ABOUT
HALF THE PICTURE celebrates the groundbreaking work of female and non-binary film directors and investigates the systemic discrimination that has, for decades, denied opportunities to far too many talented directors in Hollywood.
PRESS
VICE
What Happens When 40 Women Filmmakers Tell Their Own Stories
AWards circuit
Kanopy Streaming Service to Showcase Women Centric Films Celebrating Women’s History Month, “A stunning examination in film culture”
THE NEW CURRENT
"Through stories, we learn what it means to live as someone else, and in telling our own stories we share what it feels like to be us."
Radio New Zealand
Saturday Morning: Amy Adrion, Director of Half the Picture
STUFF
What to watch: True stories to savour at this year's Doc Edge
auckland magazine
Our top picks for the Doc Edge International Film Festival 2019
el pais
The struggle to be a woman and a filmmaker: "Our ideas seem less valuable"
the national
Sundance-winner Amy Adrion: Spielberg's Oscars plan will shut out independent films
gulf news
Director Amy Adrion on women’s rights in Hollywood
GRAZIA MIDDLE EAST
Cinemas across Dubai are using International Women’s Day to speak out about inequality in the film industry, and to celebrate the women behind the camera
TOrnos news
American Film Showcase welcomed to Thessaloniki in Greece on March 2-5, 2019
WECT NEWS
Film festival celebrates women’s stories
PORTLAND MERCURY
Half the Picture Review: First Eye-Opening, Then Infuriating
PORTLAND TRIBUNE
Doc spotlight: "Half the Picture"
THE MONTCLARION
“A beautifully crafted love letter to female directors everywhere”
AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
“Fresh from Sundance, Amy Adrion's Half the Picture serves as a rallying cry for greater gender representation behind the camera…the articulate, often hilarious, personal recollections speak volumes of truth to power.”
THE STRANGER
* RECOMMENDED* Half the Picture, a Documentary About How Hollywood Still Sucks for Women
TUFTS NOW
"Tell Me More: Breaking Up the Hollywood Boys Club”
THE WRAP
"Women Directors Tell All in Illuminating, Infuriating Doc"
THE DAILY BEAST
‘Half the Picture’ director Amy Adrion opens up about her documentary, which features female filmmakers like Ava DuVernay and Kimberly Peirce celebrating sisterhood in Hollywood. "A celebration of the joys of filmmaking!"
LOS ANGELES TIMES
"With careful craftsmanship, “Half the Picture” is an important piece of testimony in the fight for the civil rights of female directors in Hollywood"
THE VILLAGE VOICE
"It’s experiential revelation as advocacy filmmaking, an incisive and inviting example of the personal as political...Half the Picture is a timely and entertaining antidote to the devaluation of women’s accomplishments"
Hollywood reporter
OWN, Discovery, Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation to Offer Free Student Screenings of 'Half the Picture'
METRO
‘Half The Picture’s’ director was told not to explore Hollywood’s lack of female filmmakers because sexism no longer existed. Amy Adrion’s documentary proves that it is obviously still a huge issue
DEADLINE
Sundance London: Comedy ‘Eighth Grade’, Gender Equality Doc ‘Half The Picture’ Scoop Prizes
STYLIST
Director Amy Adrion on Half the Picture, her vital documentary about women filmmakers
ROGER EBERT.COM
“This is no pity party. There is a sense that sisters are doing it for themselves and each other as more female decision makers make inroads behind the scenes."
