News Archive

October 09, 2019

Fast Company: Disney is Using AI Developed by Geena Davis to Correct Gender Bias and Lack of Inclusivity in Scripts

Disney is embracing a new tool called “GD-IQ: Spellcheck for Bias” in an effort to improve diversity in storytelling. The company has teamed up with Geena Davis and her Institute on Gender in Media to use GD-IQ: Spellcheck for Bias (Geena Davis Inclusion Quotient), a tool that analyzes TV and movie scripts to track gender and other biases.

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October 04, 2019

Geena Davis calls Hollywood gender imbalance an ‘embarrassment’

The under-representation of women in Hollywood behind the camera is an “embarrassment”, American actor and activist Geena Davis said at France’s Deauville Film Festival. Davis, who starred in the cult classic Thelma and Louise with Susan Sarandon, criticised the Hollywood gender gap from the red carpet of the festival, where she was promoting her new documentary. This changes everything on gender inequality. “I think I heard today that in France it’s 24 per cent are female directors, and in the United States only four per cent. I mean, 24 is not good enough either, but four per cent is an embarrassment,” she told the reporters. The documentary, produced by Davis and directed by Tom Donahue, features interviews with Hollywood actors including Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Chastain and Tiffany Haddish, and examines gender discrimination in the media and entertainment industry. Read More…

October 03, 2019

Actor Geena Davis tells Power of Inclusion Summit in Auckland that gender balance on screen can change the future

More women on screen is the fastest way to curb unconscious gender bias in the future, academy award-winning actress Geena Davis says. Davis, who made the comments as guest speaker at the Power of Inclusion Summit at Auckland’s Aotea Centre, has spent most of her adult life advocating for women and young girls on screen. She is founder and chairwoman of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a leading organisation working to achieve gender parity in film and TV. The institute’s manta: “If girls see it, they can be it.” Read More…

October 03, 2019

The Hollywood Reporter: Geena Davis Unveils Partnership With Disney to “Spellcheck” Scripts for Gender Bias

Geena Davis, the Oscar-winning actor and a tireless advocate for female representation onscreen, touched down Thursday in New Zealand to deliver the closing keynote speech at the country’s pioneering Power of Inclusion Summit, which was held in downtown Auckland.

Central to Davis’ presentation was the revelation that her Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media has partnered with Walt Disney Studios to deploy a new digital tool that uses AI technology to assess film and television scripts for gender bias.

“I’m very proud to announce we have a brand new partnership with Walt Disney Studios using Spell Check for Bias,” Davis said onstage. “They are our pilot partners and we’re going to collaborate with Disney over the next year using this tool to help their decision-making, identify opportunities to increase diversity and inclusion in the manuscripts that they receive. We’re very excited about the possibilities with this new technology and we encourage everybody to get in touch with us and give it a try.”

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October 03, 2019

Geena Davis Unveils Partnership With Disney to “Spellcheck” Scripts for Gender Bias

During a closing keynote speech at the New Zealand Power of Inclusion Summit, the actress explained how a new digital tool will prevent film and television works from perpetuating underrepresentation and stereotypes — and their pernicious real-world effects. Geena Davis, the Oscar-winning actor and a tireless advocate for female representation onscreen, touched down Thursday in New Zealand to deliver the closing keynote speech at the country’s pioneering Power of Inclusion Summit, which was held in downtown Auckland. Read More…

October 02, 2019

When Masculinity Turns ‘Toxic’: A Gender Profile Of Mass Shootings

Soon after a 19-year-old man killed three people and wounded more than a dozen at a festival in Gilroy, Calif., in late July, California Gov. Gavin Newsom noted something often taken for granted about mass shootings. Caroline Heldman is a professor of politics at Occidental College, a senior research adviser for the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and executive director of the Representation Project, a nonprofit started by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the governor’s spouse, that is devoted to challenging gender stereotypes. Efforts to reduce mass shootings should emphasize reducing what is often termed “toxic masculinity,” Heldman said, the pernicious societal norm that being a man means “you can’t show emotion, that you can’t seek help when you need it, essentially that you can’t be fully human, you can’t be vulnerable.” Read More…

October 01, 2019

Women bosses in movies are four times more likely than men to be nude

If there is a film with a powerful woman making important decisions about the fate of the word, it’s a good bet that she’ll be making those decisions in a skimpy outfit while putting up with sexual harassment and fighting to be heard. Those are just some of the distressing findings in a new report from Plan International and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media. Their research says the entertainment media still fails to show what it calls “high-quality” portrayal of girls and women. Read More…

September 30, 2019

How the top grossing films are warping our views of women

Plan International released research today revealing what continues to bring in the big bucks when it comes to movies: Stereotypical tropes and sexist portrayals of female characters are still ubiquitous. The report titled “Rewrite her story: How film and media stereotypes affect the lives and leadership ambitions of girls and young women”


 looked at the top grossing films in 2018, including Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Deadpool 2, and Mission Impossible-Fallout. Read More…

September 30, 2019

Gender parity on kids TV achieved

The annual report from Geena Davis Institute on Gender reveals that children’s television has achieved historic gender parity, but female and LGBTQ+ representation are still in need of improvement. The “See Jane 2019″ study analyzed representations of gender, race, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities in popular entertainment media in 2018, and concluded that in children’s television, the number of female leads and co-leads rose to 52%, from 42%, over the past decade. The analysis also reveals that female characters had roughly half of the screen and speaking time. However, gender parity doesn’t extend to supporting characters and minor characters in the same shows. Read More…

September 23, 2019

Actress Geena Davis discusses her passion for gender equality at NCJW/Cleveland luncheon

Actress Geena Davis says the film “Thelma and Louise” changed the course of her life. At the 125th opening luncheon of the National Council of Jewish Women/Cleveland on Monday (Sept. 23) at Landerhaven, Davis told a sold-out crowd of about 650 that women’s reaction to the classic film made her realize just how few opportunities there were to see empowered female characters on screen. “When that movie came out, suddenly women wanted to share with me what they thought of the movie, how it impacted them, how many times they saw it,” Davis said. “If I ever needed a lesson in the power of media images, I certainly had it.” Read More…

IF SHE CAN SEE IT, SHE CAN BE IT®