Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1055354
EDITORS' ROUNDTABLE www.postmagazine.com 26 POST NOVEMBER 2018 they want to work on beauty or 'feminine' brands. However, I'm lucky to have clients who stand behind my innate storytelling abilities and drive to work across all subjects." RB: "I was lucky enough to start editing within a company that truly didn't see 'gender.' No one would have guessed I was a woman looking at my reel back then, and I didn't have to be anything other than myself. Over the years, I've interviewed at companies where I've gotten the feeling — or was told explicitly — that they were looking for a female editor just to round out the roster. (Not at my current gig.) Sounds like a worthy effort to be inclusive, but often the idea was to attract a certain kind of work: hire a woman to work on brands that appeal to women. Of course, we know what that means — beauty, feminine hygiene, breakfast cereals. Not so many beer or car ads. And being female is sometimes treated as a belit- tling novelty. Too many times I've had to endure the implicit 'you go girl' fist pump given to an all female creative team. Don't get me wrong, I love working with creative teams who share my gender, but I have great rapports with men, too. And women can be 'dicks' just as easily as men. We are all in fact, people, with more similarities between the genders and a lot of variation within the genders." Is it still harder for women to advance in the media and entertainment industry? Why? And why are we still having these same conversations that we were having years ago? KH: "I think that the film business is a business of relationships and as long as the majority of people in power are men then these men will more often than not hire other men with whom they've worked or are comfortable. There has been a huge effort in the past 12 months to hire more women as depart- ment heads in every category. I may even go as far as to say that it has been mandated, so this is a very good time to be a woman in film. Traditionally, it has been thought that women were hirable for more character driven dramas and men for action and rowdy comedy, but I can see this stereotype being overturned. I'm optimistic. What we still need to solve is the pay differential!" DS: "The fact that people are interested in my view or experience is a breakthrough. But, I think the real results of all the conversations and ini- tiatives remains to be seen. While initiatives have helped women editors gain exposure, it can be counter productive if we are then tokenized and brought onto projects merely because it's now trendy to work with women." RB: "Yes, I think it's still harder for women to advance. It is a bit daunting when I look around and still see a lot more male editors — and mixers and directors. As I mentioned before, having kids takes a toll because the hours can be long and unpredictable, so women are more likely to drop out of the pool just as they're hitting their creative stride. "I'd be curious to see the statistics on female editors and their marital/child status. My guess would be that they are more likely to not have families. Perhaps the same applies to male editors. "The fact that some people are more comfort- able with their own gender may have something to do with it. (Back before 'me too,' I heard of a male creative who said if he didn't feel comfort- able using the word 'pussy' in the back of the edit room, he didn't want to work there.) Maybe he won't say it out loud now, (though it didn't stop our President) but that locker room attitude still exists. The salesmanship needed — taking clients out, etc., often based on friendship — makes it more likely for editors to 'buddy up' with cre- atives of the same age and gender, and I still think that the more prestigious jobs go to the male creative teams. "The fact that editing is now so related to 'technology' and the stereotype of women being less technical still persists. Interestingly, there were more women editors in the early film days when it was considered more meticulous work, along the lines of sewing I guess." What can the industry/community do to help more women advance in the post industry and in the M&E market? KH: "Hire more women!" DS: "I think the best thing the industry can do is treat us as equals. We don't want to be con- stantly qualified as women editors the same way you wouldn't point out that a male editor is, in fact, male. Look at our work and see the poten- tial. As editors, male or female, we often lose the opportunity to work on a project if a similar style is not directly reflected on our reel. But that work will never be reflected until someone gives us the first opportunity. So I think the key is to believe in talent, not because of gender but in spite of it." RB: "I don't think it can be mandated from the top down. I think we're at the mercy of people's attitudes. When we get to the point where we're no longer 'profiling' creatives based on gender — dudes do beer, women do tampons — we may make some headway. I think some good old-fash- ioned societal pressure to 'diversify' behind the camera, as much as seems to be happening in front of it, may help. As forced as it is, sometimes we just have to learn stuff by rote. "I also think having more women in Hollywood and television who appeal across genders — Shonda Rhimes, Kate McKinnon, Tina Fay, Charlize Theron — help open up the expectations for women across the board. And, maybe chang- ing the attitudes around the work/personal life boundaries could help. There still is an attitude of 'the job comes first,' so if you have to bail at 8pm to get home to the family, that's a liability." Burchill has done work for Trojan and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.