Maria Giese

Last updated
Maria Giese
Born
United States
Occupation(s) Film director, screenwriter

Maria Giese is an American feature film director and screenwriter. A member of the Directors Guild of America, and an activist for parity for women directors in Hollywood, she writes and lectures about the under-representation of women filmmakers in the United States.

Contents

Early life

She has an associate degree from Bard College at Simon's Rock, [1] a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College and a Masters of Fine Arts in film directing from the University of California, Los Angeles's Graduate School of Film and Technology. [2] While at UCLA, she wrote, directed, and produced the student film A Dry Heat, [3] for which she won a CINE Golden Eagle Award. [4]

Career

Giese wrote and directed the 1996 British film When Saturday Comes , [5] produced by Capitol Films, UK, starring Sean Bean, Pete Postlethwaite, and Emily Lloyd. [6] She also wrote, directed, and co-produced Hunger , based on Knut Hamsun's 1890 existentialist novel of the same title. [7] Hunger was the first digital film made based on a classic work of literature. It starred Joseph Culp and Robert Culp and received two Best Film Awards and a Best Underground Film award. [8]

Giese's other directing work includes the short doc A Lotta Lambada and the short film A Dry Heat, which won a UCLA Spotlight award, a Cine Golden Eagle, and was a finalist for the 1991 Student Academy Awards. [9] She also directed the short film Take Your Seat (aka Jewish Water) which also won a Cine Golden Eagle, and an episode of the TV sitcom Solo En America for Columbia TriStar. She did uncredited rewrites on the 1996 film North Star .[ citation needed ]

She has taught film & TV production at UCLA Extension, [10] lectures regularly, and writes extensively.

Giese is an active member of the Directors Guild of America since 1999 and currently serves as the Women's DGA Director Category Rep. [11]

Giese and her successful activism for women directors in US entertainment media are the subject of three feature documentary films. Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power (2022) directed by Nina Menkes, which had its World Premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and International Premiere at The Berlinale 2022, This Changes Everything (2019), [12] directed by Tom Donahue, starring Geena Davis and Maria Giese, and featuring Meryl Streep, Shonda Rhimes, Natalie Portman, and Reese Witherspoon was released worldwide in 2019 after premiering at Toronto International Film Festival in 2018 .   Half The Picture (2018), [13] directed by Amy Adrion and featuring Giese along with Miranda July and Ava DuVernay, premiered with Giese in attendance at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. [13]

Activism

Giese is an activist for women directors. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America where she is an active member of the Women's Steering Committee [14] and where she served as the inaugural Women Directors Category Representative and the inaugural co-chair of the DGA-WSC Proposals Subcommittee, the first ever conduit between the Women's Steering Committee and the DGA National Board. On this committee, she and co-chair, Melanie Wagor, were able to move proposals for women DGA members into the 2014 DGA-studio collective bargaining negotiations.

She is also a member of the Alliance of Women Directors. [15] She co-founded, and frequently writes for, the advocacy website Women Directors in Hollywood. [16] Her articles have appeared in Ms., [17] Elle, [18] Film Inquiry, [19] and IndieWIRE. [20] Giese herself has recently been profiled in Bloomberg TV, ABC Live, The New York Times , The Los Angeles Times , Forbes , Fortune , and The Hollywood Reporter , among others. Her writings have also appeared in Ms. magazine [21] and Indiewire. [22]

In 2011, Giese turned her attention to the underrepresentation of women directors in United States media. She began researching and writing about viable legal strategies to remediate illegal discrimination against women in Hollywood, citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She "first took her statistics and legal brief to the EEOC but was turned away." In 2013, she took her findings to the ACLU of Southern California, who launched an investigation after months of convincing. [23] Finally, in 2015, after four years of activism in the Directors Guild of America, Giese instigated the biggest industry-wide Federal investigation for women directors in Hollywood history, going on now. [24]

#MeToo Movement

Shortly after the ACLU launched its investigation of Hollywood's job discrimination, the New York Times published its 2017 article "that triggered the Metoo movement", exposing Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault. "'It was explosive,' says Giese, 'and suddenly our industry was throwing millions of dollars into the creation of new inside-industry enforcement organizations like Time's Up, The Hollywood Commission, ReFrame, and many others.'" [25]

Awards

Giese is the recipient of numerous awards including 2016 Equity Award from Stanford University, [26] two Golden Cine Eagles, a Kovler Writing Award, a Spotlight Award, First Prize at the American International Film Festival, a Charles Speroni Scholarship, and an MPAA Award of Excellence.

