NYWIFT Blog

Script Girls: IATSE Local 871 commissioned a new report, ‘Script Girls,’ Secretaries and Stereotypes: Gender Pay Equity on Film and Television Crews, which shows certain female-dominated craft professions such as script supervisors and art department coordinators typically receive hundreds of dollars per week less than their counterparts in comparable male-dominated crafts. In addition, the report found that sexual harassment and other forms of gender bias are prevalent in these professions.

Critical Problem: For the first time, USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has turned its eye to critics, analyzing the gender and race/ethnicity of the authors behind every Rotten Tomatoes review of 2017’s 100 highest-grossing movies. Its new report, Critic’s Choice? finds that out of 19,559 reviews, 77.8% were written by men and 82% were written by white critics – which means the critics are not representative of the actual gender and racial makeup of paying moviegoers.

Female Auteurs: It wasn’t all bad news this week. The Hollywood Reporter looks at how women writers are using TV comedies, including hits like GLOW, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, One Day at a Time and many more, to explore timely issues related to gender and sexuality.