Women in Film gets a turbo boost
General Motors -- a key player in the testosterone-propelled auto industry -- is pledging more than $1 million over a three-year period to Women in Film, a nonprofit group dedicated to nurturing and empowering the entertainment community’s female contingent.
Women in Film, which has 20,000 members worldwide and 3,000 in the Los Angeles area, will use the funds to bolster existing programs.
Those earmarked include preserving films directed by women, taping video histories of female “trailblazers” for posterity, holding an international Women in Film summit in L.A. this fall and funding the completion of movies such as the Oscar-winning documentary about the woman who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, “Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision.”
The grant, which will be formally announced today, will also be used to try to broaden the reach of the organization through creation of a national website, development of a college lecture series and the awarding of scholarships to five emerging Latina filmmakers.
“With women running networks and studios today, the current generation doesn’t realize that the struggle [for equal opportunity] is ongoing,” said Women in Film President Iris Grossman. “This grant puts our efforts on the fast track.”
Today’s announcement is timed to coincide with the Los Angeles Auto Show, which brings to town Gary Cowger, GM group vice president and president of GM North America.
In a statement, Cowger said, “We think the alliance will accelerate the power of creativity among women,” an area in which, he said, his firm has been “actively involved.”
The alliance was the brainchild of Judith James, a producer (“Mr. Holland’s Opus”) who headed a finance committee within the Women in Film organization. A year ago, she read in trade publications that advertisers were questioning whether their sizable TV budgets were connecting them to their target audience.
When a promotional poster at a car dealership showed a mom at the wheel, she said, something inside her went click. In March, she called a colleague who acts as a liaison between major corporations and a number of nonprofits. Two months later, she was told, Cowger was considering the proposition.
“Gary ... indicated that GM is interested in breaking through the cluttered competitive landscape and reaching a diverse audience. That’s our mission as well,” said James, now chairwoman of the Women in Film/GM committee. “If members need a car in a movie, obviously we’d contact them first. But more importantly, the GM name will be credited on every program and scholarship application, raising their profile among women.”
Grossman regards the GM commitment as an acknowledgment of women’s buying power.
“Car companies are finally realizing the clout of the working woman -- someone who takes the kids to school in the car, goes to the job by car, makes movies by car. When I was growing up, my mother always had more to do with what my father was driving than he did. We’ve always made that decision. We just never get the credit.”
The initiative will be celebrated tonight on the Universal Studios lot during a private cocktail party that will include a preview of new GM products such as the HydroGen3 Hummer and Cadillac XLR.
“Originally, this was all a shot in the dark,” James said. “Now that it’s come through, we plan on approaching other industries.”