Additional awards include Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Film Industry for making Brainwashed with Nina Menkes. [27]

Reception

In The New York Times, Manohla Dargis referred to her work as "a veritable crusade." [28] And in 2016, Philadelphia Inquirer writer, Carrie Rickey, wrote, "So allow me to introduce real-life female crusader Maria Giese, whose fact-finding led to the ACLU findings that prompted the current EEOC investigation." [29] According to The Los Angeles Times in October 2016, the EEOC "is now widening its circle of interview subjects to include studio executives, producers, agents, actors and male directors, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly." [30]

In POV Magazine, Maya Gallous described Giese's work as portrayed in This Changes Everything as "...a Herculean effort (scratch that, an Amazonian effort) [...] making the industry accountable for what are, essentially, illegal discriminatory hiring practices." [32] Film Inquiry [31] referred to Giese in This Changes Everything as "the most striking subject [...] Giese sacrificed her directing career for this cause. She essentially banded the women directors together – since there was no change coming from within Hollywood, she decided to take the problem to the federal level. Because of her plea, the ACLU took on the case and has convinced the EEOC (who initially didn't want anything to do with it) to investigate the systemic discrimination in Hollywood." [32]

Personal life

Giese lives in Venice, CA and Stonington, CT with her husband and two children.

Filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Smet</span> French actress (born 1983)

Laura Huguette Smet is a French actress. She is the daughter of rock musician Johnny Hallyday and actress Nathalie Baye. In 1986, Hallyday recorded in her honor the song "Laura", written by Jean-Jacques Goldman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gina Prince-Bythewood</span> American filmmaker (born 1969)

Gina Maria Prince-Bythewood is an American film director and screenwriter. She began her career as a writer for multiple television shows in the 1990s, including the anthology series CBS Schoolbreak Special, for which she was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards. Prince-Bythewood made her feature film directorial debut with Love & Basketball (2000), for which she received an Independent Spirit Award.

Manohla June Dargis is an American film critic. She is the chief film critic for The New York Times. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lexi Alexander</span> German Palestinian television director

Alexandra Mirai, known professionally as Lexi Alexander, is a German-Palestinian filmmaker and martial artist. A former competitor in karate-point fighting and kickboxing, Alexander entered the film industry as a stunt performer, before earning an Academy Award nomination for her debut short film Johnny Flynton (2002). She subsequently directed Green Street (2005), a crime drama about British football hooliganism, and Punisher: War Zone (2008), an adaptation of the Marvel Comics character of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesli Linka Glatter</span> American film and television director

Lesli Linka Glatter is an American film and television director. She is best known for her work on the AMC drama series Mad Men and the Showtime series Homeland. For her work in these two shows, she has received eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations and 7 Directors Guild of America Awards nominations, winning the latter 3 times. She has also received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for Tales of Meeting and Parting (1985).

The celluloid ceiling is a metaphor for the underrepresentation of women in hiring and employment in Hollywood. The term is a play on the metaphor of the "glass ceiling", which describes an invisible barrier that keeps a given demographic from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy. Celluloid refers to the material used to make the film stock that was once used to make motion pictures. The term is usually applied to behind the screen workers only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Lawrence</span> American actress (born 1990)

Jennifer Shrader Lawrence is an American actress and producer. Lawrence is known for starring in both action film franchises and independent dramas, and her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide. The world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, she appeared in Time's 100 most influential people in the world list in 2013 and the Forbes Celebrity 100 list from 2013 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aisling Walsh</span> Irish screenwriter and director (born 1958)

Aisling Walsh is an Irish screenwriter and director. Her work has screened at festivals around the world and she has won several accolades, including a BAFTA TV Award for Room at the Top (2012) as well as an Irish Film and Television Award and a Canadian Screen Award for her direction of Maudie (2016). She is known for her "unflinching honest portrayals of a Catholic Irish society".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marielle Heller</span> American director, writer and actress

Marielle Stiles Heller is an American director, screenwriter and actress. She is best known for directing the films The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015), Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018), and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), as well as acting in The Queen’s Gambit (2020).

<i>Last Train Home</i> (film) 2009 Canadian film

Last Train Home is a 2009 Canadian documentary film directed by Lixin Fan and produced by Daniel Cross and Mila Aung-Thwin of EyeSteelFilm. It won the Best Documentary Feature at 2009 IDFA and has been distributed by Zeitgeist Films in the US.

<i>The Hunger Games</i> (film) 2012 film by Gary Ross

The Hunger Games is a 2012 American dystopian action film directed by Gary Ross, who co-wrote the screenplay with Suzanne Collins and Billy Ray, based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Collins. It is the first installment in The Hunger Games film series. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland. In the film, Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson) are forced to compete in the Hunger Games, an elaborate televised fight to the death consisting of adolescent contestants from the 12 Districts of Panem.

<i>What Happened, Miss Simone?</i> 2015 biographical documentary film directed by Liz Garbus

What Happened, Miss Simone? is a 2015 American biographical documentary film about Nina Simone directed by Liz Garbus. The film opened the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The screening was followed by a tribute performance by John Legend. The film was released by Netflix on June 26, 2015. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 88th Academy Awards.

Gamechanger Films is an American company that finances independent films directed by women.

<i>Black Panthers</i> (film) 1968 short documentary film directed by Agnès Varda

Black Panthers is a 1968 short documentary film directed by Agnès Varda.

<i>This Changes Everything</i> (2018 film) 2018 American documentary film

This Changes Everything is a 2018 American documentary film, directed by Tom Donahue. An examination of sexism in the Hollywood film industry, the film interviews a variety of actresses and women filmmakers on their experiences in the industry.

