YouTube's New Content Program Targets Women Filmmakers

To help shoot the videos, YouTube accommodated set-buildings at their “Spaces” locations in New York, Los Angeles, London, Sao Paulo, Berlin and Tokyo. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

Over the last several months, YouTube invited creators who work both in front of and behind the camera to film at its production facilities around the world to produce videos that spotlight the female perspective…

As a part of the program, YouTube appointed six established creators — including actress and filmmaker Anna Akana and makeup artist Alexys Fleming — as creative directors to mentor emerging filmmakers and participate in their projects.

Among the other YouTube creators who participated were Em Ford and Julia Veiga Faria from Brazil.

The program also involves a partnership with United Nations and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. In a statement, Davis urged the need for “more strong female voices…so that this gender balance becomes normal to the young girls who are turning on their screens.”

Davis adds, “Entertainment today often depicts a society where there are far fewer female characters than male characters, and the characters that are female are often more stereotyped.”