How Gender has affected my interviewing process...

Throughout all of my interviews, I have taken notice of the fact that there are very few females within the film program. After asking a few questions, I discovered that the few girls in the program are mainly minors of film, not majors. Most of the females in my film classes have many hurdles to jump in order to one day become successful in the film industry, considering there are very few famous females in high positions, such as directors. I conducted a very unique interview with a female film student who actually graduated, but came back to take a few classes to gain more knowledge. She explained to me that getting started in the film industry has been a hard obstacle to overcome because females are usually not looked upon as highly as men in positions of high authority. Her movie choices are heavily dependent on who directed the film, being especially interested in films that have female directors. After the interview I tried to think of famous female directors or cinematographers and I had a very hard time coming up with more than a few.

The male to female ratio of film students is very one-sided compared to the professors within the film program that I had the chance to speak with, which displayed a fairly equal male to female ratio. Almost every professor, at some point in their career, had worked in the film industry and now teach as professors. Although it is hard for females to be successful in the film industry, teaching seems to be welcomed and preferred by both males and females. I have noticed that not only is it easier for a female film major to work as a professor, but it is actually preferred, especially after working in the industry for a few years. Males, on the other hand, have a better chance of cracking into the film industry in a big way; however, male professors I have spoken to also enjoy working with students as much as, if not more than, working hands on in a film or in the heart of the industry. In fact, professors often view teaching as the heart of the industry, because it is in the universities that the greatest directors, cinematographers, and script writers are given their first chance to shine.