OUT MAGAZINE
Half the Picture Is the #TimesUp Movie You Must See as Soon as Possible: "Nothing in popular culture has articulated the film industry's gender inequality as convincingly, succinctly, or powerfully as Half the Picture, an essential new documentary from director Amy Adrion"
BUSTLE
The Documentary 'Half The Picture' Takes On Hollywood's Ridiculous Lack Of Female Directors — EXCLUSIVE CLIP
EXPRESS
Sundance Film Festival: Hollywood 'MUST get more female directors' after Me Too scandal
CULTURED VULTURES
INTERVIEW: Amy Adrion Talks Half The Picture
harpers bazaar
"Why there are so few female directors working in Hollywood? The documentarian Amy Adrion explains the film industry’s gender imbalance in Half the Picture"
THE GUARDIAN
"Half the Picture plays like a cocktail party where everyone’s had a glass of wine and is ready to get real. Adrion bounces between interview clips as though the women are having a conversation. It’s not a screed – it’s fun and surprising"
CRITICAL POPCORN
Sundance London 2018: Director Amy Adrion talks ‘Half the Picture’ - “Without doubt, one of the must-see films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival: London”
THE TELEGRAPH
'You can go on stage at the Oscars, but you can’t talk': inside Hollywood's brutal war on female filmmakers
VARIETY
Female Filmmakers Center Stage at Sundance Film Festival London
POP matters
'Half the Picture': A Consciousness Raising Discussion About Women in Film
SYFY WIRE
FEMALE FILMMAKER FRIDAY: A CONVERSATION WITH HALF THE PICTURE DIRECTOR AMY ADRION
The daily californian
2018 San Francisco Int'l Film Festival offers profound variety of films - “Half the Picture” is, in every way, heartbreaking... powerful to the point that it is infuriating"
KFOG San Francisco
‘Half the Picture’ speaks to the next generation of filmmakers at SFFILM Festival - "The message to aspiring filmmakers in Adrion’s Half the Picture is clear: it’s not easy but it’s so, so much fun. And if these women have done it, so can you."
Herald tribune
Through Women's Eyes tells women's stories through film
BROADWAY WORLD
BWW Feature: AMY ADRION HALF THE PICTURE at Sarasota Film Festival
REMEZCLA
In this Doc, Ava Duvernay, Jill Soloway, Patricia Riggen & More Tell Hard Truths About Being a Female Director
KPFA San Francisco 94.1fm
Mothers & Movies
TEXAS MONTHLY
In ‘Half the Picture,’ Female Directors Call for Long-Overdue Equality in Hollywood
FILMMAKER MAGAZINE
“Getting Five Different Looks From One Room”: DP Yamit Shimonovitz on Half the Picture
DIGITAL TRENDS
Sundance shines spotlight on Hollywood’s lack of female directors
FILM INQUIRY
SXSW Review: HALF THE PICTURE: Death By A Thousand Cuts For Hollywood Misogyny
FILMMAKER MAGAZINE
“Advocating For the Civil Rights of Women”: Editor Kate Hackett on Half the Picture
VARIETY
‘Half the Picture’ Documentary on Female Directors Sells to Gravitas
HUFFINGTON POST
Women Directors Explain Exactly What It’s Like To Work In Sexist Hollywood
REFINERY 29
You Know About The Lack Of Female Directors In Hollywood. These Are Their Stories.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
The makers of 'Half the Picture' discuss women's tenacious quest for visibility as directors
NPR / KPCW
The Sundance Reel
BUSTLE
'Half The Picture' Director Amy Adrion Knows The Real Secret To Getting Women More Jobs In Hollywood
DEADLINE
‘Half The Picture’ Clip: Ava DuVernay Talks Female Discrimination In Hollywood In Amy Adrion’s Sundance Docu
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
'Half the Picture': Film Review | Sundance 2018 - "THE BOTTOM LINE: Preach, Sister!"
INDIEWIRE
19 Movies From Female Filmmakers to See At Sundance. "There’s timely and then there’s timely. Amy Adrion’s documentary asks a slew of female filmmakers and industry luminaries in a business built on systemic discrimination. And has she got a murderer’s row of talking head talent to tell it like it is"
THE VERGE
Half the Picture proves that #MeToo alone won’t solve sexism in entertainment
WIRED
"Sometimes being on-the-nose is bad, but when “on-the-nose” means “a documentary about the lack of gender parity in Hollywood directing gigs coming to Sundance” then it’s just right."
NPR, KPCC'S THE FRAME
'Half The Picture' shows how 50 women filmmakers broke into Hollywood
INDIEWIRE
‘Half the Picture’ Exclusive Clips: New Documentary Examines Hollywood’s Discriminatory Hiring Practices. The film features conversations with Lena Dunham, Catherine Hardwicke, Miranda July and more
FILM INQUIRY
Fighting For Equality Behind The Scenes: An Interview With Amy Adrion, Director of HALF THE PICTURE
INDIEWIRE
Female Directors in Hollywood Share Their Stories in ‘Half the Picture’. "An appreciation of directors working at the height of their craft and an inspiration to every girl and young woman who dreams of making films."
