Magazine

Spring 2009

Stars Sign Petition

Support grows for campaign for fair treatment

Now Equity Vice President Jean Rogers encourages all members to back the campaign for fair treatment for older performers.

Those wishing to support Equity’s campaign for the equal representation of women in TV, films and drama can now sign an online petitition. Equity Vice President Jean Rogers has urged members to sign and to encourage their friends and family to do the same. This petition is aimed at the general viewing public and will be used in conjunction with the FIA Report on Age, Gender and Performance Employment in Europe (see report below) when the broadcasters are approached about this unacceptable situation.

The petition states: “Over half the viewing public is female, yet in TV drama for every female character, there are two male characters (35.3 per cent female roles to 63.5 per cent male roles). Whilst leading parts are frequently played by male actors over 45, women in this age group start to disappear from our screens. The message this sends to viewers is distorted and distorting. We call on all the major UK television channels to take action to correct this imbalance.”

As we go to print the petition has well over 3000 signatures.

Actress Louise Jameson urged “…everyone, male and female, to join this campaign. Only by unionising, only by putting our collective voices with, for and behind each other, will anything move forward.”

Equity’s Northern Ireland Councillor Maggie Cronin said the campaign was: “most welcome and long overdue. Ageism, combined with sexism, seems to be the last ‘allowable’ prejudice. Let’s hope broadcasters catch up with the groundswell of opinion reflected here and change that culture once and for all.”

Barbara Follet, the Culture Minister, has expressed her support for the Equity campaign. “Just imagine what we would have missed if some of our finest actresses had been overlooked in the way this research suggests is happening today. Just imagine artistic life without performers like Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Vanessa Redgrave,” she said.

And the Culture Minister added: “This is not just about lead roles for world class performers. I want broadcasters, writers and directors to think very carefully about what this report is telling us and to consider what they should do to ensure they capitalise on the depth and richness of talent of our actresses brought about through years of perfecting their craft.”

Amongst those who have already put their name to the petition are: Isla Blair, Simon Callow, Tracey Childs, Charles Dance, Andy de la Tour, Richard Digby Day, Lindsay Duncan, Pam Ferris, Shirley Anne Field, Claire Grogan, Lisa Harrow, Amanda Howard, Louise Jameson, Janet Jefferies, Rula Lenska, Roger Lloyd Pack, Miriam Margolyes, Stella Maris, Richard O’Callaghan, Maxine Peake, Alison Peebles, Tim Pigott-Smith, Rosalind Plowright OBE, Pooky Quesnel, Clive Rowe, Carol Royle, Colin Salmon, David Soul, Imelda Staunton, Rona Topaz, Julie Walters, Arabella Weir, Susan Wooldridge and playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker.

To sign the petition click on this link

OLDER ACTRESSES MISS OUT



New research shows that older actresses work less and earn less than
their male counterparts

Research across 20 European countries conducted by unions representing nearly 80,000 performers has found that actresses have fewer work opportunities and get paid less than men and that this gets worse as actresses get older.

The research has been presented to Culture Minister Barbara Follet MP.

The research, conducted by the International Federation of Actors, found that:

  • men have longer careers as performers than women;

  • women are over-represented in the lowest income group and under-represented in the highest income group;

  • women believe they fair less well than men in the number and variety of roles and pay and are type-cast more often;

  • an overwhelming majority of women see ageing as a disadvantage to them getting work whereas men were evenly split with half seeing it as an advantage and half a disadvantage;

  • men are overwhelmingly positive about the way their gender and age are represented in performing work whereas women are far more negative.


Equity General Secretary Christine Payne commented: “This important piece of research makes clear what many actresses have known for too long – that as they get older it becomes increasingly difficult to sustain a career. Any solution to this must involve writers, directors, producers and, perhaps most importantly, commissioning editors of
the major television companies.”

Equity Vice-President Jean Rogers added: “My own life experience bears out everything this research has found. It cannot be right for the entertainment industry to discard so many talented performers just because they are female and have ‘reached a certain age’.”


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