Courtesy of Center for the Study of Women in TV and Film

What do women want? Well, that’s a difficult question, but an equal employment opportunity is definitely at the top of every woman’s checklist.

Women continue to be dramatically underrepresented and underemployed both on screen and behind the scenes in TV and film. San Diego State serves as a foundation for the study of this prevailing issue.

“SDSU is the home of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film,” Dr. Martha Lauzen, executive director of the Center, said. “It is the only center of its kind in the country.”

The mission of the Center is to celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments of female directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and editors, she said.

The Center seeks to contribute to a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of women’s employment and representations.

“We conduct an extensive agenda of research on women’s employment in film and television,” Lauzen said.

In her latest study of women working behind the scenes in film, “The Celluloid Ceiling,” Lauzen found that 21 percent of the films released in 2007 employed no women directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers or editors. On the other hand, no film failed to employ a man in at least one of these roles.

The study showed that in 2007, women comprised 15 percent of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. The number represented a decline of 4 percent from 2001 and an increase of 1 percent from 2007.

In another study, entitled “Boxed In,” Lauzen discovered that TV employed a higher representation of women than film. Women comprised 26 percent of all creators, executive producers, producers, directors, writers, editors and directors of photography working in the 2007 to 2008 prime-time season.

Women in TV and film are thus dramatically underrepresented in comparison to men.

The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film further seeks to encourage more women to pursue careers in important roles on screen, as well as behind the scenes, in hopes of increasing the representation of women in both industries.

“We also host a speaker series featuring women working in the business,” Lauzen said.

The speaker series, titled “Women Who Call the Shots,” features women working behind the scenes in TV and film. Each session highlights their work and focuses on career successes and challenges.

In February, Lauzen said, the series featured Allison Anders and Victoria Hochberg, both of whom are well-known directors and screenwriters.

SDSU is not only home to a one-of-a-kind center that studies women’s roles and representations in TV and film, but it is also home to a number of highly successful women who graduated from the SDSU School of Theatre, Television and Film.

Lauzen said Hollywood producer Kathleen Kennedy, whose credits include “E.T.: The Extraterrestrial,” the “Jurassic Park” films, and the 2008 Oscar-winner, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” happens to be one of the most successful SDSU alumnae.

Other famous SDSU alumnae include Julie Kavner, who’s best known for her role as Marge on “The Simpsons”; Kathy Najimy, who plays the voice of Peggy on “King of the Hill”; Marion Ross of “Happy Days”; and Susanna Thompson of “Once and Again.”