012's Cloud Atlas, Lana Wachowski made her first press appearance as a transgender woman. This isn't something to be glossed over because as it stands, Lana is the first, and perhaps only, transgender director working in Hollywood. I stand to be corrected, but I believe Jupiter Ascending is the biggest budgeted film ever to be directed by a woman. It's certain to be a big blockbuster for 2015, and is being met with some of the highest expectations for the duo since The Matrix. 

Release Date: February 6th, 2015

Kingsman: The Secret Service 

It's not possible to end a list of films in 2015 without at least one comic book adaptation, and that's what Kingsman: The Secret Service brings to the table. Starring Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, and newcomer Taron Egerton, this British film is being marked as an "action/adventure comedy". If stylistically it looks familiar that's because it's written and directed by long time collaborators Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn. Together they've worked on films like Stardust, Kick Ass, and X-Men First Class. Although it looks a bit like a violent version of Spy-Kids from the trailer, I don't think this is going to be as goofy as it reads on paper. In fact, this is one of my most anticipated films. 

Release Date: February 12th, 2015

I Am Not Your Typical Girl

Our own Alyssa Wool isn't just a Lindsay Lohan movie lover. She also writes brilliant essays. Check out her work here, at Thought Catalog. She talks about what it means to be a woman and how we perceive each other and set expectations. It's a great read, and we're super proud of her. Check it out!

I Am Not Your Typical Girl 
by Alyssa Wooldridge

Trailblazer Appreciation: Alison Bechdel

We know the name, Bechdel. A word that has taken on so much meaning beyond the surname of an individual. In the media, the word is thrown around with frustration, venom and occasionally as an accusation. In  our blog, The Bechdel test is noted in the sidebar and noted in all our movie reviews.

But who is the Bechdel Test named after?

Alison Bechdel is an American cartoonist, originally hailing from Pennsylvania. In her early 20's, Bechdel illustrated a panel comic titled Dykes to Watch Out For. It chronicled characters that reflected on contemporary events and day to day living as a lesbian in the North East. In 2006 she released the graphic Fun Home: a Family Tragicomic. It was received with acclaim and awards, and was adapted into a 2013 off-Broadway musical.

Her claim to fame in the movie industry involves a comic she wrote comic with a cynical commentary about the state of mainstream movies. The two girls go to a movie theater, passing posters for violent action movies featuring buff male stars. One girl says she won't see any film that doesn't pass what becomes known as the Bechdel Test: Having two women in it, who talk to each other, about something besides a man. They leave the theater empty handed.

Despite fighting criticism her whole career, Bechdel created work featuring American counter culture and made smart social commentary. Her works are considered some of the best in gay literature.

In 2014, Alison Bechdel was granted the MacArthur Fellowship Award, otherwise known as the Genius Grant providing her funding to continue her work, no strings attached, for the next 5 years.

For more information on Alison Bechdel, visit her website DykesToWatchOutFor or her Twitter account, found here. A website dedicated to finding movies that pass the Bechdel test can be found here.

Vulture: What Even Our Best Blockbusters Are Still Getting Wrong About Women

In a recent discussion about the new Dawn of the Planet of the Apes movie, I mentioned its low female representation - the reaction to this comment was, "no one cares about that."

Here is an excellent article about
why you should care about it.

"Hollywood needs to be better about this. If even a slim majority of the actors in Apes, or in Pacific Rim, or in that Episode VII photo had been women, it would have been near-revolutionary, and yet we live in a country where women make up 51 percent of the population. Why can’t movies come even close to reflecting that? Why won’t people speak up when they look at a call sheet where only one actress is listed — and why do so many talented people look at a sheet like that and think nothing of it?"

BBC panel shows, no longer a boys club

Many TV watchers might be familiar with panel shows like QI and Have I Got News For You hailing from the BBC. They are monstrously popular shows that appeal to the casual viewer with smart improvised comedy. Hailing from the Great White North, us Canadians get a variety of influences in our media. Hollywood has a powerful influence in representing North America, but we are still under the Queens thumb.

BBC show QI

During one episode of QI the panel was asked "Why aren't there more women on QI?" The answers ranged from the assumption that men are inherently funnier, or the perception that there simply aren't as many female comedians. The answer provided was based on a study that said women laugh more than men, but laugh less at other women.

