Please Adjust Your Set is a web site originally developed as part of a research project by the BC Institute of Film Professionals Women’s Initiative. The website is now managed by a committee of independent filmmakers: Eileen Hoeter, Sharon McGowan, Mary Bissell, and Peggy Thompson. This web site offers individuals in the film and television industry as well as professional organizations, associations and agencies a central place to find research data, share information, strategies, successes and challenges around issues and topics that impact women in this industry.

Our Mandate

In 2004, the BC Institute of Film Professionals (BCIFP) agreed to work with Service Canada to do a study of the labour issues surrounding women in the BC film and television industry. The BCIFP Women’s Initiative sub-committee was formed, and is dedicated to working with individuals, industry organizations, unions and the government to solve ongoing issues which plague women in this sector, including work equality, wage parity, discrimination on the job and stereotyping on the screen. Over the last three years, over 3000 volunteer hours and thousands of dollars have been donated to this initiative. The two studies subsequently completed demonstrate what was previously understood only anecdotally; women are underrepresented and under-remunerated in many occupations and facets of the industry.

Activities

The committee has already completed a number of key tasks, including:

• In November 2005, released the report: Women’s Labour Issues in the Film and Television Industry in BC. (click here for report);
• In December 2006, released the report: Women’s Participation in the Independent Sector of the Film and Television Industry in BC. (click here for report);
• In June 2007, the BCIFP received a special award from Women in Film and Television-Vancouver for the research conducted to date;
• In September 2007, created this website, Please Adjust Your Set, as a place to collect this data and articles on the subject;
• In September 2007, released the presentation Women in the Media: Picturing Women in the 21st Century (see our research page);
• In August 2007, completed the “Record and Report” initiative, which consulted with unions, professional associations, broadcasters,

     funding agencies, juried awards groups and others in order to establish commitment and capacity to report statistics on women’s

     participation on an annual basis to the BCIFP. This data will be aggregated and analyzed on an ongoing basis to further encourage
     awareness and promote advocacy strategies;

Committee Members