35% of all businesses in the United States use Skype as their primary means of communication. In today's increasingly interconnected world, virtual meetings have become a staple of business practice. Unsurprisingly, so has the digital interview.
Physical distance between potential employers and job-seekers is no longer the impediment it once was for the face-to-face engagement. In the past year alone, the number of people who use Skype for this purpose has risen from about 300 million to more than 405 million.
THE ESSENTIAL DIGITAL INTERVIEW HANDBOOK, the first of its kind, covers everything you need to know to conquer this phase of the job search and all digital business meetings, including:
Proper camera angles, microphones and cameras,
How to establish a professional presence,
Tricks and tips to posting a clock and cue-cards on the wall behind the camera,
How to take the next step to transition from virtual to in-person meetings.
Your next step will likely be waiting for you on the other end of a video conference. Let this book help walk you through the steps to success.
Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute, and Cathy Schulman, President, Women In Film Los Angeles, announced the results of a first-of-its-kind research study examining gender disparity in American independent film.
The study is part of a collaboration between Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles to support independent female filmmakers. Results were shared at a gathering of film and industry leaders at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
The study was commissioned by Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles and was conducted by Stacy L. Smith, Ph.D., Katherine Pieper, Ph.D. and Marc Choueiti at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California.
Putnam said, "The results of this research are encouraging, and we hope they will highlight the barriers and opportunities facing women behind the camera. We look forward to collaborating with Women In Film Los Angeles and other allied organizations to raise awareness and inspire action around this important issue.”
Schulman said of the results, “This data shows us that there is a higher representation of female filmmakers in independent film as compared to Hollywood – but it also highlights the work that is still to be done for women to achieve equal footing in the field.”
The research was conducted with a two-prong approach. First, it quantitatively assessed the gender of 11,197 directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and editors in U.S. movies programmed for the Sundance Film Festival between 2002 and 2012 to identify the prevalence of female filmmakers. Second, researchers documented the qualitative experiences of female filmmakers through interviews with filmmakers and film industry representatives.
Findings include:
Of U.S. films selected for the Sundance Film Festival from 2002-2012, 29.8% of filmmakers (directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and editors) were female.
Across all behind-the-camera positions, females were most likely to be producers. As the prestige of the producing post increased, the percentage of female participation decreased. This trend was observed in both narrative and documentary filmmaking. Fewer than one third of all narrative producers but just over 40% of associate producers were female. In documentaries, 42.5% of producers and 59.5% of associate producers were female.
When compared to films directed by males, those directed by females feature more women filmmakers behind the camera (writers, producers, cinematographers, editors). This is true in both narratives (21% increase) and documentaries (24% increase).
Females were half as likely to be directors of narrative films than documentaries (16.9% vs. 34.5%).
Female directors of Sundance Film Festival films exceed those of the top 100 box office films. 23.9% of directors at the Sundance Film Festival from 2002-2012 were female, compared to 4.4% of directors across the top 100 box office films each year from 2002 to 2012 that were female.
41.5% of the female directors across 1,100 top-grossing movies of the past ten years had been supported by Sundance Institute.
Five major areas were identified as hampering women’s career development in film:
Gendered financial barriers (43.1%)
Male-dominated industry networking (39.2%)
Stereotyping on set (15.7%)
Work and family balance (19.6%)
Exclusionary hiring decisions (13.7%)
Opportunities exist to improve the situation for women in independent film. Individuals mentioned three key ways to change the status quo:
Mentoring and encouragement for early career women (36.7%)
Improving access to finance (26.5%)
Raising awareness of the problem (20.4%)
The first initiative of the Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles collaboration, which began in January 2012, was to create a Mentorship Program, matching 17 Sundance Institute-supported women directors and producers with leaders in the field. Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles also convened meetings in New York and Los Angeles this fall with leading organizations working on gender in media.
The Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles collaboration is supported by LUNA and JPMorgan Chase Foundation.
My granddaughter lives in Florida, is passionate about Disney World, and visits there often because, as she puts it, "That's where the real princesses live." Her favorite is Princess Belle because her name is Lilah Belle and the two of them have talked about having the same name.
Every young girl dreams about being a princess and living happily ever after. Anne Sweeney, cochair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney/ABC Television Group, is the princess running a $19 billion media kingdom who has discovered that "happy ever after" doesn't equal work/life balance.
Sweeney knows that, if you let it, work can be all consuming. "I do have a hard time around my family," says Sweeney, who avoids morning meetings and tries to leave the office by 6 PM. "For a lot of years, I read every article about time management...I think when I finally gave up on the idea of balance, it was a really happy moment. You can drown in to-do lists. Or you can have a happy, messy life. Which I do."
Today’s women are better educated than ever before. They have accumulated a wealth of skills, have learned to be adaptable, and have been told that they can do anything they want to do. The upside is that they have become independent, self-sufficient, and confident of their abilities. The downside is that they will readily admit they have not found the enjoyment or satisfaction they once imagined. The reason they attribute to the problem is that they have taken on too much. These days, most women dance to a frenzied beat, believing just because they can, they think they should. We were taught if we were capable of doing something it shouldn’t be necessary to hire it out or look for help.
This has led women to become frustrated by experiencing long days and a never-ending “To Do” list. All too often, businesswomen don’t give themselves a break. In an effort to squeeze even more into their nightmarish schedules, they make choices that actually undermine their health, their family life, their careers, and important relationships.
Both society and individuals struggle with countless expectations, too much to do in too little time, and the fact that they receive little of the support or recognition they want—and deserve.
Men with little insight into—or appreciation for—a woman’s unique predicaments, biology, and socialization patterns have attributed her problem as one of time management! They then have proceeded to write a number of articles and books suggesting how she “fix” her problem. However, their suggestions are based on what works for men—and those suggestions are largely unhelpful for women. Besides, having read many of these self-help books, it’s clear that the male authors have been fortunate enough to have had at least one woman doing a considerable amount of work for them; otherwise they couldn’t possibly fulfill all their goals and expectations on their own.
In examining this dilemma with a succession of clients, we realized that women do not automatically experience the same professional issues that men routinely face. Instead, they struggle to be all things to all people— and along the way they neglect themselves and their own priorities.
As executive and business coaches, we began our own journey to investigate the factors that are causing all the strain, stress, and frustration among generations of very bright and articulate women. What we discovered serves as the backbone for the book, "When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women," and for the solutions, strategies, and essential tools we outline in the book. Our goal is to help women make their lives easier, richer, happier, and saner.
This book is dedicated to all those hardworking women everywhere who are willing to embrace liberating change. Believe that your situation can change and you are halfway down the road to making significant changes. Know that change always comes bearing unexpected gifts. Change starts with the right attitude and the motivation to reclaim your time and your life!
Sources: MORE magazine, December 2012/January 2013
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