March 8, 2024
In a new edition of Making Off, CinemaChile has again highlighted the role of women in the audiovisual. A study published for the second time on March 8, a day to commemorate, reflect on and leave a historical record, about the changes that have occurred in the Chilean audiovisual sector and also internationally.
According to the new edition of this study, 310 Female Chilean professionals have worked in different areas of film and television fulfilling roles such as: Producers, Writers, Production Designers, Editors, Cinematographers, Animation Directors and Sound Artists.
This figure is considerably higher than the study carried out during 2023, where only 171 professionals were part of the different productions released in both catalogs.
On such an important day, where the streets are tinged with purple and green, CinemaChile wants to make visible the Women of the Chilean Audiovisual who leave their mark, not only in the most visible areas, but especially, in the technical part of national productions.
A Chilean audiovisual industry that grows day by day and has been the reason for positive changes, new networking opportunities and important international recognition, such as the 309 international awards obtained by the Chilean industry in 2023, where 105 of these awards correspond to works directed by Chilean directors.
The professionals whose faces are not visible, but were there, also have a great impact on this huge list.
A total of 198 Chilean professionals worked in the different technical areas of the International Film Catalog and who also sometimes perform more than one role, thus the breakdown.
This figure represents an increase of 62.2% in these same roles versus the 2023 study, which obtained a total of 122 women who worked in the technical area, with a breakdown of: Production Designers (40), Editors (24), Screenwriters (23), Cinematographers (18) Sound Artists (13) and Animation Directors (4). *CinemaChile’s 2023 Film catalog based statistics*
On the other hand, this year’s study shows a high number of women producers who participated in CinemaChile’s Film catalog productions: 102 film producers.
In the 2023-2024 TV catalog, 43 Chilean professionals were included in these creations.
Unlike the numbers shown in the Film Catalog, this one shows a decrease of 28.3% in this area compared to 2023, where the study yielded a total of 60 professionals with the following results: Screenwriters (24), Production Designers (14), Editors (9), Cinematographers (6), Animation Directors (4) and Sound Artists (3). *CinemaChile 2023-2024 TV catalog based statistics*
On the other hand, this year’s study demonstrates the number of female producers who participated in the productions of CinemaChile’s TV 2023-2024 catalog: 32 TV producers.
In total, 310 women worked, as shown in both catalogs, in the production and technical areas. It is important to note that many of them repeat themselves and hold more than one position in the productions they have worked on.
The evaluation of the second edition of the study has also allowed it to be a benchmark to promote changes in the Chilean industry, and to also analyze how these gender gaps occur in large industries such as Hollywood, which during the last year had a great boom of female roles.
Despite the box office success of Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, and Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear, the directors do not have the same opportunities in Hollywood as their male colleagues.
According to the second edition of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative study, delivered by Variety magazine, it revealed that in Hollywood a total of 116 directors were linked to the 100 highest-grossing domestic films of 2023, but only 14 of them, or 12.1% were women.
But that is not all, an important role that is rarely mentioned or recognized in the industry is also that of a distributor, a professional in charge of negotiating with producers and international agencies the use of the audiovisual piece for the viewing of the mass public.
In this area and according to the same USC Annenberg study Universal Pictures hired four female directors, the highest figure among distributors. Lionsgate and Disney followed, hiring three and two female directors, respectively.
In the last 17 years, Universal Pictures has hired a total of 27 women (9.2%) to direct major films. Followed by Warner Bros. (6.6%) Sony Pictures Entertainment (6.3%), Walt Disney Studios (6.1%) and Paramount (1.6%).
Of particular relevance, and following the statistics just presented, is to look at the annual scenario, associations and activities that have been presented in previous years to eliminate gender gaps and promote these professionals nationally and internationally.
During 2023, the importance of spaces where the female gender is highlighted in the audiovisual industry was demonstrated with the first showcase of contemporary Chilean directors in Lisbon, an event organized by CinemaChile, together with the Instituto Cervantes in Lisbon and with the support of the Embassy of Chile in Portugal, which featured 3 feature films and a short film by directors such as Manuela Martelli, Maite Alberdi, Claudia Carreño and Valeria Hofmann with a large public presence in the screenings.
In addition, it is not by chance that this and other showcases of productions where women are part of get important achievements so far in 2024. This was demonstrated by Maite Alberdi with her recent triumph at the Goya Awards, which marked a milestone for the director as the only Chilean woman to win the award.
Finally, in the annual work, also stand out associations such as FIACINE, the federation of academies that works for the promotion of Ibero-American cinema and that has its gender unit, together with CIMA, the Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media, while in Chile the annual work carried out by Nosotras Audiovisuales, an association of women workers in the Chilean audiovisual sector composed of more than 3000 members, stands out.