Actresses that auditioned for Bottom Little Theatre thanked us. "For what?" Trish and I asked. "For not asking us to take our shirts off." Trish and I laughed, but they didn't laugh with us. Instead, they told us that they are asked more often than not to take their shirts off. Which led to another thank you. "Thank you for creating roles for women that aren't just the hot girlfriend, eye candy, or the murder victim."
We've been encouraged by Geena Davis' non-stop campaign for equal opportunities for women on-screen, off-screen and behind the camera. As I indicated in my last post (see below), the main way we've addressed this crisis in arts, especially theater and film, is through humor. In Bottom Little Theatre, the two people with the most influence (Nick Bottom=power and Kelly Buffet=money) are male...and fairly clueless. While BLT pokes fun using these harmless characters, we are also pointing out common obstacles that people--particularly women--in the arts deal with. It is hard enough to make a living in the arts (another main point brought out by the BLT script), but dealing with an uneven playing field is enough to break your spirit. In a recent interview, Hollywood director Martha Coolidge (Valley Girl, Real Genius and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge) told Deadline that there is, "'explosion of female directors coming up' but [she] worries that many of them will be discouraged from joining the ranks of directors because of the widely held belief that there are limited job opportunities waiting for them." We have more to say and many ideas for season 2 of Bottom Little Theatre, but we are at a crossroads. We have five days to make a go of finishing season 1. If you agree that everyone has a valuable contribution to make in the arts, regardless of their gender, help us reach our Kickstarter goal and champion women in the arts! Leave a Reply. |
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