Meryl Streep recently funded a writing lab for women over 40, and now Rose Byrne is teaming up with four other Australian women to elevate women’s voices in film. Byrne, along with The Last Impresario director Gracie Otto, theater and opera director Shannon Murphy, emerging producer Jessica Carrera, and actor Krew Boylan, recently formed a new production company, The Dollhouse Collective. “The core aim is to develop theatre, film and television together and tell stories with a strong female presence,” Otto told ScreenDaily. “This formalizes what we are already doing. Sitting around the dinner table we have always been sounding boards for each other.”
Considering that of the top 250 grossing films of 2014, women only made up 23 percent of producers, a production company run entirely by women is a step toward breaking down the gender gap—gulf, rather—that exists in film production. The partners behind The Dollhouse Collective say they are committed to championing women in the industry, and the early stages of the company reflect those goals. The Dollhouse Collective has three feature films—When All In The Water, Serious Red, and Girls In Hotels—in advance development stages. All three will be written and directed by women.
And if you think a production company committed to supporting women isn’t necessary, just take a glance at this depressing new study that shows just how prevalent gender stereotyping still is in the entertainment industry.