Announcement: Filmmaker Maria Giese Joins Film Inquiry
Today we would like to announce that Maria Giese and Film Inquiry are joining forces in championing women directors and promoting awareness about the systematic under-representation of women directors in Hollywood. Giese is a unique and important voice in the film industry today, and we are very excited to work with her.
About Maria Giese
Maria Giese, graduate of Wellesley College and UCLA’s Graduate School of Film & Television, is a writer/director. She wrote and directed the British feature film When Saturday Comes starring Sean Bean, and Hunger, a
Giese has received numerous awards including two Golden Cine Eagles, a Kovler Writing Award, a Spotlight Award, First Prize at the American International Film Festival, a Charles Speroni Scholarship, and an MPAA Award of Excellence. She has taught film and TV production at UCLA Extension, and has been writing about the under-representation of women directors in America extensively.
In 2013 and 2014, Giese was elected as the first-ever Directors Guild of America “Women Directors Category Representative,” and was appointed co-chair of the DGA-WSC Proposals Committee providing the first official conduit between female Guild members and the DGA’s National Board in their 80-year history.
Giese has been credited with a “starring role” in bringing Hollywood’s “mistreatment of female directors” to light to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and was the first to bring the issue to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2013. An investigation into discrimination of women directors in Hollywood is now underway, and the EEOC has started interviewing women directors to gain insight into the severity of the issue.
Our Collaboration
Maria Giese on our collaboration:
“I’m so pleased to be working with Film Inquiry. This is an incredibly exciting time for women in film, television and new media. Globally, we are seeing the conversation about gender equity take hold and there has never been so much support from international media outlets and people in governance everywhere. Some countries are making massive shifts toward gender parity in their national media programs. U.S. media is undergoing a Federal investigation of discrimination against women directors that I hope will at last bring an end to the persistent problem.
We now have irrefutable statistical evidence that women directors are mostly shut-out of creating content in Hollywood. We intend to make sure that this time state and Federal agencies enforce Title VII[expand] Title VII is a federal law of the American Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits employers (private or public) from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, national origin and religion.[/expand] in Hollywood. I hope to be able to keep Film Inquiry and its readers up-to-date on the unfolding EEOC investigation, as well as report on Hollywood’s response to the action.”
– Maria Giese
Going forward, you can expect bi-weekly to monthly posts from Giese, published here on Film Inquiry. She will publish whenever something of note happens, and will keep you up to date. Her first article is due for publication next week, and will be of a more introductory nature.
From our side, we will add to her updates with articles containing background information on the topic, interviews with people in the industry, and we will be covering women directors even more than previously. It’s been our mission since the day of our inception to promote diversity– and women– in film, and we feel it’s a great honor that Maria chose to work with us.
If there is anything you, the audience, would like us to write about or have questions, for us or for Maria Giese, please direct your requests to [email protected].
(top photo credit: Danny Liao)
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.
