NYWIFT Blog

WIFT Around the World: Report from Berlinale (Part 1) – Adriana Shaw on Gender Parity

Whether you’re cast in a project that shoots abroad or you’re a producer on a quest for locations and tax credits, we’re all finding ourselves traversing the globe more than ever. Getting to know (and joining) our sister Women in Film & Television organizations around the country and the world can be a resource of unending value. From the quickest route to crewing-up with talented women to taking advantage of great events and programing, WIFTs around the world expand our networks and our horizons.


 

By Heidi Philipsen

Is true gender parity in film on the horizon? Women in Film & Television International (WIFTI) hopes so. NYWIFT member filmmaker/journalist/actress Heidi Philipsen attended the 2019 Berlinale International Film Festival, where 10% for 50/50 was introduced: a new European initiative offering rebates to gender-equal productions, led by post production house Chimney in partnership with WIFTI and Women in Film and Television Germany.

Philipsen met up with fellow NYWIFT member Adriana Shaw, founder of the streaming platform Herflix, while in Berlin, and they discussed what this initiative means for the future of the industry.

NYWIFT member Adriana Shaw (left) with German filmmaker Tara Brenninkmeyer

 

Heidi Philipsen: What brought you to the WIFTI/WIFT Germany Berlinale event?

Adriana Shaw: Helene Granqvist, the new President of WIFTI invited me to Berlin to meet the Presidents of the European chapters. My company, Herflix, has an agreement with WIFTI to provide a WIFTI channel on our online movie theater platform for member filmmakers. I took the opportunity to meet the chapter Presidents in person. Also, I could see that the 69th annual Berlin International Film Festival Agenda was a meaningful time to celebrate and advocate for more gender parity. Herflix became a sponsor of the event as well.

HP: Was it meaningful?

AS: Absolutely it was. The energy in that room was amazing. WIFTI President Helene Granqvist and the Post Production company Chimney representative introduced the 50/50/10 initiative signed (up to now by 20 Post Production houses world-wide) to offer productions with 50% woman’s crew a 10% deduction. Berlinale Festival Director [Dieter Kosslick] signed a 50/50 pledge for women filmmaker participation for 2020. Gale Ann Hurd shared her life successes and challenges as a female producer. But mostly, you could feel the palpable optimism in the room. And it was fun.

HP: How long have you been a NYWIFT member and what changes have you witnessed for women in film over the years?

AS: [I’ve been] a member of NYWIFT for 11 years, I believe, and before that a member of WIF LA. My good friend and mentor, Gloria Goldsmith, was a founding member of NYWIFT.

It is amazing to experience, as I have, the changes in the film markets and festivals over the last 30 years. Because of the advocacy and persistence of NYWIFT, the various Women in Film organizations, Geena Davis’ See Jane, Melissa Silverstein’s Women and Hollywood blog, and European Women’s Institutional organizations, gender parity is now front and center at the film festivals. The markets have also changed. When I began as a distributor, women’s stories were few and drama movies were only bought by government funded stations in Europe. Now female directors are promoted as an asset to a film, at least at the film markets, and we see the new digital players, Netflix, Amazon, etc. investing in her stories. What was also encouraging to see at the European Film Market at Berlinale was a significant increase of women in the ownership and leadership of the distribution companies and sales agencies.

HP: What do you hope for the future? 

AS: My company, Herflix, and several others have taken on the mission to promote women directors. Ask most people to name a woman director and they can only come up with Kathryn Bigelow. That needs to change if women are to get more opportunity for the bigger budgeted movies. 3% to 4% [women directors for big budget features] in the US is better but far from where the needle has to move. Europe is ahead of us. We also still lack the access to financial capital. I believe what we all hope for is equal opportunity for ourselves, our daughters, and our professional sisters.

HP: What has WIFT done for you and your career? What do you do that you feel will reflect upon women in film?

AS: I believe its important to have a community of women to connect and share goals and dreams. We all need a club – female or male, with the like-minded. I have made friendships and business associations that I value personally as well as professionally. My participation at NYWIFT has given me a platform to explore my business ideas and be part of a movement that’s important to me. It gives me and everyone else who participates a frame around their work. When women come to me for career advice, the first thing I say in join NYWIFT or your local WIF chapter.

Additional reporting by Katie Chambers.

PUBLISHED BY

Heidi Philipsen

Heidi Philipsen Heidi Elizabeth Philipsen-Meissner is a producer, writer, actress & director with 20 years of professional experience in international film, television and communications. Follow her on Twitter at @heidiphilipsen.

View all posts by Heidi Philipsen

2 Comments

Related Posts

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Jasmine Yeshan Zhang

Welcome to NYWIFT, Jasmine Yeshan Zhang! Jasmine Yeshan Zhang was born and raised in Xinjiang, China and is now based in Brooklyn. She graduated from the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media department at School of Visual Arts in 2021. During her studies at SVA, she expanded her interests on making documentary films. She has been working as an Assistant Editor for documentaries since graduation and is currently working on an archival-heavy doc-series. She is always looking for more opportunities for documentary/film editing. Jasmine spoke to us about how her upbringing influenced her interest in other cultures, her transition from still photography to video, and what she hopes to achieve next.  

READ MORE

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Jade Dressler

Welcome to NYWIFT, Jade Dressler! Jade has imagined, designed and created for mass and niche pop-culture and luxury lifestyle clients for over 30 years. From nature-inspired body jewelry on major couture runways to award-winning landscape art spanning acres in Brazil, she is known for producing touchpoints of meaning that connect and energize all our lives. The Jade Dressler Agency is NYC-based with global partners. The agency is known for lifting the dreams of personalities, brands and businesses clients with creative services that deliver compelling design, messaging, events, and experiences that thrill. Jade spoke to us about daring to be a disruptor, amazing moments with Karl Lagerfield, and her brand new screenplay!

READ MORE

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Candece Tarpley

Welcome to NYWIFT, Candece Tarpley! Candece Tarpley, of Sissipahaw/Tuscarora/Tsalagi descent, is a World Champion Powwow dancer, an actress and a poet-storyteller-playwright who has been writing since childhood. Holding her heritage close, she's been a featured performer nationwide, weaving her crafts with the patrons of the Public Library of Boulder Colorado; Middlebury College in Vermont; Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts; the Pequot Museum in Connecticut; the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Natural History in New York City, as well as other creative venues. Candece spoke to us about how her Indigenous heritage influences her work, the response to her television series, and her next major projects.  

READ MORE

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Melissa Morales

New York based filmmaker Melissa Morales is a first-generation Puerto Rican Latina alum from CUNY Brooklyn College with a BA in Film Production, holding a magna cum laude GPA. Melissa is an aspiring writer, director, producer and production designer, and multimedia content creator. She has written, directed, & produced four short films in 2022, with her thesis "Bigger" winning a NYWIFT Emerging Female Filmmaker Award at Brookly College and a NYIFA Best Student Director Award both in 2023! Melissa tells us about receiving the NYWIFT Emerging Female Filmmaker Award, her role as a writer, director, and producer, and more!

READ MORE
JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER
css.php