Less than a week after the release of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s latest study, “Inclusion in the Director’s Chair? Gender, Race & Age of Directors across 1,000 films from 2007-2017″ — which found that, of total of 109 film directors associated with the 100 top movies of 2017, a full 92.7% were male and 7.3% were female — another long-running study of women in the entertainment industry has revealed similarly uninspiring numbers.
In its twentieth year, San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film and executive director Martha M. Lauzen have revealed their latest “Celluloid Ceiling” study, tracking women’s behind-the- scenes employment in the film world. This 2017 study finds that “women comprised 18% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. This represents an increase of 1 percentage point from 17% in 2016 and is virtually unchanged from the percentage achieved in 1998.”
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In its twentieth year, San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film and executive director Martha M. Lauzen have revealed their latest “Celluloid Ceiling” study, tracking women’s behind-the- scenes employment in the film world. This 2017 study finds that “women comprised 18% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. This represents an increase of 1 percentage point from 17% in 2016 and is virtually unchanged from the percentage achieved in 1998.”
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- 1/10/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Editor’s note: The following is an edited excerpt from “Miller and Max: George Miller and the Making of a Film Legend” by Luke Buckmaster.
The George Miller of the 1970s would never have believed he would one day be spearheading a production with a budget estimated at a staggering $150 million. Miller had made the first three movies when he was in his thirties. At sixty-seven, when “Fury Road” commenced principal photography, those days were far back in the past. Shooting the original film in Melbourne felt like a lifetime ago.
For his first “Mad Max” movie in close to three decades, Miller wanted to be on the frontline at all times. But he soon realized that was impossible given the scale of production: a 138-day shoot with complicated stunts occurring on a near-daily basis. State-of-the-art technology made the job easier — or at least improved communication. High-definition video reception was broadcast in multiple locations,...
The George Miller of the 1970s would never have believed he would one day be spearheading a production with a budget estimated at a staggering $150 million. Miller had made the first three movies when he was in his thirties. At sixty-seven, when “Fury Road” commenced principal photography, those days were far back in the past. Shooting the original film in Melbourne felt like a lifetime ago.
For his first “Mad Max” movie in close to three decades, Miller wanted to be on the frontline at all times. But he soon realized that was impossible given the scale of production: a 138-day shoot with complicated stunts occurring on a near-daily basis. State-of-the-art technology made the job easier — or at least improved communication. High-definition video reception was broadcast in multiple locations,...
- 11/21/2017
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
Editor’s note: The following is an exclusive excerpt from “Film Censorship in America: A State-by-State History” by Jeremy Geltzer. The book, which follows Geltzer’s previous effort “Dirty Words & Filthy Pictures: Film and the First Amendment,” will be released on December 19. In this excerpt, Geltzer explores the forgotten legacy of pioneering female filmmaker Nell Shipman.
Far from the soundstages of Hollywood, Nell Shipman ventured into the wild to produce movies that celebrated independent women in exciting scenarios. Although Shipman’s name may no longer be familiar, she deserves to be remembered as one of cinema’s important female pioneers.
Nell Shipman was born in British Columbia and arrived in Southern California by 1912. She found success as a writer—winning both first and second prize in a scriptwriting contest. In the early days of Hollywood before corporate structure was set in place, several women were able to develop behind-the-scenes power.
Far from the soundstages of Hollywood, Nell Shipman ventured into the wild to produce movies that celebrated independent women in exciting scenarios. Although Shipman’s name may no longer be familiar, she deserves to be remembered as one of cinema’s important female pioneers.
Nell Shipman was born in British Columbia and arrived in Southern California by 1912. She found success as a writer—winning both first and second prize in a scriptwriting contest. In the early days of Hollywood before corporate structure was set in place, several women were able to develop behind-the-scenes power.
- 11/8/2017
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
Nell Shipman was a true pioneer, and not just in screen nudity.A movie star who started writing her own scenarios, she wound up starring, writing, directing, producing and training the animals for her wilderness epics, climaxing with Alaskan Gold Rush adventure The Grub-Stake in 1923. Genuinely suspenseful and exciting, this northern western is also by turns silly, romantic, spectacular and moving: the total entertainment package.Unfortunately, Shipman and her co-director fell afoul of the industry when she denounced distributors who recut one of her previous films, and they found themselves frozen out of the business. Their little Spokane-based studio, with its own private zoo, moved to Idaho but ceased production in 1926.But for a while there they were really trailblazing. Shipman begins The Grub-Stake as a laundress / artist's model, appearing swathed in gauze as she poses for eager sketchers. This seems like a cheeky reference to one of her previous claims to fame,...