The Team
AMY ADRION | Director & Producer
Amy Adrion is a director and writer whose work has screened at the Sundance, SXSW, and Tribeca Film Festivals, been broadcast on STARZ, PBS and MTV, and won numerous awards. Amy's debut feature, Half The Picture, which celebrates the groundbreaking work of women film directors, had its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018 and won the #WhatNext Award at Sundance Film Festival: London, the Audience Award for Best Documentary at Lighthouse Film Festival, and the Impact Award at Through Women's Eyes Film Festival.
Half The Picture is at 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and was released theatrically in Summer 2018.
Amy's short films include her UCLA thesis, Shoegazer, which was Executive Produced by Miranda July and won a Directors Guild of America (DGA) Student Film Award, and Surviving 7th Grade, of which the LA WEEKLY wrote "Surviving 7th Grade takes just seven-and-a-half sparkling minutes to initiate us into the secret rituals and self-effacing humor that just might enable a couple of nerdy (yet utterly appealing) pubescent girls to weather a stormy passage through adolescence."
Amy's television work includes directing the show Sucks Less with Kevin Smith for MTV / MTVu.
Amy is attached to direct the fierce, funny revenge Western, Picante, written by Meg McCarthy and Diana Davis-Dyer, and is in early production on a documentary about a female singer/songwriter and modern day cowgirl cattle rancher in Colorado.
jude HARRIS | Producer
Jude Harris is a producer and executive, currently the SVP of Development at Gunpowder & Sky, a multi-platform studio producing digital originals (T Bone Burnett’s DRAWN & RECORDED) and features (the upcoming zombie roadtrip movie EAT BRAINS LOVE). In their role as VP of Development for the MTV digital studio MTV(other), Jude produced MYRNA THE MONSTER, a short which premiered at Sundance, was an official selection at SXSW and is now in development with MGM and Caviar Content. They were also an executive producer of the SUPERVIDEO series of music videos (directors include Bryce Dallas Howard, Drew Barrymore, and David Ayer), the 2014 reboot of the animated cult classic LIQUID TELEVISION, and the music series $5 COVER, created by Craig Brewer and directed by Craig Brewer and Lynn Shelton.
YAMIT SHIMONOVITZ | Director of Photography
Yamit Shimonovitz recently received acclaim for her innovative cinematography on the documentaries THE PUBLIC IMAGE IS ROTTEN about rock icon John Lydon (Tribeca 2017) and LOS WILD ONES, which premiered at SXSW and won Best Cinematography at Uptown Film Fest. Her current work can be seen on television shows such as TRANSPARENT as well as in commercials for Apple, Intel and Whole Foods. Yamit was born in Israel, and is based in Los Angeles where she is a member of Local 600, the International Cinematographers Guild.
SORAYA SÉLÈNE | Director of Photography
Soraya Sélène recently won Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film & Television. Her commercial work includes projects for Unilever, TMobile, Dove, Mattell, and Apple Music, shooting artists such as Mary J. Blige, Sacha Baron Cohen and Pharrell. Born in France and raised in NYC, Soraya moved to Los Angeles in 2006 to pursue her MFA at UCLA. She also studied at the Global Cinematography Institute under renowned ASC cinematographers.
KATE HACKETT | Editor
Kate Hackett is an editor and filmmaker who has edited four independent features, among them Sean Hackett's award winning HOMECOMING and David MartinPorras's crime drama STEALING SUMMERS. She recently edited a documentary series on the Sundance Institute's MENA Theatre Lab. Her short format work includes episodes of the Yahoo Screen series TINY COMMANDO featuring Ed Helms, Gillian Jacobs and Nick Kroll, and the short film GOT THE CHECK for actress/director Shiri Appleby, featuring Colin Hanks and Alison Becker.
