When music supervisor/podcaster Alysha Main met actor/writer/TV host Laura Ellis at a Hamilton Film Festival screening, that was the question hanging in the room where just one woman stood in a line of 20 filmmakers. Laura and Alysha were soon joined by award winning filmmaker Cher Obediah and actor/producer Laura Wilson where together they launched the Hamilton LOFT (Ladies of Film & Television).
Hamilton is a top filming location in Canada with over 140 productions filmed locally in 2019. Despite some progress, research from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission shows that women still face barriers to career advancement citing that a lack of gender parity in key creative positions needs to be addressed.
The Hamilton LOFT (Ladies of Film & TV) seeks to help break these barriers and bring together people who identify as womxn* working in all areas of filmmaking.
Our main objectives are to:
- Create content that is predominantly female-driven, focusing on issues that affect womxn and minorities
- Grow a diverse team of underrepresented artists/groups including BIPOC and LGBTQ2SIA+
- Build skills and confidence of womxn through working in cross-disciplinary, supportive teams
- Demonstrate that a local, all-female identified production team is achievable
- Address challenges that women and minorities in the industry face
- Showcase the achievements of women in Hamilton’s film industry
- Team up with local film organizations/community partners to mutually support our vision by collaborating on events/projects and providing accessible opportunities for womxn to share space, knowledge, and tools.
- Identify mentors in the film community who consult on projects and teach affordable workshops
*The Hamilton L.O.F.T. uses an all-emcompassing definition of “womxn /woman /female /lady” which includes but is not limited to cis, trans-identifying, non-binary, and other.
