A trailblazer in her own right, Illeana is hosting a month-long programming event on Turner Classic Movies called
Trailblazing Women. Airing every Tuesday and Thursday in October on TCM.
The initiative will Help raise awareness about the historical contributions of women working behind the camera and will shine a spotlight on cinema’s greatest female filmmakers who challenged gender stereotypes while carving out successful careers in an industry where men hold the bulk of the power.
Trailblazing Women will focus on female directors and will showcase a variety of filmmakers from the early days of cinema through modern times with more than 50 films being shown.
Current Statistics that Illustrate the Gender Gap in the Film Industry:
· Men outnumbered women 23-to-1 as directors of the 1,300 top-grossing films since 2002
· A 5–to-1 ratio of men working on films to women
· 15 percent of writers working in film are women
· 20 percent of editors are women
· Only 2 percent of cinematographers are female
Award winning actress Illeana Douglas is a hit with critics and moviegoers alike. Current films include Peter Bogdanovich’s She’s Funny That Way (2015), All Stars (2014) Sisters (2014) with Barbara Hershey, Max Rose (2013) with Jerry Lewis, and Chez Upshaw with Kevin Pollak (2012), for which Douglas won the LA IFS Best Actress Award. She co-produced the documentary Kingdom Come (2013) and is a producer on Chez Upshaw (2012) as well as the web-series The Skinny (2015).
