Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1518296
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 45 are also nominated for the MPSE Awards and some are co-production teams with the United States—some from England, Germany, and other countries but yet— there still is a big gap in gender parity. There is a group in Germany (www. filmtonfrauen.de) which is all about women in sound. I've heard from sound editors in Australia who feel that the path for women in sound is widening. But here in "Hollywood"—where are the women sound editors? Of all the nominations for sound in the 20 categories at the 71st MPSE Awards, there are only two women supervising sound editors! Ai-Ling Lee for Barbie and Leslie Gaston-Bird for the Non-Theatrical Feature Film, Publish or Perish. Kudos on that production as almost all of the sound editors are women. This isn't a bashing of anyone, just an observation about the state of post- production sound and women. To point out inequities oftentimes makes us look like victims and whiny-wieners. That's what repressed minorities point out. "Oh, poor us! No one will give us a chance." In a way, that's true. Many moons ago, my mother (Kay Rose, the first and still the only woman to win an Oscar without any co-supervisors) applied for a job. This was probably in the early '60s. She was told that her qualifications were excellent, her work ethic was stellar, her reputation was well known and highly regarded but that they had to give the job to a man. "After all, he has a family to support." That was their thinking back then. My mom, a divorced woman with a child, said, "What is my daughter? Chopped liver?" I think the FROM THE MPSE OFFICE "Together, role models, networking, and mentorship are very powerful tools to give women the social capital they need to sustain their careers. If she can see it, she can be it!" If a girl doesn't know that a career in post-production is possible, she will find other paths. Post-production sound isn't just a "technical" field—it can also be a creative outlet. We need to get women sound editors into schools for Career Day! What a difference that would make! In looking through all the sound teams' credits, I did notice that there are a lot more women boom operators, production sound mixers, and utility in this year's slate of films. There are a lot of women Foley artists but not many editors or mixers. There are many more higher education facilities that have post-production classes now than when I was an apprentice. But where are the women sound editors? When I was coming up in the business, I had my two young daughters that I was raising after my husband died of cancer in 1984. The girls were 7- and 9-years- old. Post-production was very hard to be in as a mother with two children, or any children, for that matter! The schedules were always demanding—sometimes seven days a week. You had to work long hours or you wouldn't be hired again on the next film. There was a different work ethic then. You had to give your all. I remember one editor who liked to come in early and go home at five o'clock. That didn't work when her reel went up on the dub stage! She kept saying, "But I put in my nine hours!" She didn't stay in the business for long. I know a few women editors and supervisors who never had kids. I don't know if that was a choice or made for them because of our grueling schedules. I retired from editing studio/union features in 2014, so I'm not as familiar as to what women supervisors are still working. There used to be quite a lot of us! I am noticing that every year, I see less and less of them in the credits. I went through the whole sound departments on the 10 short-listed films from The Bake- Off and was very sad to see such a lack of work by women sound editors. A lot of the 10 films in The Bake-Off mentality was that a woman working was for "fun" or that she was bored or working for supplemental income. Unfortunately, that thinking still exists in some peoples' minds. Society didn't see women as being the sole breadwinner in a family or having a career. That was for men. A lot has changed. Or has it? Do we still have the prejudice against women who have careers? Anna Sulley, an editor in the UK, is nominated for an MPSE Award this year for Publish or Perish on which she was the supervising Foley editor. In regard to an online commentator (who believes post sound diversity has vastly improved but more women seem to be more drawn to the role of post-production supervisor), Anna responded, "I don't think women are more drawn to becoming post-production supervisors necessarily. But there's possibly a less-male-dominated path into that. "If things had changed in sound all that much here in the UK," continues Anna, "then we would be able to name at least five women working on the big-budget features, in each of the following roles: re-recording mixer, sound designer, and supervising sound editor. Then we might also see at least a couple of those names on the BAFTA sound nomination list. The hair and makeup nominations had some diversity at least!! (Yup, both women and men are on that list)." Anna Sulley has some other observations. "There definitely seems to be a lot more women starting out in post sound. There's more diversity in audio assistant and junior editor roles than there used to be for sure. That is really great. But I also know a few women that have recently left the industry and others who are about to leave." According to research by Leslie Gaston-Bird (supervising sound editor in the UK), this is known as a "leaky pipeline." Leslie incorporated the term from research in music technology, medicine, and STEM. Another research project by Ky Brooks and Amandine Pras found that even women who are