LOS ANGELES — Let’s agree that, in 2015, it feels somewhat ridiculous to be discussing the topic of women in Hollywood. Aren’t we past that by now, at a time when Shonda Rhimes owns ABC’s Thursday night lineup?
Let’s further agree that the topic begs continued attention. It takes more than a standout like Shonda to level the historically tipped playing field.
Like Rhimes, who is all about the work and won’t talk about her accomplishments as a minority female in the business, these successful creative types want to be considered directors, not female directors; they are showrunners, not women showrunners. At the same time, because they are scarce, women in power positions in Hollywood remain a symbol of the imbalance in the industry. They are naturally singled out as exceptions and, hopefully, evidence of change.
Guess which TV network has the most female showrunners?
The perhaps surprising answer is the network home to vampires, werewolves, zombies and other scary monsters causing murder and mayhem throughout primetime. The CW wins top honors with more female showrunners than all the other networks combined.
Most viewers are familiar with Rhimes, head of a TV conglomerate that includes “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice,” “Scandal,” “How to Get Away with Murder” with coming in January. But she pointedly declines to discuss anything pertaining to being a minority or a woman in her job. She considers herself an executive producer and showrunner and isn’t interested in talking about how she has led the charge as the first African-American female to attain such remarkable power through her ShondaLand business.
The CW assembled a panel of female showrunners — after, it should be noted, a similar panel was cancelled by NBC. (The biggest name, , executive producer and showrunner on Bravo’s “Girlfriends Guide To Divorce,” and an executive producer on Lifetime’s “Unreal,” was unable to attend.)
CW assembled executive producers Aline Brosh McKenna of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” Jennie Snyder Urman of “Jane The Virgin,” Gabrielle Stanton of “The Flash,” Diane Ruggiero-Wright of ” iZombie,” Wendy Mericle of “Arrow,” Julie Plec of “The Vampire Diaries,” “The Originals” and “Containment,” Caroline Dries of “The Vampire Diaries” and Laurie McCarthy of “Reign.”
All eight lamented the continuing rule of men running things and writing in TV, noted the demands of job versus family, and debated whether women bring a different sensibility to writing for the screen.
The dearth of female voices is reflected in everything from casting to producing, Plec said. “There’s not a lot there for women who are looking for good roles, and so the fact that we get to be part of a group that brings queens and monsters and werewolves, whatever it is we’re all doing, zombie beaters, the whole thing, it’s just a great opportunity for women to act and to be storytellers and in a medium that currently is finding its way, thank God, for people like the Shondas of the world and other things, so I’m happy just to be a part of that.”
Yes, Plec noted, “it is kinda a big deal.”
Aline Brosh McKenna agreed that the topic merits renewed discussion. “There’s a real problem with women being underrepresented. They only represent 30 percent of television writers, and 17 or 18 percent of feature writers, so what’s good about this (panel discussion) is if women see it and think, “I’m going to do that.”
Asked whether women writers create characters differently than men, Jennie Snyder Urman cited gender, race, socioeconomic background, religion and sexuality, noting, “it just all goes into the soup of a character, and I feel like the more specific and deliberate we are in all of our choices, then we’re just putting something more deliberate out there. Whether people agree or not, it’s thoughtful, and I think that’s what we’re trying to do.
In terms of hiring her staff, Ruggiero-Wright acknowledged, “if they are equal to the job and I have a choice between a man or a woman, right now in this job, I’m going to support the sisterhood.”
Stanton concurred: “I’m hoping that we are kinda the first wave, because we are all hiring more female writers.”
Things are changing, and females aren’t hired to fill a quota so much now, McCarthy said. “I do remember 10 years ago going on meetings to staff other people’s shows and people would openly say to me, well, we need one of you.”
All of the women on the panel agreed that time management, particularly for those with children, is the hardest part of the job.
“I have my family and I have the show and those are two huge things that you just try to keep both afloat,” Urman said.
Some suggested women are better at time management because of the demands of motherhood. “Nothing is worse than working for somebody who does not want to go home,” McKenna said. “That’s the worst. And women, even if they don’t have kids, they want to go.”
The bias against aging in Hollywood still works against women, they suggested.
“Some people ask, how does she get so much done?” Ruggerio-Wright said. “And it’s like she gets so much done because she knows at 55, they’re going to take us behind the WGA and shoot us.”
The dilemma of women as emotional or as criers was addressed by McCarthy. “‘Crazy’ and ‘bitch,’ those are the two words I hate the most. You can say almost any other word to me and I’ll like it better than those two words when you’re talking about women.”
Earlier, at an ABC press conference, Rhimes was asked how she got to where she is, was she a rule-follower? “I think that I’m the girl who sat at the front of the class with her hand raised. So, yes, I followed the rules and, no, I did not, because I also did what I wanted when that didn’t work.”
Reflecting on her career, Rhimes said, “I once actually was running three shows. I had ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ I had ‘Private Practice.’ I had ‘Scandal.’ That was when I almost, I felt like, fell over and died.”
Although her company, ShondaLand, will have four shows on the air next year, she is not hands-on on all four. Currently she runs “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal.” Pete Norwalk is running “How to Get Away with Murder,” Jennifer Schuur will run “The Catch.”
“I get to stick my head in like a proud grandmother and hold the baby and say, “Oh, it’s pretty,” and give it back and go back to my job,” Rhimes said.
“It’s not the same as making sure the scripts are good and making sure everything is running on a day to day basis and being boots on the ground.”
Rhimes is loathe to talk about her “legacy,” but the fact is, when “Scandal” arrived, it had been back to Diahann Carroll and “Julia.” Rhimes introduced Olivia Pope, who led to “How To Get Away with Murder,” which led to the African-American cast of the year’s biggest hit, “Empire.”
“That seems like a legacy to me, and it seems like it happened because of your success,” a reporter said. Rhimes wouldn’t bite.
“You are trying to make me say something that you want me to say.” She declined.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ostrowdp
