Women successful, yet sidelined in film writing and directing.

A new study for the BFI finds that UK independent films were more likely to be profitable if they had women in key backstage roles, yet the gender is still under-represented

• Datablog: How well are women represented in the UK independent film industry?

Employing women in writing and directing roles makes business sense, yet is still relatively rare, suggests a new study by the BFI. The report, Succes de plume? Female Screenwriters and Directors of UK Films 2010-2012, indicates 30% of the most successful and profitable independent British films of the period had a female screenwriter and/or director.

The disproportion comes from a comparison of the percentage of female directors (11%) and writers (16%) of all UK indies in that period with the equivalent stats for the top 20 films at the box office. Of these, 18% had a female director and 37% a female writer.

With thanks to Catherine Shoard (The Guardian)

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/26/female-writers-directors-film-bfi