As Sandy Toksvig noted in that segment, it's rare for a women on a panel show to be sat next to another women. In fact, statically women rarely if ever turn up. One Buzzfeed article that attempted to suss out how many women were in fact represent on panel shows, and the results were quite shocking. Ranging from the least diverse Mock the Week coming in with 87% male panelists, and ranging all the way up to the best show for female representation, 8 Out Of Ten Cats where 66% of the guest panelists were male. At best you could hope to see two men for every woman.

Comedian Jo Brand

But does that mean that setting a requirement for these television programs is the best course of action? For Danny Cohen, the Director of Television at the BBC, he thinks it is. An interview with The Guardian quoted him as saying "We're not going to have panel shows on any more with no women on them. You can't do that. It's not acceptable." a sentiment that stirred a surprising amount of controversy. Television media shapes a great deal of the public's perception on many social issues, and accepting the responsibility of acknowledging gender inequality and taking steps to rectify that is a surprising and encouraging move for the public broadcaster.

The question now is, was that in the best interest for women. Sandy Toksvig suggested that this sort of public outing is not going to help with the marginalization of women's representation on television. She herself is a frequent panelist on many shows including QI as shown earlier. Toksvig argued that there are still issues with the representation of women even if they appear, citing the example that older women are almost never shown on television unlike their male counterparts. Others argue that ensuring women are on panels shows would have been better received more naturally had this new rule from the BBC not been publicly announced.

2013's Whose Line is it Anyway?

Although this news came down back in February, the issue has been discussed for many years. Back in 2009 comedian and frequent panel show guest Jo Brand wrote a scathing column about panel shows and how harsh of a culture it is for women to work in. One common element of all panel shows on BBC is that they feature a comedian host, and in many cases a permanent panel guest. In every case, they are men. Perhaps the place to start featuring more females on panel shows isn't bringing in guests for individual episodes but including women in the cast. Perhaps a female cast member would be an encouraging sign to other women who would otherwise be intimidated by the current male dominated editing.

@Midnight Panelists

This is all British television, so how does this stack up to American television. In the Season 9 revival of Whose Line is it Anyways on The CW, 3 out of the 4 permanent panelists were men, and 2 women appeared as guests 2 times each. Along with the new host Aisha Tyler that brings the representation of women to a round 25%. Comedy Central panel show @Midnight hosted by Chris Hardwick features low occurrences of women. In the 7 seasons of Last Comic Standing there has been 1 female winner, and it happened to be the year the show adopted co-host Fearne Cotton who was the show's only female host in 8 seasons, and the only time the series featured a co-host. Season 8 is currently in it's semi-finals round, and men outnumber women 2-1. That may not be a panel show, but it is a national representation of comedians.

BBC Confirms Plans to Ban All Male Panel Show Line-Ups

BBC Chief: No More Comedy Shows With All Male Panels

#YesAllWomen

On May 23rd, 2014 a young man with mental health issues killed 7 people before shooting himself.

While it's clear that an ongoing battle with a mental disorder is the cause of this tragedy, the gunman, Rogers, made vocal online his misogynistic point of view. Leading up to this event, he claimed that women were to be punished for not dating him.

#YesAllWomen is the response.

"I have a boyfriend" is the easiest way to get a man to leave you alone. Because he respects another man more than you. #yesallwomen
— Rylah (@JBRylah) May 25, 2014

Girls grow up knowing that it's safer to give a fake phone number than to turn a guy down. #yesallwomen
— Kate Tuttle (@katekilla) May 24, 2014

The word "feminism" has taken on ugly connotations in recent years. Women have been attacked for holding feminist points of view because they are perceived to be "man-haters." This twitter phenomenon has been one of the biggest collective feminist responses in recent years. Women from all walks of life bravely share their experiences with every day sexism, hoping to bring to light the severity of this issue.

When a woman makes a video, most comments are about tearing apart her looks. Or if they'd "do" her. With a man, almost none. #YesAllWomen
— Felicia Day (@feliciaday) May 26, 2014

Because I shouldn't have to wonder how posting my experiences to #YesAllWomen will affect my job. And it will.
— Amber Naslund (@AmberCadabra) May 25, 2014

The origins of the hashtag refer to a knee-jerk response to these UCSB murders. Men who responded with #NotAllMen as in, not all men think this way, not all men do this. That stance is a justification to not make any social changes or take any accountability as a community. The #YesAllWomen hashtag response gave a clear message that no, not all men do bad things, but yes, all women experience sexism.

