The writers, who are all members of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, said their scripts are often rejected or have to be rewritten completely if they feature women who are over 40, and have claimed commissioners are only interested in younger female characters who are “slim and attractive”.
Gail Renard, chair of the television committee at the Writers’ Guild, told The Stage she had once submitted a pilot for a BBC show featuring actresses in their 30s and 40s, but was asked by a producer to change the characters so that they were in their 20s, which she claimed had “killed the whole idea”.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Writers support Equity campaign for roles for older women
In The Stage, Matthew Hemley reports on writers' support for Equity's campaign for more female roles on the small screen.
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Your blog is informative and delightful. Please come visit me...I'm a children's author in the US.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you also need to wake up a few agents.
ReplyDeleteMany agents are the stumbling block to potential features as they do not always tell their clients what is being offered to them.
If your agent isn't reporting back to you, you should have a talk with him or her. An agent is there to represent you (and most do wonderfully.) But an agent isn't there to second-guess or decide for you; but to discuss and advise... sometimes very strongly!
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