By Cambri Guest, April 16, 2019<\/p>\n
USC Women of Cinematic Arts held the third annual Feminist Media Festival last Sunday. The select showcase featured eight short films, varying in genre from comedy to horror to romance.\u00a0The film that placed first in the festival was \u201cHardcover<\/a>.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n In \u201cHardcover,\u201d Carrie Austen (Morgan Paupaw) moves to a new neighborhood and joins a book club seeking companionship and community. But she soon discovers the club is nothing like she expected. Writer Gillian Annis, a USC alum, brilliantly challenges expected gender roles by satirically parallelling a book club to fight club.<\/p>\n A far cry from typical wine and gossip centered gatherings, these women use each other to get out their inner frustrations of motherhood and depict a different side of female empowerment.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want the women to be pitted against each other, they\u2019re really just using each other as punching bags,\u201d said Annis.<\/p>\n Inclusivity was a focus in every aspect of the film\u2019s production process. In crafting the members of the club, Annis wrote about their personalities,\u00a0not looks, and utilized a blind casting process. This resulted in a diverse cast of women with a powerhouse skillset.<\/p>\n Annis wanted to create a story that allowed women to play fleshed out roles and made the audience view female relationships in a new light.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be in the industry in a time where it is changing,\u201d Annis said, \u201cbut even better to be one who can facilitate that change.\u201d<\/p>\n Since 2005, WCA has connected alumni and current students through networking, fellowship, and professional development opportunities. In addition to screenings, the Feminist Media Festival consisted of workshops specifically for women in the industry in areas like writing and animation.<\/p>\n Another film screened was\u00a0Kathryn Boyd-Batstone\u2019s drama, \u201cUntitled<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u201d Victoria Ortiz plays a\u00a0nonbinary character who is discriminated and verbally abused in the film for their\u00a0gender identity. Ortiz explained they were immediately captivated by the script and the opportunity to play a character they have yet to see on screen.<\/p>\n Each film screened at the event sparked an honest conversation about feminine roles and helped display the ever-growing presence of women in the film industry.\u00a0 According to the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative<\/a>, 40 of the 100 top films of 2018 featured a female in a lead role; an 8% increase from the previous year.<\/p>\n Despite increased visibility, there is still room to improve acceptance in the industry and beyond.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI knew I wanted to be a part of something like \u201cUntitled\u201d because I\u2019ve been in the situation where you\u2019re walking around and someone calls you a fag or calls you dyke and not in the friendly way,\u201d said Ortiz.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ortiz wants to see even more diverse stories in the media.\u201cThere are so many things I haven\u2019t seen that I want to see,\u201d said Ortiz. \u201cAll it takes is one writer to be like f\u2014 it, I\u2019m gonna write it down and make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n