Women shared their points of view criticizing a culture that allows men to feel entitled to women as property, like Roger advocated. Women's equality is no longer simply about access to jobs, it's about simply feeling safe during daily activities. It's about the ways women are harshly judged in area's unaffected by men. Equality isn't an assignment, it's a social construct that needs to be fought for.

While I am typing this some guy is following me calling me blondie and making kissy noises #YesAllWomen
— Shalyah Evans (@ShalyahEvans) May 26, 2014

#yesallwomen because "you're not like other girls" is considered a compliment
— Alyssa Wooldridge (@alyssawool) May 26, 2014

The cops who asked me "Well, what were you wearing?" when I reported an attack and attempted rape. #YesAllWomen
— Aimee Mann (@aimeemann) May 25, 2014

#YesAllWomen because men's issues are social issues, but women's issues are them overreacting.
— Sarah Stack (@Sarah_253) May 26, 2014

Because a lot of you are reading these and thinking "ugh yeah, we get it. Calm down." #YesAllWomen
— Christine Nangle (@nanglish) May 25, 2014

Speak up and share your story. #YesAllWomen we are here, and we are listening. 

Take a listen: Seth Rogen learns that women can be funny

"But while Rogen’s bromance comedies relegated their female characters to roles as mature adults (nags, scolds, killjoys), Neighbors lets Rose Byrne’s character share the laughs. In early drafts, Rogen admits, his character’s friends got involved in the pranks, sidelining Byrne. But his actual wife of three years, actress and writer Lauren Miller, pointed out how unrealistic that was. What if the couple liked each other?"

Listen to the interview here and make sure to check out Lauren Miller's For a Good Time Call.

Even Less Women Working on Indie Films

Even though Fempire Movie Club has been promoting women's roles behind the camera for a whole 4 months now, it seems we still have an uphill battle.

The biggest and best source of accurate information regarding women in the film and television workplace is The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film from San Diego State University. For over a decade they have been tracking the jobs women have in the industry. Almost every time you hear about statistics regarding the jobs women get it's usually citing one of their annual reports. In fact, you'll probably read another dozen or so articles using their statistics from us. We think they do fantastic work.

As reported by several media outlets including The Wrap (link below) The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film released their annual report titled Independent Women: Behind-the-Scenes Employment on Festival Films in 2013-14. The report looks at the representation of women working in key roles in the top 23 film festivals in the USA.

Things are doing ok over all this year (2013-14) with the percentage of women working behind the scenes remaining at 26%, the same as last year. This number has slowly been rising from the 24% in 2008-09, but let's be honest, hovering around the 1/4 mark isn't exactly stellar to begin with.

Since our focus on this blog is particularly on writers and directors, lets analyze those roles.

The overall number of women directors is down from 29%  in 2011-12 to 23% this past year. It's interesting to note that this is a combination of narrative film and documentary film. Women directors have had much more success in documentaries accounting for 39% of docu directors in 2011-12. Shockingly, this year women account for only 28% of docu directors - a major backslide. In narrative film, women directors hold steady at an 18% representation, the same as two years ago. In 2008-09, that figure was 15%. Perhaps this is a slow climb, but it would be nice to see representation of female directors in narrative films push beyond 20%.

As for women writers, this year saw 22% overall, up 3% from 5 years ago but still a small backslide from the 2011-12 figures that showed women writers at 24% overall. Similar to the statistics of women directors, women have typically had better showing in documentaries. Two years ago, women made up 32% of docu writers, this year they only accounted for 23%

Again, similar to women directors, the number of women writers in narrative film has been slowly climbing. This year, women writers held steady at 21%, a slight rise from the 15% that was reported in 2008-09.

It might be worth noting that in all areas, women producers gained a lot of ground. Producers and executive producers are the only areas where women maintained their presence in the indie film industry. Across the board, cinematographers and editors lost ground in representation.

At the end of the day, perhaps a micro view of the film industry year to year isn't a significant source of information. Nit picking year to year may or may not reveal trends. However, it's important to realize that this is 2014 and these are pathetic numbers. Women have been involved in these very key roles behind the scenes in the film industry since the inception of cinema.

