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About WIF

WIF advocates for and advances the careers of women working in the screen industries—to achieve parity and transform culture.

Founded in 1973 as Women In Film Los Angeles, WIF advocates for and advances the careers of women working in the screen industries—in front of and behind the camera, across all levels of experience—to achieve parity and transform culture.

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We work to change culture through our distinguished programs, including mentoring, speaker and screening series, a production training program, writing labs, film finishing funds, legal aid, and an annual financing intensive. WIF advocates for gender parity through research, education, and media campaigns. And, we build a community centered around these goals, anchored by our signature events, including the WIF Annual Gala and Female Oscar Nominees Party, along with programs honoring the achievements of women in Hollywood, like the Legacy Series. Membership is open to all screen industry professionals.

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Download the 2019 WIF Annual Report

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PROGRAMS

CAREER ACCELERATION

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New! WIF Fellowships

Starting in 2023, participants in WIF career programs will be WIF Fellows—this means that in all discipline-specific programs, participants will receive a year of support through mentoring and networking. Our existing mentoring program is also being folded into this fellowship model.

Thanks to Netflix for their support of the Director and DP Fellowships.

Financing Intensive

Historically the WIF and Sundance Institute Financing Intensive, this two-day workshop equips filmmaking teams with financing strategies advised by industry executives, and introduces them to leading financiers.

WIF | The Black List Writing Labs

The Episodic Lab and Feature Residency are offered to promising non-professional television and film writers to hone their projects through workshops and master classes.

The Writing Labs are generously supported by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and ShivHans Pictures.

COMMUNITY BUILDING

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Black Member Forum

When we first established the Black Member Forum in summer 2020, our country was rocked by righteous protests against ongoing establishment violence against Black people. What emerged from our first town hall-style virtual discussion and subsequent gatherings was a deeper understanding of what BIPOC in our community need from WIF as an organization. By offering events for Black members only, to support our Black members’ wellness and professional development, we aim to take action against white supremacy in our industry and culture.

Help Line Support Spaces

Over a year into a pandemic, amidst ongoing social crises and trauma, many of us continue to struggle with profound changes in our lives. Our new Support Spaces, created and facilitated by the WIF Help Line, are 8-week virtual support groups for WIF members grappling with difficult issues, with a special focus on the impacts on women working in the screen industries.

Member Shorts Night

This presentation of short films created by WIF members is an annual celebration of the talent within our community, and you won’t want to miss it! The selected shorts’ filmmakers will participate in a panel discussion and Q&A following the showcase.

WIF Honors

The WIF Honors are a celebration of community, advocacy, and entrepreneurship. We honor women in front of and behind the camera who have made bold choices and broken new ground to advance gender equality across the screen industries.

CHANGING CULTURE

ReFrame

Founded and led by WIF and Sundance Institute, ReFrame is an initiative that employs a unique strategy, a peer-to-peer approach, in which ReFrame Ambassadors engage with senior industry decision-makers at over 50 Partner Companies to implement ReFrame programs. The initiative’s goals are to provide research, support, and a practical framework that can be used by Partner companies to mitigate bias during the creative decision-making and hiring process, celebrate successes, and measure progress toward a more gender-representative industry on all levels.

Hire Her Back

COVID-19 is both a public health pandemic and a socioeconomic crisis; data from past crises show that women and people of color are impacted disproportionately in such situations. They tend to be laid off first and hired back last—and often at a salary level lower than their previous earnings (and lower than their male counterparts). We are committed to preempting this potential outcome by forgoing our Annual Gala in 2020 in favor of raising awareness for industry-wide action with the Hire Her Back social media campaign, and a fundraiser to support grants for women whose livelihoods in the screen industries have been adversely affected by COVID-19.

Help Line

The WIF Help Line is an integrated program offering resources and support—including referrals to pro bono legal services, sliding-scale therapy, and free support groups—for anyone who has experienced sexual harassment or misconduct while working in the entertainment industry. Our trauma-informed staff responders take calls from across the country. Pro bono attorneys are available for callers in California, New York, and Georgia. Local mental health and emotional support services currently serve the cities of Los Angeles, New York City, and Atlanta.

Call 855-WIF-LINE

Research

Since 2013, we have partnered with top academic institutions, Pepperdine University and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, to commission and conduct research into the key obstacles to gender parity in the screen industries. This work has led to the foundation of ReFrame and been part of the foundation of an ACLU action to expose and combat gender discrimination. Our latest project, Entrepreneurial Pathways, will encompass research into the paucity of funding for female-led companies, and create tools and resources for women to raise capital.

Think Tank for Inclusion & Equity (TTIE)

TTIE is a consortium of working TV writers spanning experience levels and backgrounds and working across various segments of the television industry. TTIE is committed to increasing inclusion and improving working conditions for all writers, in particular those from diverse backgrounds.

#PayUpHollywood

#PayUpHollywood is a grassroots movement that advocates for fair pay, safe workplaces and better treatment for all support staffers and assistants in the entertainment industry. Started by former Hollywood assistants, #PayUpHollywood evolved from an online rallying cry into widespread movement that played a crucial role in increasing pay and improving workplace benefits and treatment for hundreds of support staffers. In 2022, #PayUpHollywood became a collaborate project of WIF.

#VoteForWomen

Gender equality and diversity do not just happen. Without deep systemic change in the industry and a real commitment to equity in film finance, distribution, and marketing, the bleak trend of women’s work being snubbed for awards recognition—which can dramatically impact career prospects—will continue. This campaign highlights the hundreds of women contenders each year who should be in the conversation for awards.