Ellen Burstyn on the Quiet Revolution of Women on Film Sets
Ellen Burstyn, at Venice, recalls how film sets transformed from all-male spaces to integrated crews.
Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, veteran actor Ellen Burstyn offered a personal account of how the demographics of film production have shifted dramatically over her decades-long career.
Burstyn, who joked that she began working "150 years ago," described the industry's early years as an exclusively male domain. In that era, she noted, the presence of a woman on set almost always meant she was an actress. There were no women in crew roles, and none behind the camera.
The change, she said, was gradual and driven by a broader cultural awakening. She credited the late activist Gloria Steinem with helping to alter collective consciousness on the issue.
According to Burstyn, the first inroads came with roles like script supervisor, followed by positions such as camera assistant. Over time, women moved into a wider range of technical jobs.
Today, she observed, women handle heavy equipment as a matter of course and are fully integrated into production teams. While she stopped short of declaring full equality, she estimated that crews are now close to a 50-50 gender split.