December 16, 2008

Equality Watch: Movie Script Contest

via the folks at Broad Humor

The 2008 Movie Script Contest announced its winners, and out of the 24 finalists, three were women. And of the winners - zip, nada, zero. Out of eight comedy screenplay finalists, the only woman was at the bottom with an honorable mention.

As someone who reads a ton of scripts every year, I can tell you women write great and funny films...In general (with all the pitfalls of generalizations) women structure their comedies differently, both in the relationship of the world to the characters and in the manner of the climactic payoff(s).
I wish it wasn't such a bad thing that women write and structure their work differently. It should be embraced. We are different and our experiences should not be construed as "less than", but different. So many stories are not not being told. Sigh.
Movie Script Contest Announces Winners