LAURA KARPMAN | Composer
Four-time Emmy winner and composer of the Grammy Winning piece ASK YOUR MAMA, Laura Karpman maintains a vibrant career in film, television, videogame and concert music. Her distinguished credits include the series UNDERGROUND - in collaboration with Raphael Saadiq and John Legend - STEP - a Sundance 2017 favorite - Eleanor Coppola’s PARIS CAN WAIT starring Diane Lane and Alec Baldwin, Kasi Lemmons’ BLACK NATIVITY starring Jennifer Hudson and Forest Whitaker, Steven Spielberg’s miniseries TAKEN, the Showtime series ODYSSEY 5, and MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION for which she received several Emmy nominations. She contributed to Sophia Coppola’s 2017 THE BEGUILED, and scored THE REAGAN SHOW for CNN Films. Laura serves as an advisor for the Sundance Film Scoring Labs and is on the faculty of the USC Film Scoring Program, and is the founding President of the Alliance for Women Film Composers and a governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
NORA KROLL-ROSENBAUM | Composer
Grammy Award-winning composer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum collaborates with radical filmmakers and ingenious musicians on scores that include Stockholm, Pennsylvania, Powerless, After Fire, Remember Me, Joburg, Lenny, Regarding Susan Sontag, and The Cinema Travelers. She has been commissioned by the London Symphony Chorus, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and received fellowships from the Sundance Composers Feature and Doc Labs. Nora is on the board of The Alliance for Women Film Composers.
STILLS
Director's Statement
FROM AMY ADRION
For many years the discouraging statistics about women directors in film and television have been known, but a confluence of social media outrage, increased study and statistics, and a growing willingness of prominent women in the industry to call out the powerful forces working against them, have resulted in what some have termed a “genderquake moment.” That environment, coupled with the activism of a handful of fearless women directors frustrated by the lack of accountability in their industry, resulted in the ACLU’s 18 month long investigation into gender discrimination in the hiring of directors, the findings of which prompted the US Department of Justice’s EEOC investigation that began in October 2015, bringing powerful players into the fight for equal opportunity.
HALF THE PICTURE seeks to document this unique time in our industry where systemic change seems possible and asks the question, unlike previous efforts to address gender inequality in Hollywood, will this time be different?
Not only is the issue of women directors an employment discrimination civil rights issue, the larger cultural relevance of HALF THE PICTURE lies in the fact that when you only have a small sliver of the populace telling our collective stories, in this case overwhelmingly white men who make up 31% of the population but direct 85-95% of our media, many stories are left untold. Further, studies show that when women direct, the numbers and characterization of women and men onscreen is affected as well.
Directors working behind the camera have a significant impact on the creation of this country’s main export around the world, our media, which give us powerful examples and social clues about who gets to be the hero, who gets to take up space, have a voice, be an active participant in the stories around them - and who does not. These images, when repeated throughout media, have ripple effects in the lives of real people around the world.
I have been aware of women’s marginalization in media and the need for greater support of women’s voices my entire adult life. My graduate films at UCLA explored stories of women and girls’ love, loss, and perseverance and I was honored to have my films screen at the Tribeca Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, broadcast on PBS and MTVu, and be lauded by the Directors Guild of America where I won a DGA Student Film Award.
When movement around the issue of women directors was gaining steam, I knew this was a story that needed to be told - these are my heroes, women who wouldn't take no for an answer fighting powerful forces, making movies and shows I wanted to see. After many years of stagnation, it seemed the timing could finally be right for something to change. I had to be there.
screenings
