Diving further into the challenges faced by women in the entertainment, Amazon Prime Video has released a new session of Maitri: Female First Collective, looking at how to make the industry more inclusive.
The collective is an endeavour to help build a community for women from media and entertainment where they can come together to discuss their experiences, challenges and successes and offer their perspective and advice on how to bring about a positive shift.
The new session is moderated by the creator and curator of Maitri, Smriti Kiran with participants comprising Aparna Purohit, creator – Maitri and head of India originals, Prime Video; Indhu VS, writer and director; Ratheena Plathottathil, Writer, director and producer; Elahe Hiptoola, creator and producer; Parvathy Thiruvothu, actor and director; Rima Kallingal, Actor, producer and performing artist; Shreya Dev Dube, filmmaker and cinematographer; and Neha Parti Matiyani, cinematographer.
Sharing deeply personal stories and experiences, the participants reviewed the progress made so far, and challenges faced by women professionals in the industry, be it in films, streaming, or television – covering aspects such as conscious and unconscious bias, gender stereotyping, safety and much more.
The forum agreed that it is cardinal to have women in decision making roles to ensure that more women are employed, basic logistics of safety and hygiene are taken care of and the narratives are balanced and equitable.
“With the new session of Maitri, we wanted to take stock of where we stand with respect to diversity, equity and inclusion, understand the challenges ahead, and collaborate to find the right solutions,” said Aparna Purohit, head of India originals, Prime Video. “We are very heartened by the encouragement and support we have received for Maitri: Female First Collective so far. While it is a gradual journey, I am happy to see some change already coming through. To hear things like ‘we have women writers in our writers’ rooms’, or ‘our women characters have agency’ and ‘our content will definitely pass the Bechdel test’, in conversations with creators, for me, is a major step in the right direction.”
In order to spark conversations and foster meaningful collaborations, Prime Video also launched a social community featuring Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube feeds for Maitri.
The new session is moderated by the creator and curator of Maitri, Smriti Kiran with participants comprising Aparna Purohit, creator – Maitri and head of India originals, Prime Video; Indhu VS, writer and director; Ratheena Plathottathil, Writer, director and producer; Elahe Hiptoola, creator and producer; Parvathy Thiruvothu, actor and director; Rima Kallingal, Actor, producer and performing artist; Shreya Dev Dube, filmmaker and cinematographer; and Neha Parti Matiyani, cinematographer.
Sharing deeply personal stories and experiences, the participants reviewed the progress made so far, and challenges faced by women professionals in the industry, be it in films, streaming, or television – covering aspects such as conscious and unconscious bias, gender stereotyping, safety and much more.
The forum agreed that it is cardinal to have women in decision making roles to ensure that more women are employed, basic logistics of safety and hygiene are taken care of and the narratives are balanced and equitable.
“With the new session of Maitri, we wanted to take stock of where we stand with respect to diversity, equity and inclusion, understand the challenges ahead, and collaborate to find the right solutions,” said Aparna Purohit, head of India originals, Prime Video. “We are very heartened by the encouragement and support we have received for Maitri: Female First Collective so far. While it is a gradual journey, I am happy to see some change already coming through. To hear things like ‘we have women writers in our writers’ rooms’, or ‘our women characters have agency’ and ‘our content will definitely pass the Bechdel test’, in conversations with creators, for me, is a major step in the right direction.”
In order to spark conversations and foster meaningful collaborations, Prime Video also launched a social community featuring Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube feeds for Maitri.
