Kathryn Bigelow Aside, Only 9% of Top-Grossing Films Are Directed By Women

English: Kathryn Bigelow arrives at the 82nd Academy Awards. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I want to thank Kathryn Bigelow my director.  I can’t help but compare my character of Maya to you, two powerful fearless women that allows their expert work to stand before them.  You’ve said that filmmaking for you is not about breaking gender roles but when you make a film that allows your character to disobey the conventions of Hollywood, you’ve done more for women in cinema than you take credit for.

This was the quote that Jessica Chastain gave in her acceptance speech for winning Best Actress at the Golden Globes Award. When she stated that her director had done more for women (as a whole) in the portrayal of strong female characters for being capable, it was a great moment.

I have since written an article where you can access here:

http://www.policymic.com/articles/24212/kathryn-bigelow-aside-only-9-of-top-grossing-films-are-directed-by-women

Despite the success of female Hollywood directors such as Kathryn Bigelow make up only 9% of the top-grossing box office films as compared to the ~40% of documentaries.  This statistic remains unchanged since 1998. Furthermore, what makes this statistic more bleak, was the recent studies in this matter: one, was generated by Sundance Film Institute and Women in Film (WIF) Initiative, while the second was the Celluloid Ceiling which gave an in depth look at where women are employed in the film industry.

The responses that I’ve received thus far (all from men) who don’t get what the gendered-entrenched barriers are such a big deal. I get the feeling that they’ve just glossed over the challenges that are unique in this industry. Particularly when we’re talking about securing funding or financing one’s film. When a considerable segment of the opposite gender looks down on women for the mere fact that they are asking for funds, it just makes you wonder if progress is ever possible. While there may be no easy solution to this problem, I advocated for networking and funding (grants/scholarships) for women. This, I think addresses some of the issues that are major challenges to women.