Women in Film is going behind the scenes to recognize 10 behind-the-camera talents with its annual Crystal + Lucy Awards.
Eight female producers, an agent and a director accepted prizes alongside actresses Taraji P. Henson and Natalie Dormer at a dinner ceremony Wednesday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. All called for gender parity in Hollywood and sisterhood among women working in the industry.
“We’re all we got, ladies,” a spirited Henson said as she claimed the award for excellence in television. “We’re fighting for what we deserve.”
Women in Film helped fund studies that inspired the American Civil Liberties Union to demand federal inquiry last year into whether discrimination is to blame for the dearth of female directors in Hollywood. Research shows women have represented around four percent of directors of top films for the past 15 years. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is now investigating.
Agent Hylda Queally, “Homeland” director Lesli Linka Glatter and the producers behind such films as “Interstellar,” “Juno,” and the “X-Men” franchise discussed the challenges they faced as women and mothers in male-dominated Hollywood.
Queally, who accepted her award from longtime client Cate Blanchett, said she used to lie and say she was having car trouble rather than admit she needed time to attend her child’s school performance.
Producer Lucy Fisher said that when she realized “The Fugitive” premiere was scheduled for the same night as her daughter’s kindergarten sleepover, Fisher called star Harrison Ford and asked him to say he was unavailable so the premiere would have to be rescheduled.

Source ; Arab News