SO Director Corrie Chen’s feature film greenlit by Screen Australia’s Gender Matters Initiative
SO Director Corrie Chen has been named one of a pool of exceptional talent to receive funding from Screen Australia’s ‘Gender Matters Initiative’, a program aimed at addressing the gender imbalance in the Australian film and TV industry.
She has received funding for the development of her drama-comedy feature film ‘Arrivals’ which follows a young Australian woman who travels to a mysterious city in China following the death of her mother to track down her long-absent father, but all she finds is a desolate metropolis with a single inhabitant awaiting the arrival of others.
Women in film have the odds stacked against them, and directors particularly so, with women making up a mere 16% of the directing pool in feature films. (Source: Screen Australia) If we look to commercial film production, it’s not hard to see the same dire trend. Women are few and far between on the rosters – yet they drive up to 80% of all consumer purchases. (Source: Forbes)
SO Productions are determined to turn this around. “Audiences are hungry for diverse stories and at SO we’re committed to providing opportunities for female directors. By the end of 2016, we’ll double our female roster so that half of our directors will be women. It’s an exciting time to be in film in Australia, and we’re confident that brands will jump at the opportunity to work with the formidable talent of our directors,” says SO Productions Executive Director, Andrew Coyle.