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Film Marketing Gender Equality

Hollywood leaders team with Women in Film and Sundance Institute to launch action plan to further gender equality in media

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By Kyle O'Brien, Creative Works Editor

February 23, 2017 | 5 min read

As the Oscars draw closer, many are looking at the diversity and gender equality in the film industry. While strides have been made over the last several years to have more gender equality in film and media, there is always more that can be done on that front. That is why 50 Hollywood leaders and influencers, including studio heads, agency partners, senior network executives, talent and guild representatives brought together by Women In Film and Sundance Institute have launched the non-profit effort ReFrame, a formal action plan to further gender parity in the media industry.

ReFrame

The ReFrame Ambassadors hope to create sustainable gender equity in film

ReFrame's unique strategy for change is a peer-to-peer approach, where ReFrame Ambassador teams engage senior industry decision-makers. All members of the 50-person ReFrame launch team will act as ReFrame Ambassadors and lead meetings with peers, other Hollywood top executives at studios, networks, agencies and independent financing entities to address the issue.

Some of those included as ReFrame Ambassadors are SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris, director Catherine Hardwicke, Macro CEO and founder Charles King, Len Amato, president of HBO Films, actor/producer/author Maria Bello, writer/producer Jenji Kohan and director/producer Paul Feig, among others.

“ReFrame is part of a worldwide movement with considerable momentum to create equal opportunities for women. Disrupting the way the media system works requires an industry-wide solution and Sundance Institute is proud to be part of assembling the remarkable team of Ambassadors who will carry out this groundbreaking, peer-to-peer approach to making change,” said Keri Putnam, executive director of Sundance Institute.

To transform the face of media, ReFrame Ambassadors will introduce programs and collaborative practices designed by the group to address the key points of the media ecosystem.

ReFrame’s three initial offerings are:

  • Culture change toolkit – The toolkit will be tailored to film, TV and media executives and creative teams, with an aim to improve hiring and promotion practices for women of all backgrounds. It will provide resources, best practices and training, including proven examples of successful strategies to change culture in organizations, gender inclusion strategies from entertainment and other industries, and unconscious bias/conscious inclusion resources tailored by expert consultants for the media field.
  • Sponsor/Protégé Program – This is a comprehensive and customized two-year sponsorship program to establish high-level sustainable careers for established, mid-career female directors. The group cited research shows that sponsorship can serve as a highly effective enhancement to accelerate a woman’s career trajectory.
  • ReFrame Stamp – The stamp (of approval) will celebrate studios, networks, agencies and creatives that have demonstrated measurable progress towards parity in front of and behind the camera when developing, producing, financing and marketing their product. It will be publicly awarded to projects based on criteria met and, over time, ReFrame hopes the stamp will emerge as the gold standard for quality programming and the advancement of gender parity in film, television and media.

The initial spark for ReFrame started four years ago, when the Sundance Institute and Women In Film began working together by collecting, analyzing and releasing academic research conducted with the USC Annenberg School reflecting what holds women back from achieving the same success in Hollywood as their male peers. The research uncovered many factors, including: lack of awareness of the problem, lack of access to financial resources for women, misperceptions of the marketplace, unconscious bias towards women and a talent pipeline believed to be too shallow.

Armed with the research, the two organizations met with entertainment industry decision-makers to drill into the systemic causes of gender bias and craft solutions. Next, they built out the initial three programs, hired ReFrame director Alison Emilio, and partnered with Troika, a strategic branding and marketing agency, to bring clarity and vision to the program. Committed to driving change in the media and entertainment industry, Troika provided pro-bono services for the launch of ReFrame, which included positioning, name and logo development and creative expression.

Cathy Schulman, president of Women In Film Los Angeles, said: “The industry’s long-entrenched business practices need to flex and bend to cultivate a marketplace for content that serves diverse audiences. I am so encouraged that leading members of competitive companies have come together as social activists to expand the media landscape which will increase the bottom line across the industry.”

ReFrame is a non-profit effort made possible by support from BMW, The Harnisch Foundation and the Women at Sundance Leadership Council.

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