Given the #MeToo movement and initiatives such as Screen Australia’s Gender Matters, it is astounding that female directors in Australia are still subject to workplace bullying and intimidation.
Screen Australia met its overall Gender Matters target in the 2017-2018 financial year for the first time since the initiative was launched, with 51 per cent of all projects receiving production funding having at least half of the key creative roles occupied by women.
Screen Australia’s record spend on adult TV drama in 2017-18 has not come at the expense of support for feature films.
Filmmaker Samantha Dinning has joined Philippa Campey’s Film Camp as creative producer, working across a slate of feature, TV, documentary and VR projects.
With Create NSW’s ‘50:50 by 2020’ gender equity target now at a halfway point, the New South Wales Government has announced a $100,000 development initiative to increase the number of women directing TV drama.
Fiona Cameron counts Gender Matters, the Enterprise scheme and the growth of online projects among the highlights of her 10 years as chief operating officer at Screen Australia.
A Diversity in Australian Media forum in Sydney next week will highlight how much progress the screen industry has made over the past 10 years in better reflecting Australia's diverse society - and how much remains to be done.
Three weeks into a nine week shoot on 'Ride Like a Girl', producer Richard Keddie is confident the true-life drama will resonate on numerous levels including female empowerment, disability and single-parenting.