Studio execs say gender no longer an issue
WOMEN ELITE 2007: Finance, technology still skew male but changing
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 3/26/2007
The 2007 Women Elite: Studios
MARCH 26 | One of the frequent jokes on fake news show The Colbert Report is that host Stephen Colbert (a mock Bill O’Reilly type) doesn’t see race or gender because he has progressed beyond it.
Click here for Independent Suppliers
Click here for Specialties
Click here for Retail
Click here for Technology
And so it seems has the home entertainment industry, which has led some to question if there’s even a need to honor women execs separately from their male counterparts.
Lionsgate executive VP of family entertainment and marketing Anne Parducci says some male executives even get annoyed by the idea of a “women elite.”
“Some of the guys in our office wonder, why don’t they honor the men? Which is a fair question, actually,” she says.
It’s not unusual for a woman to head a studio or home entertainment division. At Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment, Lori MacPherson is general manager for North America. At Paramount Home Entertainment, Kelley Avery has been worldwide president for the last two years, following a similar role at DreamWorks Home Entertainment. Meagan Burrows is Paramount’s domestic president of home entertainment. And women are well-represented at other major studios as well.
Many say being a woman isn’t an issue and hasn’t been for some time.
“I think there are many ways of looking at the profile of the employee base,” says Kelly Sooter, Paramount’s head of family initiatives. Gender “is one way; I just happen to think in our industry, it’s probably less relevant than in other industries.”
Avery, who has been in home entertainment since 1985, says she “never thought that gender would limit my possibilities. I put it back on myself. I really felt that I was in control of my future and it was my responsibility.”
Although the marketing and creative services side of home entertainment has long been well-staffed with women, the finance, business affairs and technology sides of the business continue to skew more male.
Laura Cook, executive VP of worldwide legal and business affairs for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, says at her first sales meeting in 1990, the head of sales mistook her for being the CEO’s secretary. Things have changed since, she says, noting that the studio had its first female president, Pat Wyatt, in the interim.
“I think you have to be a really adaptable person who can have a sense of humor,” Cook says. “It’s really, really important for women to be that way.”
“Talent takes the job”
In meetings with international divisions and companies, men still dominate, but even that is starting to change. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment senior executive VP of worldwide marketing Lexine Wong says that when she started 15 years ago, she would be the only woman when meeting with execs from other countries. Today, she says she’s maybe one of three women. “I think at the beginning, you really just have to prove yourself, that you’re smart, that you know the business,” she says.
Technology also remains predominantly male, execs say, as evidenced by the lack of women some have noticed recently at conferences and on panels.
But Universal Studios Home Entertainment senior VP of brand and digital marketing Hilary Hoffman notes that female execs in technology do exist and not just at the studios but also with outside companies such as Google.
And USHE senior VP of marketing services Pamela Blum says more opportunities in the area are opening up to women.
“The great thing about being in the home entertainment business with all these emerging technologies, as a female or as a male, is that because they’re emerging technology, it’s an even playing field,” Blum says. “The talent gets the job.”
At retail, Starbucks, Circuit City, Blockbuster and others have women buyers, which SPHE senior executive VP and general manager worldwide Robin Russell notes is important as half the consumers buying DVDs are female.
“Because DVD is fundamentally a packaged goods business, it’s fundamentally dependent on mass customers,” she says. “Wal-Mart, K-Mart and others are large retail chains, so they have to integrate women’s perspectives into product marketing. In the old days, when it was just the rental market, it was very, very different.”
Compensation still lagging
Although women are well-represented in the U.S. workforce today, pay is one area in which they continue to lag, according to some studies. But many home video execs say they suspect that is changing as more women move up the ranks.
“I know it’s something that I look for, so that people are rewarded for the level of work they’re doing and the quality of work,” says Marsha King, PHE executive VP of worldwide business affairs.
New Line Home Entertainment executive VP of finance and accounting Rita Chiappetta says women have become more vocal about pay, and for workers in general, there’s more salary information available to compare what they should be compensated.
Many execs attribute their success to the support of their superiors, who were usually male.
Diane Nelson, president of Warner Home Video’s Warner Premiere division, has been with the company for 10 years and has two children. Both times she was pregnant, she was promoted or given greater job responsibilities with the support of topper Barry Meyer.
“I use that as a testament,” she says. “The fact that that tone is set from the top of the company is important.”
Good multi-taskers
Execs are mixed over whether women bring different qualities to the job than men.
“It’s the individual who brings their own special, unique qualities, regardless of gender,” says Pamela Kelley, NLHE executive VP of sales.
But others believe women do bring different talents to the table.
“Women are very good at multi-tasking, because we’ve been in that role in our lives,” BVWHE’s MacPherson says. “Most of us are mothers and daughters and executives, and so I think we’re used to juggling different things.”
The bigger struggles are the same faced by male counterparts, such as balancing family and work or the constant change in the industry.
“It’s a very fast-paced industry with fairly relentless demands; you have to have a lot of energy and talent and smarts every day when you arrive at work,” PHE’s Burrows says. “I’m fortunate to be surrounded by some of the smartest people I know.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
