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Screen NSW rules all TV Dramas must now have female creatives to get funded

NSW pushes gender parity to the limits with an all-or-nothing approach for TV Drama.

Courtney Gibson

Screen NSW is stepping up its push for gender equity in the screen sector, announcing a requirement that all TV drama series must now include female key creatives on their team in order to receive development or production finance.

The state funding body will no longer sponsor, support or participate in any initiative, event, conference, market or festival which include all-male panels and do not foster female participation and diversity.

Screen NSW CEO, Courtney Gibson said, “Screen NSW has worked closely with industry to identify the best ways to achieve systemic change. Production companies, broadcasters and other screen organisations have been incredibly supportive and we’re starting to see real impact as a result.

“But in order to move the needle even further, going forward, it will be a requirement for any television drama series to include female writers and / or directors and / or producers to secure development or production finance from us.

“If we are to achieve gender parity in our industry, we need to ensure there is equity of opportunity for women, and increased opportunities for people from other under-represented groups in the community.”

Screen NSW committed to a gender target of 50:50 by 2020, last November.

“Sad to say, even with all the work and discussion around gender and diversity, you still see all-male panels at events in our industry – in 2016! If event organisers and screen industry organisations are to obtain financial support from Screen NSW they will need to guarantee participation by women and other under-represented groups.”

Screen NSW has also announced new initiatives for women in writer, director and producer roles with NSW production companies:

Amazons@GiantDwarf is a partnership between Screen NSW and the company behind The Chaser to train and crew up an all-female live TV studio floor crew for events at the Giant Dwarf Theatre in Sydney. Giant Dwarf will work with Western Sydney-based ICE (Information & Cultural Exchange) to ensure roles for women from Western Sydney.

Acclaimed actress Sacha Horler will progress her career ambitions to produce with an internship at Goalpost Pictures Australia (The Sapphires, Cleverman), working with leading female producers Rosemary Blight and Kylie du Fresne.

Recent funded attachments include two emerging female writers Cate Stewart and Helen Dallimore on the writing team for Here Come The Habibs 2. Helen’s internship led her to write a full episode of the second season of the hit show and Cate has stayed with production company Jungle in a paid position on season 2 of No Activity for Stan.

Nina Oyama recently finished an internship in the writer’s room on The Chaser’s Election Desk while Penny Greenhalgh emerged from an internship in The Checkout writers’ room with Giant Dwarf, to step into a role in the writer’s room of a new series with Ambience Entertainment.

Screen NSW also supported Trackdown Studios to employ graduate female audio engineer Rose Mackenzie Peterson in a full-time position, and is supporting Northern Rivers Screenworks’ new Athena Project to fund career development opportunities for four regional NSW women working in the screen industry.

Screen NSW also brought together the partners on She Shoots, an initiative of AFTRS, Screen NSW, Women NSW and Executive Women’s Television Group, a group of NSW-based senior women from Australian production companies and broadcasters, to provide training and on the job opportunities for camera operators and sound recordists on reality TV productions. Screen NSW paid travel and accommodation costs for three regional women to attend the initial training course, held at AFTRS.

10 Responses

  1. “we need to ensure there is equity of opportunity for women”. But this is not about ‘equity of opportunity’. Women have at the very least equal opportunities, if not much better opportunities than men. This is about equality of outcomes which is actually the denial of opportunity.

  2. At the early stages of film and TV development there is usually only a writer and a producer with an idea or developed treatment. So for example is Screen NSW not going to fund the development of Rake even though when it got to production it did use female directors? Or is it not going to fund Peter Weir’s films including Gallipoli, The Cars That Ate Paris, The Last Wave or more recently Master & Commander? In a small industry with a lot of auteurs this sweeping decision is just plain stupid and illustrates how detached the bureaucracy is from the actual practice of film making. Has the CEO of Screen Australia ever produced anything? Policy initiatives to encourage women in principal creatives roles is a good idea but a blanket policy such as this is ill conceived.

    1. Ruling pertains to TV Drama not film (not sure why the distinction is confined to one genre). Screen Australia, which you have referenced has a push towards gender parity, but it isn’t a ruling as Screen NSW is. Screen NSW CEO has produced Television.

  3. It’s not not men but other women who have stopped Women from progressing. Women judge other women on personality and whether they can fit in a team not on their skill base. I think funding should be based on merit not gender, this system will create a group of ‘token women’ to sit in productions to fill a quota. Nice work.

    1. While I cannot comment on whether your comment is an accurate assessment picking people based on creating a cohesive team is not a flawed concept. There was a large study done in America through various workplaces that found that teams comprised of highly skilled employees produced worst results than teams whose member were less accomplished but worked smoothly together. You can have all the skills in the world but ultimately if you don’t get along it will undermine those skills.

    1. I agree … And have only one question. If an all-female team of creatives come for funding, will someone actually put their hand up an insist on some male inclusion on the list of key creatives? This ‘gender-balancing’ act is getting a bit out of hand, and I quite frankly am offended by it – or aren’t males allowed to be offended these days?

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