2024 OUR LODGE FOUNDATION, Common Ground Film Series, Saratoga Springs, NY
2024 COMMUNITY DOCUMENTARY NIGHT, Atlanta, GA
2023 TOGETHER RIT: Gender & Sexuality Day of Dialog, Rochester, NY
2022 BUFFALO STATE, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, Buffalo, NY
2022 ELON UNIVERSITY, Elon, NC
2021 ELON UNIVERSITY in LOS ANGELES, Los Angeles CA
2021 CUT.COM Production Company, Screening and Q&A, Seattle, WA
2021 KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY, Kennesaw, GA
2021 UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, Philadelphia, PA
2021 QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY, Goma, AUSTRALIA
2020 ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Rochester, NY
2020-2021 Strong Leads at Belcourt Theater, Nashville, TN
2020 Beyond Borders Doc Film Festival, Castellorizo, GREECE
2020 The Projector, SINGAPORE
2020 Sidewalk Film, Birmingham, AL
2019 US Embassy, Ulaanbaatar, MONGOLIA
2019 JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY, Rome, ITALY
2019 WOMEN IN FILM & TELEVISION IRELAND, Dublin, IRELAND
2019 PHOENIX LEICESTER CINEMA, Leicester, UK
2019 LUKA’S TAPROOM & LOUNGE, Oakland, CA
2019 FILM STREAMS, Omaha, NE
2019 MAORILAND HUB, Otaki, NEW ZEALAND
2019 DOC EDGE FILM FESTIVAL, Auckland & Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
2019 BREATH OF FRESH AIR Film FestivaL, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA
2019 ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY, Tempe, AZ
2019 WOMEN OF WONDERS Festival, Honolulu, HAWAII
2019 International Film Festival ASSEN, THE NETHERLANDS
2019 FEM Film Festival, Bangkok, THAILAND
2019 MANARAT AL SAADIYAT, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2019 CINEMA AKIL, Dubai, UAE
2019 THESSALONIKI Documentary Festival, GREECE
2019 CINEMA SISTERS INT’L Film Festival, Wilmington, NC
2019 ZAGBREDOX, Zagreb, CROATIA
2019 SEDONA FILM FESTIVAL, Sedona, AZ
2019 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS, Denton, TX
2019 DENVER FILM SOCIETY, Denver, CO
2019 DENTON BLACK Film Festival, Denton, TX
2019 USC SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS, Los Angeles, CA
2018 NW FILM CENTER, Portland, OR
2018 CAL STATE UNIVERSITY, Long Beach, CA
2018 THE PRODUCERS CLUB, New York, NY
2018 MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY, Montclair, NJ
2018 UNDERWIRE Film Festival, London, UK
2018 BRIGHT LIGHTS FILM SERIES, Boston, MA
2018 TUFTS UNIVERSITY, Boston, MA
2018 ZONTA Film Festival, Waterloo, CANADA
2018 FILM BATH, Bath, UNITED KINGDOM
2018 RAINBOW VISIONS Film Festival, Edmonton, CANADA
2018 SUNDANCE Film Festival: HONG KONG
2018 Television Premiere, STARZ Network
2018 AMERICAN Film Festival, Wrocław POLAND
2018 AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY, Austin, TX
2018 LONGLEAF Film Festival, Raleigh, NC
2018 HOT DOCS TED ROGERS CINEMA, Toronto ON
2018 BERGEN International Film Festival, NORWAY
2018 HARKINS CERRITOS 16, Cerritos, CA
2018 CHINO HILLS 18, Chino Hills, CA
2018 MOUNTAIN GROVE 16, Redlands, CA
2018 ARROWHEAD FOUNTAINS 18, Peoria, AZ
2018 CAMELVIEW AT FASHION SQUARE, Scottsdale, AZ
2018 CHANDLER FASHION 20, Chandler, AZ
2018 ESTRELLA FALLS 16, Goodyear, AZ
2018 SUPERSTITION SPRINGS 25, Mesa, AZ
2018 TEMPE MARKETPLACE 16, Tempe, AZ
2018 FLAGSTAFF 16, Flagstaff, AZ
2018 NORTHFIELD 18, Denver, CO
2018 WOMEN SPORTS Film Festival, San Francisco, CA
2018 ATHENS International Film Festival, GREECE
2018 WOMEN OVER 50 Film Festival, Brighton, UK *OPENING NIGHT*
2018 ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE Dallas/Cedars, TX
2018 NORTHWEST FILM FORUM, Seattle WA
2018 THE GRAND CINEMA, Tacoma, WA
2018 ONE TAKE Documentary Series, Rochester, NY
2018 LAEMMLE MONICA THEATER, Los Angeles, CA
2018 OAK CLIFF Film FestivalL, Dallas, TX
2018 SYDNEY Film Festival, AUSTRALIA
2018 LIGHTHOUSE International Film Festival, Long Beach Island, NJ
2018 VILLAGE EAST CINEMAS, new York, NY
2018 SUNDANCE Film Festival: LONDON, UK
2018 GREENWICH International Film Festival, Greenwich, CT
2018 INSIDE OUT, TORONTO Film Festival, CANADA *WOMEN’S CENTERPIECE GALA*
2018 UTAH FILM CENTER, Salt Lake City, UT
2018 NEWPORT BEACH Film Festival, CA
2018 THROUGH WOMEN’S EYES Film Festival, Sarasota, FL
2018 SARASOTA Film Festival, Sarasota, FL
2018 SAN FRANCISCO International Film Festival, San Francisco, CA
2018 SXSW Film Festival, Austin, TX
2018 SUNDANCE Film Festival, Park City, UT
