As many of you may already know, the term “Flower Power” was brought about in the late 1960’s, early 70’s as a movement against the Vietnam war, and as a symbol of nonviolent resistance. Nonviolent resistance is the practice of achieving social change without using violence which back then was exhibited through protests and civil disobedience. Later on hippies generalized the term to a more modern reference of their lifestyle, beliefs, psychedelic music and art.
Now I am no modern day hippie but I do feel like I am on a war mission- to fight for more female directors/producers in the industry (in a peaceful, lady like manner). I am currently amidst working on writing, producing, directing, and starring in a couple of short films because I believe I have the ability to convey and deliver with the right team behind me. I cannot help however to notice the little opportunity female directors have in the industry because it appears "We have a slew of men who have never directed anything being handed $150 to $200 million budgeted movies...The Hollywood system is, 'I am a white male in my 50s or 60s, who has had a phenomenal career, and now, I'm going to mentor a younger me,” filmmaker Kate Rees Davies says in a CNN interview. As of 2015 only 19% of women have been accounted for in the top 500 films as writers, directors, editors, cinematographers and executive producers. I’m sure that number has decreased. What is this irrational fear about giving women the opportunity to direct projects? Maybe there is no fear, just something that is not frequently thought about given most of the hirers are done man to man. Director, writer, producer Ryan Murphy (known for American Horror Story) acknowledged that he could be doing better about letting women take the lead in his projects and decided moving forward to give 50% of his work to them. He went ahead and created the Half Foundation that mentors women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community in the TV industry. I love that he wants to help diversify Hollywood but when I went to see if I could submit for his mentorship program I found nothing, not even a website for his foundation. Not saying he isn’t sticking to his word but his outreach seems to be more specific to colleges/universities.
I went ahead and looked at the Alliance of Women Directors (http://www.allianceofwomendirectors.org/join) and it was a bit more encouraging. You can apply if you have publicly-aired a feature film, TV episode, TV movie, documentary, commercial, or short film but note then have to pay $100 membership due….guess that’s fair? What I’m getting at is that it would be nice if Hollywood had a free female community group meetup to help grow and learn from one another. I’ve been searching for one here in Los Angeles, and my findings are only for those who’ve already made it. Time for a change ya? If any of you reading this know of something I do not know about please reach out! Moving forward I’ve decided to create my own meetup group, but to do so I need to see that you ladies are as passionate about it as I am. Flower Power meetups will be a female orientated group meet up of writers, directors, producers were we can discuss our upcoming projects, get feedback, and advice from one another. I believe if we get a strong community together we can catch the attention of the more established women in Hollywood to come attend as guest speakers. So ladies of the industry, if you have a desire to be apart of my Flower Power movement, please reach out to me with your information and what kind of work you do.
Awareness+Action=Change #flowerpower