-
Sony Head Amy Pascal on Women Directors: ... -
The Importance of Changing Perspective -
A Feminist Analysis of Rodham - the Feature ... -
Francois Ozon Believes That Many Women Fantasize ... -
Disney Renders Merida Even More Unrecognizable ...
Why Women in Power Positions Matter
The Backlash Continues: Women Onscreen Falls ...
Whose Responsibility Is It To Move The Dial ...
A Look at the Women's Films Opening in the ...
Making Connections
MPAA Releases Ticket Stats And Contrary to ...
In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing ...
2012 Celluloid Ceiling Study Results Are ...
Sundance Institute and Women in Film Release ...
Want to Write a Guest Post for Women and ...Guest Post: Should the Emmy Statue Get a Sex-Change?
When she complained about the swearing, it meant she clearly wasn't one of the boys, was too soft for the job and wanted them to play by her rules even though she was in the minority. That said, touching her in any way--especially pushing her head down--was WAY over the line. I suspect she lost the guys' respect long before that.
In 1984, I was on the writing staff of The Cosby Show. We were a writing staff of four--two women and two men. But we still weren't 50% because my writing partner and I were sharing a salary and technically each only counted as half a woman.
So where women are today? The Center for the Study of Women in Television stated,
The percentage of women working as writers on broadcast programs plummeted this season, declining from 29% in 2009-2010 to 15% in 2010-2011.
So, television is still a man’s world. I blame the 18-to-34 dude demographic and the advertisers who love them. It’s always safer to develop a male TV show because women will watch Tosh.O but guys aren’t going to watch The Mindy Project.
Sisters, don’t take sexual discrimination lying down! Here's some advice for women writers to get more TV staffing jobs:
1. Grow a penis
2. Partner with a male writer
3. Show you’re a good sport
4. Write for female/family shows
5. Create your own fabulous show
Back in the day a woman had to be twice as good as a man to succeed in her job. That’s still true. I hope the success of the Lena Dunham generation will send a message to our industry of dunces and dude worshippers that says—if you want good writing, hire a woman. I hope the pool of excellent women writers grows and eventually those women move up and recruit their most talented writer girlfriends and on and on until the Hollywood Old Girls’ Club topples the Old Boys’ Club once and for all.
__________________________________________________
Karyl Miller is an Emmy-winning writer, author of Having it All in Hollywood and editorial cartoonist. You can find her at her website, MillerReport.com.
Email Updates
Monthly Archives
Most "Liked"
Recent Comments
-
I recently had a producer read over a script, to which he optioned a few days later. The kick was:
May 24, 2013 5:06 PM -
It's nice to hear some honesty. The interviewer should ask questions pertainent to the
May 24, 2013 4:59 PM -
While this scene is a gratuitous and that is something that the writers, producers and Direct have
By Ford A. Thaxton onStar Trek Writer Sort of Apologizes for Misogyny in the FilmMay 23, 2013 10:19 PM -
I doubt very much that "young males" make up 44% of the opening weekend B.O. My
By Maria Giese onSony Head Amy Pascal on Women Directors: The Whole System is Geared for Them To FailMay 23, 2013 6:33 PM -
I liked what she said about women going in and demanding the position of directing these films. I
By Brionne Davis onSony Head Amy Pascal on Women Directors: The Whole System is Geared for Them To FailMay 23, 2013 5:16 PM
3 Comments
Karyl Miller | August 2, 2012 7:51 PM
Trina and Janet thank you so much for your input and comments!
Trina Robbins | August 2, 2012 7:35 PM
Goddess, but you're a funny writer, Karyl! Seriously though, you can change scriptwriting to drawing/writing comics, directing, almost any profession, and it will be the same story. Yes, bring on the Old Girl network!
Janet F. Williams | August 2, 2012 1:57 PM
Could it be women writers have evolved beyond TV writing? With the advent of e-books, anyone can write whatever they want and get published without being vetted. If they're good, they'll reap the rewards without having to sit in a Fart House, I mean, Frat House with a bunch of unevolved male writers. There's no doubt TV writing could improve and it would be wonderful if women were more a part of it. Women can still try to get into the writing pool the old-fashioned way, that is, by exhibiting talent, but that's no guarantee of being hired as talent doesn't seem to be the decisive factor (based on my own TV watching experience). Should I mention I cancelled cable? I cast my vote for number 5: Create your own fabulous show.