Women's Steering Committee of the Directors Guild of America was founded in 1979 by six women members of the Directors Guild of America (DGA). Its purpose was to investigate the employment opportunities and hiring practices of film studios. The founding members, known as the Original Six, were Lynne Littman, Susan Bay, Nell Cox, Victoria Hochberg, Joelle Dobrow, and Dolores Ferraro.

The Original Six are a group of women directors who created the Women's Steering Committee (WSC) of the Directors Guild of America (DGA). Dolores Ferraro, Joelle Dobrow, Lynne Littman, Nell Cox, Susan Bay Nimoy and Victoria Hochberg formed the Women's Steering Committee of the Directors Guild of America in 1979. They carried out landmark research showing that women held only 0.5% of directing jobs in film and television, which they reported to the Guild, the studios and the press.

<i>Saint Omer</i> (film) 2022 film by Alice Diop

Saint Omer is a 2022 French legal drama film written and directed by Alice Diop, and starring Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanda. It is Diop's first narrative feature; her other films have been documentaries. The film is based on the French court case of Fabienne Kabou, who was convicted in 2016 of murdering her infant by drowning. Diop attended Kabou's trial.

Dos Estaciones is a 2022 Mexican-Spanish language drama film directed by Juan Pablo González. It premiered in the World Cinematic Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where lead actress Teresa Sánchez won the Special Jury Prize for Acting.

Brainwashed is a 2022 American documentary film, directed by Nina Menkes. The writer-director "developed her 2017 essay and PowerPoint presentation into a film, examining the biased ways in which women are represented onscreen versus men." Using clips from hundreds of movies, Menkes explores the sexual politics of cinematic shot design; she also includes interviews with women and nonbinary artists, film theorists, and scholars, who discuss "the exploitative effects of the male gaze."

References

  1. ↑ "Aurora Metro". 2016-05-16. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  2. ↑ Giese, Maria. "Auteur Directors: Any American Women?". Indiewire. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Maria Giese". Mobile Film School. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "CINE GOLDEN EAGLE FILM& VIDEO COMPETITION 1993 WINNER DIRECTORY" (PDF) (Press release). Cine. Retrieved 2007-02-11.
  5. ↑ Loewenstein, Lael. "Interview with Director Maria Giese". (UCLA). Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  6. ↑ Elley, Derek (1996-03-26). "When Saturday Comes". Variety. Retrieved 2007-02-11.
  7. ↑ "Hunger" (Press release). IndieFest. Retrieved 2007-02-11.
  8. ↑ "Hunger the Film". Hunger the Film. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Maria Giese". Celebrities Agent. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "The Teacher's Guide" (PDF). UCLA. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "About the Women's Steering Committee". DGA.org. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "Film Review: 'This Changes Everything'". 9 September 2018.
  13. 1 2 "'Half the Picture': Film Review | Sundance 2018". The Hollywood Reporter . 23 January 2018.
  14. ↑ "DGA Women's Steering Committee Rejects Proposal to Expand Diversity Options for Women". Indiewire. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "Alliance of Women Directors Members". Alliance of Women Directors. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Women Directors in Hollywood". Women Directors in Hollywood. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "Jennifer Lawrence: Legal Tipping Point for Women in Hollywood?". Ms Magazine. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  18. ↑ "Will Female Filmmakers Ever Get a Fair Shake at the Oscars?". Elle. 2015-02-24. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  19. ↑ "The Charge For Equality – Women Directors". Film Inquiry. 2015-11-06. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  20. ↑ "Maria Giese". Indiewire. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  21. ↑ Giese, Maria. "Lights, Camera, Inaction!". MS Magazine. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  22. ↑ Giese, Maria. "DGA Celebrates Women Directors, But What's the Next Move?". Indiewire. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  23. ↑ Gross, Judie (17 December 2022). "Maria Giese: The Activist Who Changed Hollywood". Classic Chicago Magazine.
  24. ↑ Keegan, Rebecca (2015-05-13). "Female film directors are on outside looking in, but will ACLU flip the script?". LA Times. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  25. ↑ Gross, Judy (17 December 2022). "Maria Giese: The Activist Who Changed Hollywood". Classic Chicago Magazine.
  26. ↑ "GETTING PLAYED: SECOND ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM ON EQUITY IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AND AWARDS". Stanford Arts. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  27. ↑ Anderson, Erik (26 December 2022). "2022 Alliance of Women Film Journalists nominations: 'Everything Everywhere,' 'The Woman King' lead". Awards Watch.
  28. ↑ Dargis, Manohla (2015-01-21). "Lights, Camera, Taking Actions". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  29. ↑ Rickey, Carrie. "Missing in action: Female directors. Will the EEOC nail Hollywood?". Philly.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  30. ↑ Keegan, Rebecca (2016-05-11). "Gender bias in Hollywood? U.S. digs deeper to investigate the industry's hiring practices". LA Times. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  31. ↑ "THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING: Educational, Inspirational, And...Puzzling?". 7 August 2019.
  32. ↑ "Has Everything Changed? – Point of View Magazine". 15 September 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.