YouTube’s New Initiative Helps Female Filmmakers Get Their Shot

The Women’s Spaces program has selected six female entertainers and artists from all over the world to serve as “creative directors to mentor emerging filmmakers and participate in their projects.” Artists from the US include special effects makeup artist Alexys Fleming and feminist vlogger/actress/filmmaker Anna Akana. Star YouTubers Michelle Phan and Glozell have already made films.

To help these women-centric films flourish, Spaces has collaborated with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and the United Nations.

“Entertainment today often depicts a society where there are far fewer female characters than male characters, and the characters that are female are often more stereotyped,” said Davis. “By taking this step to empower and represent more female voices on YouTube, I hope that more young girls and women around the world can be inspired to be part of the creative community.”

The videos can be viewed here, and will cover “everything from original scripted content to women’s issues to tributes to female leaders throughout history.”

By Ariel Wodarcyk on March 22, 2016
Ariel is a contributing writer for Helloflo. She is currently studying journalism at the Newhouse School of Syracuse University, and is an intern at Arts Council Napa Valley, a nonprofit arts adovacy agency. Her writing has been feautured on the Arts Council Napa Valley blog, FLURT, Naturma, and in the Napa Valley Register. You can find Ariel’s shameless self-promotion and newsy shares on Twitter.