The School of Theatre, Television, and Film at San Diego State University is creating a major new Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film to be headed by Dr. Martha Lauzen, a member of AWFJ’s Board of Advisors.

The Center’s activities focus on the employment of women working as directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, and editors in television and film

Dr. Lauzen has conducted annual studies of women’s representation in these important storytelling roles for over a decade. Her ground-breaking studies, “The Celluloid Ceiling” and “Boxed In” document women’s behind-the-scenes employment in film (15% in 2007) and prime-time television (26% in the 2006-07 season). These studies serve as the cornerstones for an expanded agenda of original research examining the status of behind-the-scenes women, the impact of women storytellers on television and film content, and the key challenges for women working in these industries.

The new Center’s Advisory Board includes Mara Brock Akil (creator, writer, and producer of the CW series “Girlfriends”), Madelyn Hammond (Chief Marketing Officer of Variety Entertainment Group), Kathy Najimy (film and television actress), Robin Swicord (director of “The Jane Austen Book Club,” and writer of “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Practical Magic”), and Nia Vardalos (actress and writer of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and the upcoming “A Wilderness of Monkeys”).