Ormax Media, a media consultancy firm, and Film Companion, an entertainment platform, have announced the launch of O Womaniya!, the second edition of their initiative on female representation in Indian entertainment. The O Womaniya! 2022 edition, which will be released in June of this year, will be the first female representation report to have industry-wide collaboration and support. The Producers Guild of India, the Active Telugu Film Producers Guild, Amazon Prime Video, ZEE5, Voot, hoichoi, and SonyLIV are all supporting the project.
O Womaniya!, which will debut in 2021, is a unique programme aiming at sparking discussion and facilitating change in the way women are represented and viewed in the Indian entertainment industry. The goal of the programme is to shift the needle from intention to action, as well as to assess industrial practises in order to reduce and eliminate prejudices.
The report's 2021 edition focused mostly on films released in 2020, but the 2022 edition will examine important digital series and direct-to-OTT films, as well as theatrical films, released in 2021 throughout the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam entertainment sectors. In addition, the current edition will look at female participation in the boardrooms of India's biggest media and entertainment organisations, as well as how the sector should work to create a nurturing climate that encourages women to advance into leadership positions.
Anupama Chopra, Founder & Editor of Film Companion, stated about the report's second edition, “I believe that cinema can shape the world. Which is why inclusivity and diversity is paramount. O Womaniya! is our attempt to push the needle to move faster. We hope that data will trigger conversation, which will trigger change. We are happy to collaborate with industry bodies like the Producers Guild of India and Active Telugu Film Producers Guild, and streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, an important part of India’s rapidly evolving creative ecosystem, to take this conversation forward meaningfully. With multiple industry players joining hands with us for the second edition of O Womaniya! we believe we are moving the needle, slowly but significantly on this important subject.”
Shailesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO of Ormax Media, commented on the expanded field of study, “With every edition, we want to expand the ambition of this report, such as covering digital series this time. But the section of the 2022 report that I’m keenly looking forward to is on the representation of women in the senior management of Indian entertainment companies. These are the decision-makers who have the ability to shape the industry’s future, and hence, the analysis must start from the top.”
The O Womaniya! initiative has collaborated with renowned gender expert Sunitha Rangaswami, Independent Consultant - Gender and Women's Economic Empowerment, to conduct a deeper socio-cultural analysis of the findings.
Sunitha stated about her involvement with the report, “The previous report highlighted how we are missing a trick on promoting gender equality in the Indian Entertainment industry. I see this report more as a provocation (catalyst) on how each of us can engage in charting new pathways - through small actions and big – to make change possible. And motivate Indian entertainment companies to adopt a whole new gender paradigm in sync with the times we live in. The audience is ready for it…. are we?”
On the corporate side, the report will raise tough questions about how to establish fair opportunities and a supportive atmosphere, while on the creative side, it will delve into the kind of content being produced, how women are portrayed in it, and how it is sold. To report the findings, the study will use a variety of qualitative and quantitative approaches, such as trailer conversation time, the Bechdel Test, and others.
