Rhiannon Lewis: “Let’s Encourage and Celebrate Women All Year-Around”

For International Women’s Day, I wanted to reflect on being a woman in production. Often looked at by clients, agencies, and many of my mates as 'glamourous', the reality is anything but. Every single woman working in this industry has a story. From an inappropriate comment to being constantly ground down by 'banter', to more scary stories of situations they’ve had to run away from. 

This article is not a rant, or a ‘MeToo’ moment, but I think it’s important to share some of the experiences female crew members have faced, and still face today. I hope to also share ways in which companies can put their best foot firmly forward when it comes to making this industry a truly equal one to work in.

During pre-production, it was often the norm for me to walk into a room filled with men – from creatives to the director. I’d wince as creatives jovially discussed the breast size of models, or as I was, asked to stand in at a casting and get “intimate” with the male models when we were short on female models. I hated it. This is not what I’d gone to film school for…

On set, a mostly male dominated scene, crude comments were always being made. It’s sad that as a woman you came to expect it. But comments weren’t the only things that went down - as one production manager shared with me, “once when working as a PA, I was grabbed on the arm by a DOP and forcibly thrown in anger over their annoyance at another crew member. It made me come out of the industry for six months and I swore neither myself nor anyone I ever worked for or with would be physically abused again. Sadly, this isn't the only time a male crew member has been physical, I can think of a handful of occasions this has happened throughout my career.”

Although things may have moved on, and these stories are now fewer and further between, when talking to the women I work with on set, there’s still a consensus around respect, or lack of it. As one producer shared, “I find with more experienced members of the crew, they can still hold very sexist views and a lack of respect for their female counterparts. It's still all too common.” A prop assistant told me “I have recently worked with a Designer who made me feel very uncomfortable on set. Around others he would comment on my work however when he passed me on his own, he would comment on my appearance which felt completely unnecessary and unprofessional. With him being such a dominant part of the crew, it made it hard to raise any issues.”

The lack of respect is often felt hardest by the 'glam squad' who tend to be the only all-female department on set. One stylist told me, “it feels like lighting, camera department or 'boy jobs' have all the time in the world to tweak and do whatever they need to do which I fully respect. But when it comes to us, it sometimes feels we don’t have that 'tweaking period'; it has to be bang on ASAP.” Another make-up artist shared, “I’ve had some shouty male directors in my time, and some that don’t even speak to you and have just a general lack of respect for my role. They’re getting less frequent, but the issue still remains."

It’s not just the behaviour and culture of sets that women find off putting, but the hours worked – they are incredibly long and unforgiving. One art director shared her worries with me on how she would balance motherhood: “I do think about maternity leave/childcare for when the time comes and I'm just not sure how that could ever work with my job, due to lack of maternity leave allowance or flexibility with young children. There isn’t that support in place for returning mums, so the stress of getting back into work after taking some time off is daunting.”

At The Gate Films, I feel super fortunate to work with men who treat me as an equal. Over the 25 years we’ve been in business, our reputation is that our sets are a positive place to be. Our 'hire no dickheads' rule helps with that, but of course there are times when the hiring of crew is not within our control. Generally, if crew members upset other crew members, they’re not hired again. The men we work with at The Gate are supportive and help lift women up, and that’s what we need across the board in this industry – we need men to be our allies. Men have to step up and call people out. There’s never going to be diversity within crew if women have to come to work and deal with sexist ‘banter’ all day. This is especially true for heads of departments – more women need to be actively hired into technical roles – and when they’re there they need to feel safe and supported.

In terms of childcare, one of the hardest and scariest things for a freelancer to do is take time off for maternity leave. That’s why we provide safe spaces within our studios and sets for women to breast feed, breast pump, or to have a family member on hand to look after a baby. 

When chatting to crew about what else the industry could do, an art director told me – “I have read articles recently about job sharing for designers/set decorators which I think is really interesting and would be a huge step forward. Hopefully, we are working towards an industry that champions women being in the top roles on set and still allowing them the flexibility to have a family/life away from work.”

Having recently been acquired by Tag, we’re so pleased we’re able to continue growing as a business within a company that also upholds the same expectations as our own when it comes to discrimination or harassment in the workplace.

I’ve been doing this job for 19 years, and fortunately a lot has changed over that time. But there’s still much more work to do. Rather than just highlighting the women in this industry for International Women’s Day, we need to encourage and celebrate them all year round.