As the Gender Equity Policies (GEP) project kicks off this month, I have been interviewed by FF2 Media and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada about the immediacy of this work. In my interview with Katusha Jin, we discussed the importance of looking at the issue of gender inequity in film…
Go Figure
Edited online version of an article published in Summer 2016 issue of The Equity Magazine:
“What if women were not the problem that needed to be addressed and we recast the problem as a preponderance of men? What if we gave as much attention to understanding male behaviours in the film industry as we have given to the evident lack of women? What if the key to achieving statistical equivalence wasn’t more women but fewer men?”
Women aren’t the problem in the film industry, men are
Our groundbreaking “Gender Offender” analysis of the Australian film industry published by The Conversation, 15 November 2016 which asks: “What if we used industry data to demonstrate the impact of dominant behaviours, and to inspire new approaches to encourage change in the industry?”
Breaking down the paucity of female AACTA award nominees
Published in the film industry trade journal if Magazine, 31 October, 2016:
“If we are really going to reward anyone in the Australian film industry we need to give recognition to the women who swim against the current, day in and day out. These women don’t need a life-jacket tossed to them when a funding agency takes notice occasionally. They need a tidal change….We have the data. We have the names. So let’s stop rewarding men who can only work with other men.”
Three ways Screen Australia can actually improve diversity in the industry
Since the 1970s the argument for government subsidy to the local film industry has been made in terms of the opportunity it provides for Australians “to tell our own stories”.
What isn’t clear in this aspirational statement is that, from the outset, these stories have been told almost exclusively in monotone.
Dr Helen Pankhurst and Her Suffragette Forebears
I join ABC commentator Jon Faine on The Conversation Hour to speak with feminist activists Dr Helen Pankhurst and Renee Carr on December 1, 2015 Continue…
Philosophy vs. Evidence is No Way to Orchestrate Cultural Policy
An article written with Ben Eltham and published in The Conversation on March 29, 2015. We use evidence of cultural consumption and production in Australia to refute claims claims made by Senator Brandis in his justification of severe Federal government budget cuts to the arts. Continue…
CAARP – Cinema And Audience Research Project
The Cinema and Audiences Research Project (CAARP) database is an online encyclopaedia of cinema-going in Australia and aims to promote research into, and a deeper appreciation of, the history of film exhibition and cinema going in Australia. CAARP holds information about film-related events, capturing where and when individual screenings took place and the relationship between film distribution,…
Bad Hobbits Die Hard: How to Make a Better Top 10 Movie List
Article written with Alwyn Davidson and published in The Conversation on December 11, 2014 in which we discuss the seasonal obsession with Top 10 movie lists and why the calendar year is such a poor basis for measuring movies. Continue…
Zombie Metrics: Why Australian Cinema Just Won’t Stay Dead
An article launching the Film Impact Rating (FIR) which is designed to expand how we evaluate success in the film industry. Instead of relying on domestic box office as the only factor indicating success or failure the article show how a combination of commercial and critical factors can be used to measure value. Published in The Conversation on December 3, 2014. Continue…