Female directors really do need to support each other. Too many times I've been led to believe that my direct competition was other women, as if there can be only a handful of successful female filmmakers a year. That conversation, that perception, needs to change. Women are the people who have helped me make films I love, and I want to be that kind of strength to other women.
Most people view female directors as female only, that we only deal with women's issues and women characters. Although most of my films have dealt with women, I do have work that deals with other matters, and I'm always open to different stories regardless of gender.
I think women should support each other's work, encourage each other's work, help develop each other's voices and I think, ultimately, when we can stop having the conversation about 'women filmmakers', and just talk about 'filmmakers', then we'll know we've really gotten somewhere.
I want to support other women because of the opportunities I've had - and I've had a lot of opportunities. What I try as a female director is to do the best job I can and, in the meantime, bring attention to as many other female directors and writers as I can.
There are all kinds of ways in which women, together, change the world. And I don't mean that in a cheesy way. I'm not somebody who believes all women should support each other. I believe very strongly in women critiquing each other, just not critiquing each other more intensely because they're women.
I don't really consider myself a female director, and I don't want to do so for other women. Female directors are just directors.
I'm ambitious but I'm not particularly competitive. I'll try to get roles, as I think it's healthy to go for things, but... I think there's too much competition between women already. It's important to have female solidarity and support each other and other actresses.
As we women know, there are so many other hurdles that we have to cross that I would love it if we could stop having the race conversation so that we can get women further on. You know, a female president now that we have an African American president. Maybe we can get an Asian female, a gay person?
Obviously I want to support women, and I believe in women, and I think we should support each other, but we shouldn't go into extremes. Some women can get very aggressive towards men, but we need men and love men, so keeping the right balance is the most important thing.
If we're by ourselves we come to feel crazy and alone. We need to make alternate families of small groups of women who support each other, talk to each other regularly, can speak their truths and their experiences and find they're not alone in them, that other women have them, too ... It makes such a huge difference.
I think I worked way harder for the female directors than the male ones. There's nothing like women challenging each other to really make you do your best.
We need more female directors, we also need men to step up and identify with female characters and stories about women. We don't want to create a ghetto where women have to do movies about women. To assume stories about women need to be told by a woman isn't necessarily true, just as stories about men don't need a male director.
Women – love each other, support each other, defend each other. It comes at a greater cost to you to attack the women around you than it does to empower them.
My subject has always been women. And I don't want to sound, like, preposterously idealistic, but I would like, in my lifetime, to experience a world where women, all kind of women, can connect and support each other.
Support the female voice in all its forms. Support other female creators and work to make an environment that is inclusive and allows female-led projects to thrive organically.
In the first two projects I've worked on professionally, I've been doing ensemble work with other young women, which I think is pretty cool. And they both were directed by and written by women. It's been a wonderful experience of real ensemble support and women lifting each other up, and I feel really lucky for that.
Too many times women try to be competitive with each other. We should help support each other, rather than try to be better than each other.