A Female Voice in Film

Let's just say I've been in the industry a long time.

A little back story, I started acting when I was just 19 years old. I came from a Midwest rural background and then to LA to attend USC to major in Theater and Film. I was still at university when I started working professionally in LA. My first major gig was a guest star on a CBS show and this job got me into SAG right way.

I shot on the CBS lot in Studio City, I was bright eyed, naive in a way and I was terrified on that first big job. The studio was freezing, they put me in this tiny dress, I was shivering with nerves, I also had to act in front of a studio audience, the pressure was real. Did I bomb? I did not. My work ethic wouldn't let me.

The cast was amazing. Dennis Farina and Beth Grant were lovely to work with being both Midwesterners themselves. They put me at ease and made me feel welcome. It was a lovely first job and it taught me an important lesson.

No matter the pressure or the nerves. Show up, perform and be polite and grateful.

Why do I tell this little story? Well, I've been on every kind of set in my career. Studio sets with big budgets, small indy sets with no budget and yet there was always a through line. The people in charge were mostly men. I'm not mad about that scenario, I love men. I really do. Most of my friends are men.

I just noticed it.

I also noticed that those female voices, those female stories many weren't being written by women. Whether a play, a tv series or a film. Mostly male writers.

And I could tell in the dialog, I could tell in the scenarios, I could tell that these female stories weren't written by females. I didn't like that.

There was something about it, that felt......I don't know. Wrong.

So about 20 years ago I started to write my own material. I would write and shoot a scene, a short, I'd produce a play, I'd write scenes for my acting class, I started writing screenplays, always coming from the female perspective. From me. And this material rang true for my female friends and audiences. I was finding my voice so to speak and I realized it was a voice that might be worth supporting.

Our industry is changing rapidly now. More and more female producers, directors, writers, etc. It's great to see it. But, I still notice that even though these pieces of content are written by women, they still seem to be mimicking the writing of male voices.

Why is that? Checks and balances. Relying on what has worked in the past and trying to repeat it. Pressure to be more "like the boys". I'm not sure. Maybe it's the fear of doing something different.

What I do know is this. It's okay to stand apart from the crowd and do things differently. It's okay to write in your own style and find your own voice and go about creating that material. Because there is an audience out there for your work.

My god, there are billions of people on this planet and so those statistics are in your favor and hint hint, most of them are women.

If you ever find yourself worried about fitting in, or finding the thing that will make it all work, I have some advice for you.

Don't worry about that. Just go about creating your work. And then going about making that work known. Then go about creating some more work. And make that known. And continue this over and over again.

Life is about the journey. The goal only comes when you go about making things that can be promoted and sold. If you wait around for someone else to give you permission to make that work, the work will never happen and you'll have waited for nothing.

Don't ask for permission. Just create it. The audience will be there because you have so many choices in which to promote your work nowadays.

Trust me.

And here is some more advice for all those female filmmakers and content creators out there. Stop trying to fit in. The world is mostly women, your audience doesn't need you to be like "one of the boys" they need you to be you.

#womeninfilm #ryannliebl #femalefilmmaker #womeninbusiness #movies