Why Aren't There More Women Writers/Producers in TV and Film?

[Andonagio]

I often hear complaints from viewers (especially of SF) that female characters are not as well-developed as their male counterparts in films and TV shows. SG1's Samantha Carter, for instance, has been criticized for not having the sophisticated character background and internal conflicts that the three male leads had. And I remember Family Guy's writers complained that they had trouble developing Meg because they couldn't get into the head of a teenage girl.

To me, the obvious solution to these types of character problems is to put more women on the writing and production staff. In fact, any show or film that's intended to have strong, well-developed female lead characters should have women involved in the writing and production process. I think we can all agree that, as a rule of thumb, women understand other women better than men understand women, so women could help develop female characters in a believable direction.

For instance, say what you will about the quality of Voyager, but the show, in my opinion, has some of the strongest female characters in all of SF television. Many of my friends (especially female ones) frequently list this series as their favorite of the Treks precisely for that reason. Why are Voyager's female characters so strong? My theory is that it's because Jeri Taylor was one of the executive producers and head of the writing staff for the first four seasons. (By the same token, I can't help but notice that Troi moved into a standard Starfleet uniform and Crusher started commanding bridge watches after Taylor joined the production staff for TNG.)

So why don't more TV shows and films have women on their writing and production staff? Is there still a "good old boy" mentality in Hollywood that's making the field less accessible to women? Are fewer women then men aspiring to be executive producers and scriptwriters? Or are there other reasons that I'm overlooking entirely? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Well, if Jane Espenson is representative of what women can bring to TV in the writing and producing roles, they can stay far, far away from the industry as far as I'm concerned.

I kid, though. I really don't know what it is that keeps women marginalized on the business side of Hollywood. It probably does have a lot to do with networking, and if the main network is made up of "good ol' boys," as you say, well, there's your explanation.

Women do seem to be more involved with the production of dramas, sitcoms, and soaps than genre shows. That is probably more of a demographic appeal thing, though. Many of the conventions of sci-fi and genre shows are designed specifically to appeal to young men, so it's understandable that it wouldn't tend to attract women to work behind the camera.

 

[The Wormhole]

SG1's Amanda Carter

I think you mean Samantha Carter, played by Amanda Tapping.

By the same token, I can't help but notice that Troi moved into a standard Starfleet uniform and Crusher started commanding bridge watches after Taylor joined the production staff for TNG.

Dr. Crusher should never have been in command of the bridge, since that's not what medical officers do.

 

[Christopher]

There are actually a lot more women on TV writing staffs than there used to be. There's Jane Espenson and Marti Noxon in the Whedonverse; Toni Graphia of Galactica and The Sarah Connor Chronicles; Natalie Chaidez of TSCC, Heroes, and V; Angela Russo-Otstot and Christine Roum, also of V; Nora Kay Foster, also of Heroes; House's Liz Friedman and Doris Egan; FlashForward's Dawn Prestwich, Nicole Yorkin and Lisa Zwerling; Fringe's Felicia D. Henderson; Castle's Moira Kirland and Terri Miller; Smallville's Kelly Souders, Holly Henderson, and Anne Cofell Saunders; Eureka's Thania St. John and Constance M. Burge; Joan Binder Weiss of Eureka and White Collar; Dana Baratta of Warehouse 13; etc.

And that's not counting numerous non-writing female execs include Katie Jacobs (House), Jessica Borsiczky and Cathy M. Frank (FlashForward), Tanya M. Swerling, Alison Schapker, and Tamara Isaac (Fringe), and dozens more.

In short, the only current live-action US show I watch that doesn't have women in its writing staff is Stargate Universe, and I don't find any current live-action US shows I watch that don't have any female producers at all. And note that most of what I watch is genre-oriented, so the claim that genre shows are still a boys' club isn't really valid. So I don't think there's that much of a problem anymore. TV shows without women on their production and writing staffs are actually pretty rare these days. There isn't complete parity yet, true, but there are dozens of female writer-producers out there now, many of whom have become pretty prominent and many more who are on the rise.

 

[Andonagio]

Women do seem to be more involved with the production of dramas, sitcoms, and soaps than genre shows. That is probably more of a demographic appeal thing, though. Many of the conventions of sci-fi and genre shows are designed specifically to appeal to young men, so it's understandable that it wouldn't tend to attract women to work behind the camera.

Which is odd. For SF television shows, at least, the majority of fans are often women, even though the genre has a tradition of trying to appeal to men.

I think you mean Samantha Carter, played by Amanda Tapping.

Yeah, I had a senior moment there. Thanks. It's fixed in the original post.

 

[Andonagio]

In short, the only current US show I watch that doesn't have women in its writing staff is Stargate Universe

That might explain why SGU's been so heavily criticized for its lackluster female characters. The other shows that you mentioned, by contrast, tend to have fewer such criticisms.

 

[Christopher]

Actually I think SGU's really ramped up the writing of its female characters in the second half-season.

I also don't agree with the assumption that only women can write women well. Sure, it's good to have both men and women on the writing staff for the different perspectives they can offer on all the characters, but a capable writer should be able to get into the heads of people who are different from oneself if one simply does the research and pays attention. Not every male writer manages to write women well, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.

