[VIDEO] Emerging Women in the Industry (INTRO)

I had the pleasure of hosting a roundtable consisting of women who I greatly admire: activists Clara Pasieka (who has starred in Reign, and Maps to the Stars) and Nicole St. Martin (Co-Chair of the Toronto ACTRA Women's Committee), as well as industry members Kristina Esposito (Award-Winning Producer), Nicole Chung (Award-Winning Director), and Connie Wang (Up-and-Coming Youtuber).

The purpose of the roundtable was to come together and break the silence surrounding women in the film and television industry. These ladies were brave enough to share their stories of sexual harassment, discuss representation, and even share unpopular opinions about sexual discrimination. While we didn't all agree with each other, our solidarity and support for each others' voices allowed us to generate conversation that is usually only breached at the top tiers of the industry, by those who are "invincible."

I first got the idea to host this table, when I noticed several posts from writers online, asking how to write female characters, write more feminist films, and be more respectful to the female experience on set. I realized that there was a gap between where the industry is going in the future, and where it is right now; a minority have ideologically comprehended the inequity that exists within our industry, yet are still at a loss for how to address systemic issues. Women coming up in the industry don't know what to expect, or what resources they can access. I wanted these women, and our peers, to know that they are not alone in their experiences. We have all been there. We understand that there is still injustice that needs to be weeded out. And we have ideas about how to do that.

What you don't see in these videos, is the discussion that took place before shooting. We all stared at the camera and thought: am I committing career suicide right now? We spoke about how our loved ones were worried about us, how even we had our own doubts... but we realized that the very fact that we had these feelings, and that we felt so uncomfortable about dropping the W (or, god forbid, F) word was reason enough to motivate us. Looking back on the footage, we are sharing the stories of our lives, our feelings, and our hopes for change; these things should not be scary.

I applaud and admire the bravery of the panelists, and I hope that audiences will take something away from their insight. Male, female, and everyone in-between, let us unite for a more just and equitable industry.

TOPICS THAT WILL BE COVERED:
-Obstacles facing women
-Addressing privilege
-Systemic attempts at gender equity
-Sexual harassment on set
-LGBT Issues (in the industry, and in story-telling)
-Writing female characters
-Women's Issues as portrayed in film and media
-Q&A from online filmmaking community

PANELISTS
CLARA PASIEKA @clarapasieka
KRISTINA ESPOSITO @kristinaespo1
CONNIE WANG @conniewang_
NICOLE ST. MARTIN @nicole_stmartin
NICOLE CHUNG
AMANDA JOY (host) @notamandajoy

NOTE: My location+post audio plan had fallen through when a Perrier bottle exploded all over my computer. In future talks, I will have my condensor mic on hand. But, while the techie in me is wringing my hands, wishing we had better sound, the feminist in me is proud to have been able to record this discussion.