This article doesn't examine the top big budget movies, these are the indies. Certainly some of these festivals will host films made and sold to major production companies, but in general, this is where small time movie makers prove their worth. If women aren't picking up jobs here, they aren't going to get them in bigger budget productions down the line. These numbers might be small, but they are huge compared to the number of women doing these jobs for studio productions.

Whatever the barriers are that prevent women from picking up that camera and making their own movies, we need to get past it. If you have a story to tell, tell it. You may never see another women doing the job you do behind the scenes but that's no reason not to do it. Push through and inspire someone else.

The Wrap: Women Directors and Writers Lose Ground in Indie Films as Numbers Decline

Trailblazer Appreciation: Nora Ephron

Most people have heard the term "triple threat" on reality shows where someone is aspiring to be a singer/dancer/fashion model or whatever combination of things they can do on camera. Nora Ephron (1941 - 2012) was a journalist, essayist, novelist, screenwriter, director, producer, and a playwright. 

From the early 1980's to her passing in 2012, she worked in the film industry making iconic films. Her work in film lead her to be nominated for Academy Awards and Golden Raspberries alike. 

Nora Ephron's distinctive voice explores the many roles and lives of women. The only other screenwriter that comes to mind for connecting to such a distinctive audience is John Hughes. The thing that makes her work illustrious is not her desire to tell "women's stories" but rather that she tells compelling stories about women. Women exist in her movie world, which lets face is, doesn't exist in the worlds of many prolific screenwriters and film directors. 

From the game changing When Harry Met Sally (1989) to the stunningly beautiful Julie & Julia (2009) so many of Nora's films are hallmarks in the landscape of movie history. She made the romantic comedy something to be appreciated. 

Nora's directorial debut with This is My Life (1992) is the film that made Lena Dunham want to become a writer. 

Other memorable works include Heartburn (1986) (Our review here), You've Got Mail (1998), and Sleepless in Seattle(1993). 

Part of her legacy is that Nora was someone people wanted to be around. After her passing in 2012 the general feeling of shock and sadness has become memorialized in essays of her opinionated, fun loving, nature, and undeniable kindness. She was encouraging and spirited, inspiring friends and fans to go forward with their lives, and take chances.  

If there is one thing to be said about Nora Ephron it's that she showed her love and passion for life in everything she did. Something we should all learn from her and strive to achieve in ourselves. 

2 Female Directors in the running for the Palme d'Or

Film Festivals are these magical places where random movies, good or bad, are screened for awards and money and even better, buzz. At the pinnacle of movie buzz is the Canne Film Festival.

We often talk about Sundance Film Festival because Sundance has been a huge supporter of diversity, and in particular women writers and directors. Go Sundance!

Cannes is a little different, focusing less on independent movies, and more on international prestige. It's where movies go to find distribution, and BIG movies go to find awards. Past Palme d'Or (Best Film) winners include Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and Michael Moore.

I like to think of the Palme d'Or as not being the best movie of the year, but definitely as the most talked about. You may not have seen The Tree of Life (Winner, 2011) but you probably heard about it that year. It is the representation of in-the-moment cinema.

Since the inception of the Palme d'Or award in 1975 only one female director has ever won, in 1993 Jane Campion for The Piano. It might be worth noting that last year in 2013, Blue is the Warmest Color won the award and for the first time in Canne history, the two lead actresses were also awarded the Palme d'Or as a special prize.

In the 2014 selection, it was specifically mentioned that of the 49 films selected, 15 featured female directors.
A huge increase from the past few years where Canne has specifically been the target of criticism over the issue. 2 of the female directed films are currently still in the competition for the Palme d'Or.

Good luck to Naomi Kawase for Still the Water as well as Alice Rohrwacher for Le Meraviglie.

HuffPo: Cannes Film Festival Doubles Female Directors To Compete For Palme d'Or

I also wanted to point out that 3 Canadian films were also announced, and as Canadian screenwriters that's a big deal for us. A Canadian film has never won the Palme d'Or.

Academy Awards Wrap Up

The Oscars are done, the awards given out, In And Out burgers consumed.

Big props to Ellen DeGeneres for hosting. She was pretty funny all night, and kept things moving, in my opinion. A lot of critics are saying she wasn't a great host, but I disagree. The Oscars are such an old fashioned mode of entertainment that they're always going to be boring and slow. Ellen has made a name for herself by being so nice to everyone, rarely does she mock individuals, so anyone looking for a scathing monologue making fun of the nominees was clearly looking for another host. 

