Geena Davis brings more diversity to the screen

Geena Davis

Films like The Fly (1986), Thelma & Louise (1991), A League of her Own (1992), and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) come to mind easily, when I think about Geena Davis.  The talented and beautiful actress, now 59 years old, deserves applause for something more than just her Academy Award winning acting: She deserves it for her social conscience and awesome effort in bringing more women and minorities to the screen.

To wit

Why Did Geena Davis Create the Institute [on Gender and Media] and See Jane?

While watching children’s entertainment with her young daughter, Geena Davis was astounded by the dearth of female characters. Fueled to take action, she commissioned the largest research project on gender in film and television ever undertaken, conducted by Dr. Stacy Smith at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. The research confirmed the disparity she observed: in family films, there is only one female character for every three male characters. In group scenes, only 17% of the characters are female. The repetitive viewing patterns of children ensure that these negative stereotypes are ingrained and imprinted over and over.

So then

Geena Davis is teaming with ARC Entertainment to launch the Bentonville Film Festival with the aim of highlighting diversity in film.

The festival, set for May 5-9 in the Arkansas city, is touting itself as the only film competition in the world to offer guaranteed theatrical, TV, digital and retail home entertainment distribution for its winners.

The festival — hosted by ARC Entertainment, Walmart, Coca-Cola and AMC Theatres — will be chaired by Davis and screen approximately 75 films in competition. Members of the advisory board are Angela Bassett, Bruce Dern, Samuel L. Jackson, Randy Jackson, Eva Longoria, Julianne Moore, Paula Patton, Natalie Portman, Nina Tassler and Shailene Woodley.

Reference: Geena Davis Launching Bentonville Film Festival to Push for Diversity in Film.

Even more importantly, I think, Davis' philosophy and strategy resonate very nicely with the thrust of my philanthropy framework (rf. The Core Algorithm): In order to sustain itself over the long haul, any humanitarian, charitable or philanthropic effort must have a working business model, along with a social conscience. 

“We are looking for films that can succeed commercially,” Davis added.

This is a terrific challenge and opportunity for women and minorities in the film industry.