Support NeoGAF

[SpaceWolf]

I found this article pretty informative, if incredibly depressing. From The Hollywood Reporter.

The accounts of Harvey Weinstein's predatory moves on A-list actresses have generated headlines. But for the growing number of women who work on film and TV shows in a so-called "below-the-line" capacity — on camera and sound crews, in editorial and music departments — such harassment is all too familiar and widespread. And little is being done to stop it.

At a time when women finally are making strides in crafts areas that traditionally have been dominated by men, there is fear that to report an incident is to risk not only losing a job, but also to be branded a troublemaker and lose a foothold in the close-knit industry. "We don't have the power that Rose McGowan or Angelina Jolie has," says one female below-the-liner, and others agree that it is a lot easier for a production to replace a woman on the crew than it is to lose a bankable actor or director. Says filmmaker Rosa Costanza, "Successful women are taking the same jobs as men, and the idea we are competing for [what were traditionally] men's jobs is very real still. Some guys want to knock us off of our game."

Of the more than two dozen crafts women surveyed by THR, virtually all reported verbal and/or sexual harassment in the workplace. More than half said they have been harassed by a director. Nearly half said they were harassed by an actor. And most also described widespread harassment by department heads and/or fellow crewmembers. But almost all of them declined to be named, since, several said, the system doesn't support that.

To protect themselves, multiple women confessed that they attempt to cover up and look unattractive on set. "A lot of women try to be androgynous. No makeup, jeans, a baseball cap," admits one. Why do incidents go unreported? Says one woman who experienced harassment, "I was told, 'Don't report it. It will ruin your career.' Any male producer will think, 'She is a liability and we can't hire her.' It's the reason no one below the line is coming forward."

More at the link.

 

[Volimar]

It's terrible, and they can't even count on the support that famous men and women can count on now that this is in the spotlight. I hope they get some attention paid to their issues while this is still on the fire.

 

[Lightning_Roller]

That's just sad. No respect at all.

 

[Extra Sauce]

Even though it feels like advancement is being made with the current wave of revelations, there's still such a long way to go.

 

[Permanently A]

Hollywood is a top to bottom cesspit.

 

[Kill3r7]

Sounds like Hollywood in a nutshell.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Another woman offers, "I've been on a couple of shows where the entire crew was required to sit through a one-hour course on harassment with a quiz at the end. On one of those shows, I had a supervisor physically assault me on the very same day and within hours after having attended the course. I decided not to complain to HR because of my previous negative experiences."

Ugh.

 

[Albino_Yeti]

What female would even want to work in Hollywood anymore after hearing all of this.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Infuriating

 

[hodayathink]

Honestly, this sounds like most of the rest of the working world. As in, this sounds basically like what it seems to be like for any profession that doesn't come with fame, except that it seems word travels faster in Hollywood production circles than in business ones.

 

[lenovox1]

What female would even want to work in Hollywood anymore after hearing all of this.

Women have to deal with this in nearly every industry.

 

[FrontalMonk]

Hollywood is a top to bottom cesspit.

Sounds like Hollywood in a nutshell.

While this isn't a good look for Hollywood, I don't think it's constrained just to that industry/place.

Women have to deal with this in nearly every industry.

Yeah, this isn't some sick disease unique to Hollywood.

 

[RDreamer]

What female would even want to work in Hollywood anymore after hearing all of this.

Probably ones that realize this is literally everywhere and they can't escape it by avoiding Hollywood.

Almost every woman you know has been sexually harassed or assaulted at some point in her life. A lot of that comes at work.

 

[M52B28]

I was first informed of this in an episode of Master of None where a character kept harassing a make up artist that worked the set.

 

[ClosingADoor]

More than half said they have been harassed by a director.

Seems these guys are spending more time harassing women on set then actually directing movies. Depressing stuff. And it is pretty much normal in all work places. I hope we do get some changes over time with it.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Yes, it's in every industry or so, but it honestly seems worse in Hollywood, specifically because that industry is already pretty hard to get into to begin with, making victims even more reluctant to come forward, and is a very tightly knit group that protects each others, now matter how predatory.

 

[diaspora]

Wasn't there a whole thing in Master of None season 2 about this?

 

[Ratrat]

Industries with lots of young people like movies, music, modeling and sports are the worst when it comes to abuse.

 

[sturmdogg]

There is something inherently wrong, corrupt and rotten in Hollywood. Wasn't child abuse the big issue a couple years ago?

 

[RedHill]

Please stop pegging this as a Hollywood specific problem. This is in every industry. The difference is that people in those industries don't have millions of Twitter followers to hear their story