- 3/30/2017
- MUBI
Nell Shipman in The Grub Stake
Pioneering director and stunt performer Nell Shipman is to be celebrated at this year's Hippfest, it was announced today. The festival will open with a rare chance to see her 1023 film The Grub Stake, which was never released due to its distributor's financial problems. Set in the Idaho wilderness, it's an action adventure starring the director herself alongside n extensive animal cast.
Bo'ness Hippodrome, one of the oldest cinemas in Scotland. Photo: Richard West, licensed under Creative Commons
"“Nell Shipman is a deeply inspirational figure not only in the history of women’s liberation, but in the history of cinema generally," said festival director Alison Strauss, citing the success of her 1919 film Back To God's Country, which broke Canadian box office records. "Despite the promise of a glittering starlet career, Shipman turned down a seven year contract from Sam Goldwyn because she didn’t...
Pioneering director and stunt performer Nell Shipman is to be celebrated at this year's Hippfest, it was announced today. The festival will open with a rare chance to see her 1023 film The Grub Stake, which was never released due to its distributor's financial problems. Set in the Idaho wilderness, it's an action adventure starring the director herself alongside n extensive animal cast.
Bo'ness Hippodrome, one of the oldest cinemas in Scotland. Photo: Richard West, licensed under Creative Commons
"“Nell Shipman is a deeply inspirational figure not only in the history of women’s liberation, but in the history of cinema generally," said festival director Alison Strauss, citing the success of her 1919 film Back To God's Country, which broke Canadian box office records. "Despite the promise of a glittering starlet career, Shipman turned down a seven year contract from Sam Goldwyn because she didn’t...
- 12/15/2016
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Last week Kino Lorber launched a new Kickstarter aimed to fund their latest project “Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers,” a collection of important American films directed by women, including Alice Guy Blaché, Lois Weber, Nell Shipman, Dorothy Davenport, and many more, between 1910 and 1929.
The ambitious project will be presented in association with the Library of Congress and be the largest commercially-released video collection of films by female helmers. It will include HD restorations of both the most important films of the era, as well as lesser-known works, including short films, fragments and isolated chapters of incomplete serials.
“By showcasing the ambitious, inventive films from the golden age of women directors, we can get a sense of what was lost by the marginalization of women to ‘support roles’ within the film industry,” reads the Kickstarter page.
Read More: ‘The Eyeslicer,’ A New Variety Series By and For Indie Filmmakers, Launches Kickstarter Campaign...
The ambitious project will be presented in association with the Library of Congress and be the largest commercially-released video collection of films by female helmers. It will include HD restorations of both the most important films of the era, as well as lesser-known works, including short films, fragments and isolated chapters of incomplete serials.
“By showcasing the ambitious, inventive films from the golden age of women directors, we can get a sense of what was lost by the marginalization of women to ‘support roles’ within the film industry,” reads the Kickstarter page.
Read More: ‘The Eyeslicer,’ A New Variety Series By and For Indie Filmmakers, Launches Kickstarter Campaign...
- 10/25/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
There’s been an epic find for serious film buffs this week. A nearly-finished 1929 film called “Tokkan Kozo,” or “A Straightforward Boy,” by the hugely-influential Japanese filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu has been uncovered. A representative of the Toy Film Museum in Kyoto and professor at the Osaka University of Arts, Yoneo Ota, announced the news at a September 6th conference.
Read More: 5 Essential Films By Yasujirō Ozu
“A Straightforward Boy” was gifted along with a collection of other films to the Toy Film Museum from the estate of a film fan. The found comedy is a shorter version of the 38 minute original movie, which remains lost, like many Japanese films shot before WWII. The museum is working to restore the film before it is screened later at the Kyoto International Film and Art Festival.
“A Straightforward Boy” depicts an abducted young boy who turns out too troublesome for his captor. The...
