Did you know…..Not only is film-watching the most popular leisure activity, but a whopping 72% of all Americans go to the movies at least once a year. If you are a filmmaker or have any role in media, you will have to think twice about your responsibility as a media maker when you ingest these facts.

To consider how these facts affect groups, specifically women, check out this excerpt from Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s powerful documentary feature MISS REPRESENTATION. The film premiered at Sundance 2011 and had its broadcast premiere on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network on October 20, 2011.

The film “uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see…[it] exposes how mainstream media contributes to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader.”


In addition to the power media has over the development of females and women’s rights, which undoubtedly affects all of humankind, guess who else is eagerly finding a seat in the movie theater?

CINEMA FACT: 85% of all Hispanics and 73% of all African Americans go to the movies

We ask all filmmakers: How will you speak to your audience? How will you affect the way your community grows, thinks and acts?

Choose wisely: There is power in the lens.