I’ve been working as a videographer for about 4 years now…I also happen to be a woman! Although I would never want my gender to define me and my job, it would be wrong to say it hasn’t had a part to play in some of my experiences over the years, both good and bad.
The cons…that’s right we’re starting off with a good old feminine whine and moan (I promise I’ll stop being sarcastic in a second). But on a real note, I feel lucky to have not come up against many issues in my work because of my gender but that doesn’t mean I haven’t come across any. The most common experience I’ve had is when the client, or anyone in the room, only addresses my male counterpart and in some cases won’t even introduce themselves or look at me. The next thing is that I’m often the only woman in the room or in a crew and getting your voice heard in that situation can be pretty difficult. And the last common happening is that some men just looove to offer unsolicited advice, even if they’ve never picked up a camera before.
Okay, done with the rant.There are so many positives about being a female video producer that I’ve learned and experienced first hand. One of my favourite things is when the client is also a woman. There’s an unwritten level of comfort and confidence, some sort of unspoken empowerment of each other. We’re both benefiting each other here and creating great work and not a single man is involved (maybe it’s not that deep…but it is to me). Social media is a great place for finding a community of female creatives, over the years I’ve discovered and connected with so many talented women over social media and in real life and it’s amazing to see, and be able to support such amazing female talent from all over the world and be inspired by them daily. I also love being a role model for the younger generation, especially when I’m on camera or doing something more technical, I’d love for a young girl to look at me and think “If she’s able to do it, then I want to try too”. I remember the first time I saw a female photographer in the pit at a gig and thinking ‘I want that to be me!’ and here I am 10 years later!
If I’ve learned anything in this industry, it’s that just because a man has more confidence than you, it doesn’t mean you’re not as good as them and it certainly doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be there – and that goes for any industry.
Like most fields, filmmaking and media have been male led industries and women have had to work harder to get their foot in the door and shout louder than men just to be noticed, but that’s changing, the creative minds of women are being championed more and more while the accessibility of the industry is pulling in more women than ever. There are great schemes and grants popping up everywhere for female/non-binary creatives and right now there’s some incredible female filmmakers from Greta Gerwig all the way to small creators like Sierra Holloway – We love to see it!
I think signing off with my motto is a good way to end.
“Do it with the confidence of a very average man”