Read More: 5 Essential Films By Yasujirō Ozu
“A Straightforward Boy” was gifted along with a collection of other films to the Toy Film Museum from the estate of a film fan. The found comedy is a shorter version of the 38 minute original movie, which remains lost, like many Japanese films shot before WWII. The museum is working to restore the film before it is screened later at the Kyoto International Film and Art Festival.
“A Straightforward Boy” depicts an abducted young boy who turns out too troublesome for his captor. The...
- 9/9/2016
- by Annakeara Stinson
- Indiewire
It was 1920 when Nell Shipman, a silent film starlet and screenwriter from Canada who broke into Hollywood as a teenager, packed up her 10 year-old son, director-lover and 70 abused animal actors and left Tinseltown for the Idaho wilds. Boise-based filmmaker Karen Day's doc "Nell Shipman: Girl from God's Country" unfolds this intriguing tale of a woman, lost to history, who worked outside the studio system -- while making waves on the inside. A bit about Nell from the filmmakers: During Shipman’s time in the remotely beautiful but harsh wilderness of Priest Lake in northern Idaho, she wrote, directed and starred in 25 silent films, sharing billing with her bears, wolves and sled dogs. She embodied the first action-adventure heroine performing her own death-defying stunts while shooting on-location films like "Back to God's Country," "The Girl from God's Country" and "The Grubstake." Financing for these independent films...
- 2/27/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Sun Valley Film Festival is bringing the stars to its namesake city this year, as well as a solid slate of world premieres and indie titles hot off the festival circuit. Sun Valley will honor Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood, whose "American Sniper" is an Oscar powerhouse, with its inaugural Lifetime Vision Award. A fifth day of programming has also been added including the fest's signature Coffee Talks, a series of intimate, early morning Q&As that this year feature Bruce Dern and Pill Paxton. In all, more than 60-curated films will screen followed by filmmakers Q&A sessions. Highlights include Michael Fassbender starrer and Sundance premiere "Slow West," "Cut Bank" with Liam Hemsworth, education system doc "Most Likely to Succeed, the long-awaited documentary "Girl From God's Country" on Idaho's inaugural female indie filmmaker Nell Shipman, and more. (Full lineup of narrative features and docs, and more info, here.)...
- 2/13/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
The top stories of the week from Toh! Box Office:Scarlett Johansson Is Two for Two This Weekend as "Under the Skin" Marks 2014's Second Best Limited OpenerWeekend Top Ten Box Office: Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" Smashes the FieldFeatures:Career Watch: How Should Scarlett Johansson Use Her Box Office Superpowers?Meet the Boise Film Underground, a Band of Indie Filmmakers Hard at Work in IdahoTOH! Ranks the Films of Jim JarmuschFestivals:The 17th Sonoma International Film Festival: Wine, Docs and Food FilmsInterviews:Behind the High-Frame-Rate Restoration of "Oklahoma!" Opening TCM FestivalWith "Joe," Nic Cage Gives His Best Performance Since "Bad Lieutenant," Insists He's Always IndieNews:Baltasar Kormakur Launches "Trapped," Icelandic Crime Series"Chef" First Look: Favreau's Indie Road Movie Is Food PornGregg Araki's Controversial New Film "White Bird in a Blizzard" Gets a DistributorIn Must-See "Locke," Tom Hard Is Under PressureMeet Nell Shipman, "Girl from God's...
- 4/12/2014
- by TOH!
- Thompson on Hollywood
It was 1920 when Nell Shipman, a silent film starlet and screenwriter from Canada who broke into Hollywood as a teenager, packed up her 10 year-old son, director-lover and 70 abused animal actors and left Tinseltown for the Idaho wilds. Boise-based filmmaker Karen Day is now working a new documentary, "Nell Shipman: Girl from God's Country," about this intriguing tale of a woman, lost to history, who worked outside the studio system -- while making waves on the inside. Here's a bit of history about Shipman:During Shipman’s time in the remotely beautiful but harsh wilderness of Priest Lake in northern Idaho, she wrote, directed and starred in 25 silent films, sharing billing with her bears, wolves and sled dogs. She embodied the first action-adventure heroine performing her own death-defying stunts while shooting on-location films like "Back to God's Country," "The Girl from God's Country" and "The Grubstake." Financing for these independent films came from "angel.
- 4/7/2014
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
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