Highlights: 

• JLaw tripping again. It sure would be embarrassing if someone brought that up...
• Ellen asking if anyone in the audience wanted pizza and Kerry Washington shot her arm so fast. 
• Pizza's legitimately arrived and Brad Pitt got super into it.
• Harvey Weinstein not understanding a joke "Pizza costs more than $200?" Leave it to the professionals. Lupita paid in Lip balm. Girl knows whats up.  
• The selfie that broke Twitter (Alyssa and I were booted from LiveTweeting) 

Whatever complaints people have about Ellen's job hosting, I think the most important thing was she got into the audience and got the celebrities involved. Sure some people love a song and dance routine, but I found her interactions with the nominees to be fun and refreshing. 

As for the rest of the show... There were some ups and downs. Some long speeches, some adorable moments, Amy Adams almost fell asleep at one point. 

Other Highlights

•  Let It Go won for Best Original Song...Actually no one cares about the song, but they made the cutest acceptance speech ever made. The married couple who wrote the song recited with enthusiasm a rhyming sing-song. They were my favs. Also, EGOT is a thing! 
• Pharrell's Best Original Song nomination for Happy was the best musical number of the night. He had a huge number of choreographed dancers, bright colors, and a great up tempo song to dance to. Lets be honest though, the best dancers were Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, and Lupita Nyong'o.
• Now that Lupita has her Oscar win, she's going to transition into a first-name only, fashionista starlet. Oh wait, she's already that. 
• Cate Blanchett. The Queen of Red Carpet Fashion. The Queen of the movie The Queen. One Bad-Ass Mother. She got to take home her Oscar for Best Actress from her role in Blue Jasmine. She's the only Red Carpet diva who can make us go "huh, that dress is... interesting." and then still end up on our Best Dressed List. 
• Kerry Washington got pizza, by the way. So Did Jared Leto's Mom. SoCute.
• Kevin Spacey showing up everyone by giving Frank Underhill on stage. I may have screamed a little. 
• Love for Whoopi Goldberg who's kind of a hosting legend. 
  
• Love for Liza Minnelli who's a living legend. 
• Love for Liza Minnelli who showed up in Pajamas and no one cared. She still rocked them. 
• Love for Liza Minnelli who tried real hard to get into a picture with Ellen, then got denied. (It's ok, she might not be in the photo that broke twitter, but she had her own Ellen Selfie.)
• Everyone brought their Mom's. Seriously, everyone. Jared Leto had a family reunion. Matthew McConaughey showed where he gets his "Vegas Pimp" fashion sense from. Jonah Hill's Mom was so cute, and pretended not to notice that everyone was making dick-jokes. And of course, Bruce Dern brought his talented daughter Laura Dern. What a sweetie.

Here at Fempire, we try to support women in writing and directing roles, as well as behind the scenes. So congratulations to Jennifer Lee for winning Best Animated Feature with Frozen. 

We are also super proud of Melisa Wallack, screenwriter for Dallas Buyers Club. Although she lost out on Best Original Screenplay to Spike Jonze's Her, and Best Picture to 12 Years a Slave, her movie still took home some statues. Matthew McConaughey won Best Actor, and Jared Leto won Best Supporting Actor. The film also took home the trophy for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, which was an incredible win for the ladies involved. They did such an incredible job, with a $250 BUDGET. Are you kidding me? I've got more makeup than that in the bottom of my purse. Girl's a damn miracle worker. Again, big props to Robin Matthews and Adruitha Lee for making that happen. 

To celebrate these wins, we're going to review Frozen and Dallas Buyers Club for you this week. Right, Alyssa and Sarah? You're not going to get lazy and forget about it, now are you? What did you think of the 2014 Oscars? 

Trailblazer Appreciation: Harriet Quimby

Today I came across a wikipedia article about of the the first women avaiators, who also happened to be a screenwriter, actress, spokeswomen, and the first women to fly across the English Channel.

Harriet Quimby (1875-1912) was born in Michigan and made some major accomplishments for women before her unfortunate death in a monoplane accident.

She was the first women pilot in the USA being certified by the Aero Club of America.

She was the first women to fly across the English Channel. (A fact often overlooked due to it's coincidental timing with the sinking of the Titanic.)

She wrote the screenplays or the scenarios for 7 silent movies directed by D. W. Griffith. She even acted in one, herself.

