Calling the Shots - Women in the UK film industry Event
For more information regarding this event, please email Linnet Evans at L.Evans@soton.ac.uk .
Event details
This is what we know about women working in film production: at film school, the gender balance is close to 50/50. But the gender balance all but disappears when women move into the workforce.
As the Annual Celluloid Ceiling Report (San Diego State University) tells us from their research of the last twenty years, women make-up 20-25% of producers, around 15% of directors, about 10% of editors and less than 5% cinematographers in the top 300 grossing films of each year.
Some of these issues may have had some historic rationale: once upon a time film cameras were heavy and bulky. There's been a general expectation that women will take the people-focused, organisational roles such as production, rather than the 'harder', technical roles.
These numbers put into stark light the public recognition of women filmmakers like Jane Campion (the first female Palme d’Or winner for her 1993 film The Piano), Phyllida Lloyd (Mama Mia) and Kathryn Bigelow (the first female winner of the Best Directing Oscar). It is true that some women directors such as Joanna Hogg, Clio Barnard, Kim Loginotto and others have found success in the independent sector, but the overall numbers in independent production are only marginally better.
Much of the research that does exist on women working behind the scenes in the film industry is focused on Hollywood. Calling the Shots is a four-year project that is researching women’s involvement in the UK film industry since 2000. The project is led by Dr Shelley Cobb (Film and English) with Professor Linda Ruth Williams (English) at the University of Southampton. It is funded by a £500k grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
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Finding the venue
From University Road, first walk down the service road immediately to the left of the Hartley Library. You will pass various engineering buildings including B7 (Lanchester) with the overhanging awning. Turn left straight after Lanchester - past the closed Faraday building. Turn left again for B13. Room 3021 is up one flight of stairs or via lift. Turn right at the landing and it's almost opposite.
Calling the shots. Academics in English and Film win major research grant on women in film
Women¿s involvement behind the camera in UK film since 2000 will be explored by Dr Shelley Cobb and Professor Linda Ruth Williams over the next four years, thanks to a half million pound grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
Find out moreCalling the shots. Academics in English and Film win major research grant on women in film
Women¿s involvement behind the camera in UK film since 2000 will be explored by Dr Shelley Cobb and Professor Linda Ruth Williams over the next four years, thanks to a half million pound grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
Find out moreSpeaker information
Shelley Cobb,is a lecturer in English and Film at Southampton, and research lead for Calling the Shots. She has published widely on film adaptation, women filmmakers, gender and contemporary Hollywood, and celebrity culture.
Linda Ruth Williams,is a professor in Film Studies, and co-lead for Calling the Shots. Linda's wide-ranging interests include classical Hollywood, contemporary British and American cinema, feminist theory and horror films.