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Since its inception, Lifetime has always centered on women, creating television from a female perspective. In 2014, the initiative Broad Focus was launched to champion the hiring of women in key production roles. In 2018, the global initiative was renamed Broader Focus, designed to encompass a more intentional look at diverse hires both in front of and behind the camera and to broaden the scope of diverse women who we bring to the table to direct, write and produce Lifetime’s programming content. Broader Focus seeks to bring more women, especially women of color, to join the pipeline in these critical production roles. Under Broader Focus, entertainment’s best and up-and-coming creative talent, both on- and off-screen, is identified, developed and provided with shadowing and employment opportunities to further their careers. The initiative’s mission is to encourage and cultivate women’s talent in media, scout content leaders who are creating the best female-focused stories for television and raise awareness about the need for more women of varied backgrounds in influential content-making roles.
Meet the Women Behind-the-Scenes at Lifetime
Lifetime Believes in Women and Gives Women New Opportunities
Broader Focus seeks to bring more women, especially women of color, to join the pipeline in these critical production roles. Under Broader Focus, entertainment’s best and up-and-coming creative talent, both on- and off-screen, is identified, developed and provided with shadowing and employment opportunities to further their careers. The initiative’s mission is to encourage and cultivate women’s talent in media, scout content leaders who are creating the best female-focused stories for television and raise awareness about the need for more women of varied backgrounds in influential content-making roles.
Broader Focus Amplifies the Work of Female Creatives
Broader Focus highlights and elevates the work of female trailblazers with panels, screenings and press stories to further amplify their contributions to the entertainment landscape.
In 2018, women were the creators and showrunners for all of Lifetime’s scripted series: Sarah Shapiro (UnReal), Stacy Rukeyser (UnReal), Tara Armstrong (Mary Kills People), Sera Gamble (You) and Jamie Denbo (American Princess). They jointly appeared at the Television Critics Association for a panel diving into topical issues like the #MeToo movement and the differences between having a female and male led show.
In 2019, Lifetime presented the Direct*Her Panel at the Television Critics Association. While the industry as a whole is trying to achieve 50/50 gender equity by 2020, Lifetime has been leading the charge. In just the first half of the year, 78 percent of Lifetime’s directors were women, much higher than the industry average of 17 percent. Among the programming presented were the movies Tempting Fate, To Have and To Hold, I Am Somebody's Child: The Regina Louise Story and Pride & Prejudice: Atlanta and the scripted series American Princess. The panel included directors Kim Raver, Monika Mitchell, Janice Cooke, Rhonda Baraka and Claire Scanlon and actors Alyssa Milano, Erika Christensen, Ginnifer Goodwin, Angela Fairley and Tiffany Hines.
Broader Focus Seeks to Find the Next Talented Creatives
Through our partnership with the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, Lifetime developed a shadow program designed to offer three members of the current class of female directors the opportunity to follow along throughout the movie production process. This program gives female directors, especially women of color, the opportunity to shadow on movies from pre-production through wrap, gives them invaluable set experience and connects them to writers, producers and directors they might not otherwise meet. Pictured above is graduate Katrelle Kindred shadowing director Manu Boyer on Family Pictures.
Broader Focus also hosted the Athena Film festival's annual Writer's Lab to support the next generation of female writers. The three-day conference consisted of seminars, interactive workshops and industry panels. Aspiring female television and film writers were given the chance to interact with mentors and industry leaders, gaining valuable insider knowledge. The inaugural lab also included a female showrunners panel which featured YOU executive producer and creator Sera Gamble.