When we talk about the lack of opportunities women have had in Hollywood, and show the statistical lack of equality the knee-jerk reply is to say "well Hollywood has been making movies for 100 years... so you know..." Obviously women couldn't be writing back then, right?

Wrong. If Harriet Quimby can do it in 1911, then don't accept that you can't 100 years later.

Wikipedia - Harriet Quimby

Will Ferrell's Gary Sanchez Productions Introduces Gloria Sanchez

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy are creating a new division in their successful production company Gary Sanchez Productions to focus on female content. Lead by executive Jessica Elbaum, the new Gloria Sanchez Productions will focus on creating female led projects for film and television, driven with female content creators.

Will Ferrell Launches Female Focused Film and TV Production Company

Adam McKay, Jessica Elbaum,
and Will Ferrell. 

Jessica Elbaum has worked at Gary Sanchez Productions since the company's beginnings, and has helped bring female comedies to life, even though they could easily put Will Ferrell in every movie and make a lot of money.

Gary Sanchez Productions helped launch Bachelorette in 2012, a personal favorite of us Fempire ladies. In 2014 they will release the Melissa McCarthy movie Tammy, as well as the Kristen Wiig film Welcome to Me.

Lets be clear, this is extraordinary not because there is a female head running the division, or because this is a production company focused on female films, which are both great. It's because women are rarely given a shot in comedy, and this is a production company with a proven track record for success. Comedy is one of those areas where women are consistently undermined. When it comes to Hollywood, the economics and statistics of what people want to see in a movie has resulted in a skewed perception that women shouldn't lead comedy films.

Sandra Bullock and Melissa
McCarthy at The Heat premiere

In 2013 I could only find one female-driven comedy in the top 100 grossing films of the year. The Heat, starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, might seem like an obvious bet after the success of films like Bridesmaids, but the $40 million dollar box office opening was a surprise to many who assumed the big budget action film White House Down would dominate. Every other big budget comedy that summer had a male star in it's top billing, when The Heat proved you don't need men to make audiences laugh.

At the Fempire Movie Club, we support the decision to get more women involved in movie making, in all aspects of production, and we can't wait to see what Gloria Sanchez has in store for us.

Diablo Cody makes her Directorial Debut

Need some mid week inspiration?

Here's an article from last October interviewing Academy Award winning screenwriter Diablo Cody about her experience diving into Directing with her most recent picture Paradise.

She really taps into something important for women in the media when she talks about not wanting to wait around in developmental hell. For many people working in film, it's a case of waiting for the jobs to come along, especially for actresses waiting for those great on screen roles. Instead of waiting, Cody did something about it and picked up the directorial reigns herself.

What a great inspiration. Instead of waiting for those great roles, go write them. Instead of waiting for a director, go direct it. Don't let other people get in the way of making things happen for you. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Diablo Cody talks Screenwriting with the Fempire and Paradise

"Women in Hollywood realize it's sort of essential we support each other. We're the underdogs in a lot of ways." 

Hollywood's Casting Beauty Standards

We're all pretty familiar with the limited roles that women are offered in Hollywood. Often women make up only 30% of a film's cast. This misrepresentation is damaging in and of itself, but what about the disproportionate 'Hot Girl' factor?

In this article, Salon reveals many of the choices made during the casting process. Specifically, it compares how male and female characters are described. Here is an example of a couple in the same script:

Jason Biggs and Taylor Schilling of
Orange is the New Black

Male: 30. 30 going on 21. He’s married to [female]. He’s a fun, hip guy, but at his core, he’s become a family man.

Female: 29 – 30 years old. She’s both beautiful and cool and just a few notches this side of New-Agey.

The male character is described through personality, while the female character's looks are described before any personality descriptors. This is just one example of a long standing pattern in the entertainment world.

Lets not kid ourselves, there has been an established standard of "average" looking TV males coupled with beautiful model-type TV females. For women, attractiveness is not just the first hurdle, it's often the only one. 

Hollywood's Hidden Sexism: How Casting Notices Keep Beauty Standards Alive

"Can producers stop vetoing casting options based on fuckability? And can a physical character description be an afterthought, only included if it furthers the plot? From my perspective, as an actress but also as an audience member, I think it would be nice to see a complex female character physically, emotionally and mentally realized on-screen not by the hottest woman, but by the very real actress best suited to play her."

Hollywood needs to get the memo. Hotness isn't a character trait.