[...] Under-Representation of Women in Screenwriting | Go Into The Story. [...]

My laconic response to this article: I thoroughly agree. As a black person who is also a female person, I think for some reason those of us with multi-hyphenate marginalized identities are left out of the conversation. All women are not white. All blacks are not men. We need to see the varied/diverse lenses through which people see the world. One of my biggest contentions with screenwriting competitions such as Nicholl, for example (a competition which we all hold in high regard and one that many of my black and brown, male and female contemporaries have on their radars) is that the judges are not nearly as diverse as they should be. So, no matter how solidly written a script might be, if the content does not resonate with these seemingly homogeneously white and male judges these scripts are being looked over. Anyone who ignores the empathetic aspect of judging, not only in screenwriting competitions but film festivals and the film "gate-keepers" in general is overlooking a major barrier for many promising filmmakers/screenwriters. All this to say, we need to fight for more diverse judging panels that reflect society at large. Thank you for even touching on this because many of your followers are not white and not male.

Nikyatu, I believe you are right: One contributing factor is the composition of the gate-keepers. Hollywood is, in fact, a small community, an insular one. The 405-10-110-101 Bubble. There's an obvious downside. However there is also an upside. That is if something comes along -- a movie, a filmmaker, a screenwriter -- who creates something that creates a buzz, that can change the town's perception almost overnight. We are seeing some incremental change. Diablo Cody wins Best Screenplay Oscar a few years back for Juno. Kathryn Bigelow wins an Oscar for Best Director. Ava Duvernay wins Best Director at Sundance. Tiny breakthroughs, but advances nonetheless. Speaking of Ava Duvernay, I had the great pleasure of interviewing her and will be featuring that on the blog within the next couple of months. Nikyatu, keep believing in yourself. Keep writing from your passion. Oftentimes of all the skill sets a writer has, persistence is the most important. Act on the belief that when you write a great script, Hollywood WILL respond to it. How can you believe that? Because it's a fact. Hollywood cares most about making money. If you write something they think has commercial value, they will want it and by extension you.

Thank you Scott! Incremental change is indeed happening and though I'm impatiently awaiting my breakthrough, your blog certainly has been a vital resource in honing my craft. I also had the great pleasure of speaking with Ava a few times and her candor is so refreshing--looking forward to that interview.

Nikyatu, I can't tell you how much I agree. And that's why I'm trying very hard to make the conversation about intersectionality and *everyone* who is under-represented, not just women. If you'd care to come over and join the conversation at The Black Board I would really appreciate your contribution.

Thank you again Scott for all of your support and contributions to the conversation running at The Black Board. I would love have more GITS Readers involved and I want to make it clear that this isn't just a discussion for "Team Diversity" (I'm on the team so I can say that!)--allies are really, really welcome. Plus, we get into ageism and socio-economic obstacles (not as much as I'd like, but I'm working on it), so the scope of the conversation is broader than you might expect. There really is room for everybody! Thanks again, Shaula