 

[Andonagio]

I also don't agree with the assumption that only women can write women well. Sure, it's good to have both men and women on the writing staff for the different perspectives they can offer on all the characters, but a capable writer should be able to get into the heads of people who are different from oneself if one simply does the research and pays attention. Not every male writer manages to write women well, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.

I agree that there are plenty of examples throughout history of men writing strong, believable female characters, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise. My point was simply that when an all-male writing staff finds itself struggling with its female characters (ex. SGU), then the first solution to try should be to bring some women on board. I didn't understand why some shows that have this problem (again, SGU) don't try this solution.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I don't think you necessarily have to bring women onto the writing staff. Don't any of these guys have wives? It wouldn't kill them to run ideas past the SO.

 

[Hermiod]

There are plenty of female writers, they just don't work on shows guys watch.

 

[Christopher]

There are plenty of female writers, they just don't work on shows guys watch.

I think the list of female writer-producers I provided above definitively disproves that assumption, since the vast majority of the shows I listed are genre shows, which tend to skew male. Maybe what you say was generally true a decade ago, but the hard evidence shows it isn't the case any longer. Conventional wisdom should always be checked against hard data.

 

[Andonagio]

the vast majority of the shows I listed are genre shows, which tend to skew male.

Really? I go to school with a lot of cultural studies folks who tell me SF television tends to skew female, especially these days, but a lot of networks still think that most SF audiences are male. If this is true, it's just one more reason why women should be involved in SF TV and film writing, and I'm glad to see that more and more SF shows have women on their staff.

 

[Andonagio]

I don't think you necessarily have to bring women onto the writing staff. Don't any of these guys have wives? It wouldn't kill them to run ideas past the SO.

Great idea in theory, but I wonder how many of these writers sign NDAs that prohibit them from talking about forthcoming shows with anybody outside of the studio.

 

[SiorX]

Conventional wisdom should always be checked against hard data.

On which apt note, here are a few links. Women&Hollywood has a stats on women creators in various roles in movies here.

And San Diego State University has a (binary) breakdown for gender of creators in prime time drama, sit-coms, and reality TV [url="http://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/2008-09_Boxed_in_Summary.pdf]here[/url]. Their latest data is for '08/'09, but they have a graph showing trends.

Here's some copypasta of the main percentages for those who don't wanna click:

This info-dump has been brought to you by a spate of procrastination, and a can of Diet Coke.

 

[Christopher]

Good graph. So it seems women are making substantial headway as writers and producers (about one in three), a bit less so as execs and creators (not quite one in four), though still with plenty of room for improvement. Conversely, directing is still overwhelmingly male-dominated.

Andonagio, that's interesting about SF shows' audiences tending to skew female. I find that rather heartening. Still, if the networks think they're male-skewing, then that would affect their hiring choices, wouldn't it? So that suggests they don't have a problem including women on shows that they believe to be male-oriented. Or something.

So in that case, what are these alleged "shows guys watch?" Maybe that's another unexamined assumption that needs to be examined. Are there really any fiction shows in the US with overwhelmingly male viewership, and are those shows staffed exclusively by male writer-producers? That assertion -- or that pair of nested assertions -- warrants testing.

 

[Hermiod]

I stand corrected on my earlier comment. Thanks for the info.

 

[Goliath]

Are there really any fiction shows in the US with overwhelmingly male viewership, and are those shows staffed exclusively by male writer-producers? That assertion -- or that pair of nested assertions -- warrants testing.

Well, for what it's worth, I can offer my own experience as anecdotal evidence.

I very rarely watch F & SF TV any more. When I do watch television dramas, they're usually crime shows.

When I look at the shows I do watch--e.g. The Shield (RIP), Dexter, Breaking Bad, etc.--the most obvious common thread seems to be a strong male central character who lives a double life--law-abiding citizen by day, criminal by night.

These shows might appeal to me because they represent a vicarious escape from my humdrum academic existence, or they might reflect my own...er...

Perhaps I've said too much.

Anyway, my first impulse would be to check the viewership and staff for such programs, and see how they skew.

 

[Christopher]

On the other hand, there are crime dramas with female leads, such as The Closer and In Plain Sight.

 

[Andonagio]

Andonagio, that's interesting about SF shows' audiences tending to skew female. I find that rather heartening. Still, if the networks think they're male-skewing, then that would affect their hiring choices, wouldn't it? So that suggests they don't have a problem including women on shows that they believe to be male-oriented. Or something.

And SiorX's data further seems to suggest that women, while still in the minority, are becoming increasingly involved in film production. (Side note: I wonder why there are fewer female directors than other areas of production?) So maybe Hollywood's more open to the idea of hiring women than they used to be, even for "men's" shows, which is good to see.

Another area of prime-time television that interests me--tangential to SF--is the animated comedy. Does anybody know if any women write for or produce The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, Futurama, American Dad or other such shows?

 

[Broccoli]

^ I believe that The Simpsons and Futurama had a couple of female directors in the past. And Al Gore's daughter, Kristin, was a writer for Futurama as well.