Lots of chatter about women screenwriters and why we are only 5% of WGA membership (last time I looked) and while there are many causes of this crazy inequity, one big one is typecasting: what we are supposed to write. Many TIKs (Those in the Know) have told me I should pen only romcoms because this is the only market where a female name on a script is taken seriously, probably because all three of the well-known female screenwriters write romcoms. So then yesterday, my manager tells me, romcoms are now the LAST requested genre that anybody is looking for, they are harder to get made than ever, and especially any that are the big studio kind; so now I'm thinking okay, I got edged over to the romcom, now that edge has fallen off, now, I need to write the small indies romcoms, and I think Noah Buschel already did that.
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I am getting private messages from folks telling me they've tried to respond to this post but haven't been able to! Thank you, and I will reply to each of your helpful great remarks. I just want to add that, only recently, have I been advised by both my manager AND the C.E. of a prod company interested in my work that the BEST route for female writers today is TV not film at all....
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I focus on com- less on rom.
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My first film (going into production soon) is a horror. The producer/director is thrilled with my work and has said he was told by others he showed it to, that they have never seen well developed characters in horror before so maybe having a female voice aboard helped this!
oh and my partner/mentor told me to avoid TV unless I only want to sell a pilot and then hand everything to a group of writers to take over since that's largely how it goes!
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TV is a great place for writers to start their career. More product being made means more scripts needed. I would love to sell a pilot and then be a show runner with a staff of writers. Doesn't seem like a bad thing to me.
Write what you want to write Diana, the story will out if it is good enough. If we all keep writing what we are told to write, we will just keep perpetuating the issue at hand. Break the cycle and "Be the Change"!
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Thank you so much, everyone who has given me the benefit of their thoughts and experience! I have been writing "behind the seens" for producers and directors for twenty years: guess you can tell from my pic that I'm a midlife, and I do make my living as a writer, which can't be beat. All this time I've been knocking down, kicking down, storming down doors for women writers! Lisa, horror is THE genre that I keep hearing is opening for women writers, so you go girl! you are at the front lines. D. Marcus, TV is a very young medium but now that is changing, and I'm at the front lines of that change. And Jacqueline--I love your idea and surely have considered it but in the end, moviemaking is a very PERSONAL business, and while you may have an initial on the title page, you are going to be walking into a room and meeting the folks who're considering you, very soon. And Mark, if only. Fact is, the decision to write one's true love or write what will sell is one that every writer deals with until they're coasting on success, and even then. The two forms most open to women writers are fiction and TV (and there is still a lot of inequity in pay and exposure, in both these forms); and the two most closed to women are film and theater, where even stories ABOUT women are usually written by men. P.S. It is important to talk about this, so I thank yall again for joining in.
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Using initials is to get a foot in the door so you actually get called. It's the same prejudiced mess for getting other jobs as well in our society for people of color, "mature" professionals -- it's sick and sickening. People need to change, and it either comes by revolution and evolution.
I would suggest, write what you know/like. If it's a great story and well written, it will be looked at. Just look at what's out there now. A spattering of everything. Just know that you CAN get your script out there, man or woman, young or old. Just make it the best of the best! Great discussion!
Spot on, Valerie. People DO need to change. That comes slowly, one kick at a time.
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Personally, I'm never bothered. In fact, I don't consciously take into account if I'm reading a script by a male or female writer. I have read horror scripts by female writers than have been great and I know a few that have had theirs produced. There's nothing to say that a male or female writer should intrinsically be suited to a certain genre, each person is different. The quality of the script will be dependent on how well the writer understands the market needs and the craft.
If only there were more folks like you out there, Eoin! When I teach screenwriting, I always have more women than men in my class. There is absolutely no difference in talent, determination or creativity, and actually, the women seem a little more willing to learn craft. And yet, when we get to the level where folks are making a living at this, there has been significant attrition in the number of women.
I have no stats or figures to offer up in terms of why it is that there are more men than women who are WGA members. From empirical observation I have observed one female writer go from absolute novice to churning out excellent scripts month after month in the space of 2 years. This I attribute to her absolute openness and willingness to learn. She's also has all the other ingredients that make a great screenwriter. The same of course applies to any writer, male or female. If comedy and horror are the 2 genres in most demand, perhaps more males writers are currently writing in these genres? Perhaps this is a tradition, culture or mindset that needs to change, akin to the attitude that weight training had no place in female fitness? Great discussion btw