By Becca Whitehead
As the world begins to change its understanding of women in the workplace and stereotypes break down, the goals of gender equity become more complex. The structures supporting women at work are nowhere more in the spotlight than the film industry.
Where the #metoo movement intersects with thought leadership from those such as Brené Brown, the film industry is able to reflect more traditionally ‘feminine’ leadership approaches such as vulnerability and community, changing expectations about what constitutes great ways to work.
Into this new landscape come more and more groups of women, deciding to collaborate to support and develop other women.
In Australia, Producer Leonie Marsh heads up Screen Vixens for just this purpose.
Founded in 2015, Screen Vixens is a group that promotes women leadership and acceleration in the field of production. The group gathers women producers from around Australia so that they can share and accelerate each other. Marsh says she saw how other groups were working and followed what she saw was working.
“I can’t take credit for the idea,” says Marsh. “There is a group of female directors called Film Fatales. I was just back from London and very isolated, and my friend said, ‘Oh, let me mention you to my writer/director collective’. My ears pricked up and I thought, ‘How do I get invited to that?’”
Marsh attended a meeting, found the collaborative approach appealing, and knew that it was just the thing she needed.
“I said, ‘I need to do this for producers,’” she says.
Screen Vixens is a national collective of female identifying, non-binary and intersex producers working across all mediums in the Australian screen industry. The group has active chapters operating in all states and territories in Australia. The goal is to foster professional collaboration, peer-to-peer mentoring and monthly networking to create strong working relationships in the screen industry. The Vixens contribute to current industry issues and cultural trends while providing a network for producers.
Most of the resources have been free for members, but things are moving ahead. Screen Vixens boasts almost 1,000 members. In February, an annual membership was introduced, offering members benefits including discounted attendance to Screen Producers Australia’s Screen Forever Conference.
This month, Leonie says the Vixens are launching a new podcast to complement their other resources. Vixen to Vixen is a conversation between two producers and covers a broad range of topics that will interest industry people. The first episode features Kristen Hodges (Investment & Development Manager, Screen Australia) and Tracey Corbin-Matchett (CEO, Bus Stop Films).
The group has also made itself known in government and policy, and Marsh says that it’s important to her to have the right sort of influence on how women and Australians are represented in the industry.
Screen Vixens recently made a submission to the National Cultural Policy, focusing on, among other things, the omission of the term “Australian stories” from the policy.
“We really lobbied to have gender included in that policy, because until we have gender equality, we feel that women need to be included. We’re also really concerned with Australian IP and Australian content. Whatever we deem Australian, we need to protect it. Otherwise, Hollywood is going to decide it for us,” says Marsh.
Marsh believes Screen Vixens will go from strength to strength, and is enthusiastic about the influence these sorts of organisations can and are having on the lives of independent producers, and women in particular.
“Independent production is hard, and quite lonely,” says Marsh. “When you’re on a film or TV set, you’re managing all these people and departments, but you’re very often alone. So, getting that support, feeling like you’ve got camaraderie, being able to network together, is invaluable for everyone,” she says.
For more information about Screen Vixens, visit https://www.screenvixens.com.
