How women have changed the tune of television
Aussie series Secret Bridesmaids’ Business is the latest in an impressive crop of TV shows made by, and starring, women that’s helping re-dress the gender imbalance on the small screen.
Lifestyle
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Reflecting on the past 10 years of television as we approach the end of the decade, it’s clear this was the era women changed the channel.
While the early years of the 21st century were testosterone soaked with swaggering male antiheroes such as mob boss Tony Soprano, The Wire’s noble outlaw Omar Little and teacher-turned-meth king Walter White in Breaking Bad, the 2010s have seen a significant shift towards female-centred narratives.
It was 2013 when Orange is the New Black first aired on Netflix. The series — based on Piper Kerman’s 2010 memoir about her time in prison — was lauded for its insistence on telling diverse female stories and proved an insatiable audience appetite for female experiences.
And while there have been successful female-driven stories before this one — think Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Sex and the City, although at a time when women were still often slotted into cookie-cutter categories — this decade’s era of flawed and nuanced female characters have offered compelling looks at what it means to be a woman in the world.
From The Crown’s gripping look at the life of the formidable Queen Elizabeth II to the ragtag female wrestlers of Glow; the provocative world of secrets in Big Little Lies; the privileged quartet of Girls; the teenage travails of Derry Girls and the dystopian future of The Handmaid’s Tale, women have undeniably been on top of the box.
Not only have these stories offered maximum scope for women to take the lead both on screen and behind the scenes, but audience demand for female stories has created a domino effect Down Under.
In December 2015, Screen Australia announced a $5 million plan for Gender Matters, a suite of initiatives that address the gender imbalance within the Australian screen industry, in front of and behind the camera in roles of writing, directing and producing.
Figures released last month revealed that in a significant moment for the local screen industry, Screen Australia exceeded its Gender Matters target, with 56 per cent of projects receiving production funding having at least half of the creative roles occupied by women.
The list of female-led television created since includes Foxtel’s reimagining of Picnic at Hanging Rock; ABC’s affecting portrait of motherhood The Letdown; the off-field drama of WAGs in Network Ten’s Playing for Keeps, the Sophie Hyde and Ana Kokkinos-directed drama The Hunting for SBS and now Channel 7’s up-and-coming six-part romantic thriller, Secret Bridesmaids’ Business.
BASED on the stage play written by Elizabeth Coleman, Secret Bridesmaids’ Business tells the story of how a bride’s perfect wedding turns deadly after one of her bridesmaids invites a stranger into their lives, triggering a chain reaction that blows open a hidden world of secrets.
As well as serving up a stellar female-led cast including Abbie Cornish, Katie McGrath and Georgina Haig, the series production team is directed by Tori Garrett and Jennifer Perrott, with executive producer Maryanne Carroll, series producer Amanda Crittenden, script producers and writers Andrew Anastasios and David Hannam and writers Alli Parker, Trent Roberts, Chelsea Cassio and Shanti Gudgeon.
Carroll, who has previously worked on popular female-driven drama Winners & Losers, says there is a definite sense of change in the industry, with more diverse female stories in the spotlight.
“It’s really exciting because there are so many great stories to tell,” she says.
“And it’s not just about finding new stories, but new ways of telling them — and telling them through the different viewpoint of a female prism can be unexpected.
“ (SBB) is a story with very common themes of love, loss, lust, trust and betrayal, but in applying the female lens to these themes of marriage and monogamy in a morally complex world, it’s a different story that showcases the strength of female friendships in the face of adversity and male toxicity.
“Female experiences are really fertile ground and they are something that female — and male — audiences are being drawn to.”
The executive producer says the team made a conscious decision to have strong female representation on the set as well as on the screen.
“Amanda (Crittenden) and I made the decision to get as many females working as possible because having a 50/50 workplace makes the story so well rounded and real and authentic,” Carroll says.
LA-based, Melbourne-raised actor Haig, who shot to stardom as Frozen’s Elsa in Once Upon a Time after playing Paula Yates in the miniseries INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, plays cancer survivor Olivia in the suspenseful new series.
The mother of one says she was drawn to the story by the complexities of the script.
“I really loved the script and the characters,” Haig says. “Real people are full of contradictions and I think characters feel more real when they’re portrayed that way on the screen and these characters felt really real. The dialogue and how they interacted with each other felt how I would talk with my friends.
“They are three really interesting, flawed, funny women.”
Haig, who has worked in Hollywood during the groundswell of the #metoo movement, says she was appreciative of SBB’s female-prominent set.
“Both our directors are female, our producers are female. It’s the most heavily female crew I’ve worked with,” she says.
“To see that first day on set was a great feeling because you’re so used to seeing all blokes — which isn’t a bad thing — it’s just nice when there’s both.
“It creates a really comfortable work environment and I hope it does encourage people in Australia to get behind female creatives and female-driven projects and more diverse stories.”
Haig says the #metoo and subsequent Time’s Up movements, which call out sexual misconduct and gender inequality in the workplace, has seen positive changes emerge in the industry internationally. “I think the nice thing is that there are few more protocols being put in place on productions to let people know that there is a place for you to go if something happens to you,” she says.
“Even if it’s just a memo that goes out at the start of production, just having that simple protocol means that it’s at the forefront of people’s minds. It gives people a moment to pause and think about how they speak to someone, or treat someone, and those little things will come together to make the industry a safer space for women.”
BORN and raised on the Mornington Peninsula, Haig says filming on location at a vineyard down the road from her childhood home was surreal. “I play a winemaker in the series and remember visiting the vineyard as a child and have known the family who run it for years,” she says.
Haig married fellow actor Josh Mapleston, star of The Wrong Girl, in 2013 and they’re patents to Greta, 2.
The actor says it was special introducing her daughter to spots from her own childhood.
“Seeing her in gumboots and a rain jacket just reminded me of my childhood and it’s lovely to see it come full circle and see her playing in that environment,” Haig says.
“After working so far from home for so many years, to have my mum and dad be able to pop in at lunch was lovely and for them to have the extra time with Greta was so special.”
Haig says motherhood has changed her approach to acting. “Strangely, it’s relaxed me with my work a little bit because it really puts things in perspective,” she says. “I think some of the things I might have got anxious about in the past don’t affect me as much. Maybe because I have more patience, or maybe because I am so sleep-deprived, I’m slower to react,” she laughs.
“But I also think being a mum of a small child is wonderful but it’s demanding, and so you come to work and suddenly someone is getting you a coffee and someone is making sure you’re hydrated. It’s almost like being at work is like a holiday.”
While she has some secretive new projects in the works abroad, for now Haig says she is just thrilled to be back on Aussie TV screens.
“These characters are so close to my heart,” she says. “And I just loved being back in Australia and watching seasons change, and drinking good coffee again — it’s very different to LA.”
SECRET BRIDESMAIDS’ BUSINESS STARTS ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, CHANNEL 7 AT 9PM
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