How do you approach collaboration and teamwork in a male-dominated industry?
With confidence and clarity I guess, and calmness when necessary. Comfort in that has come with experience.
I still suffer from imposter syndrome, as do a lot of people I know – especially women, although it might just be that women are more prepared to talk about it.
Thankfully my reputation does precede itself nowadays but people were quite wary of trusting their programme with me when I first moved to London. It was tempting to feel like this was because I was a woman and an unusual sight to see behind the mixing console, but I do now realise that it would be the same situation if I was a man.
Clients have put their heart and soul into their films so they want a trusted pair of hands in the final stages, and usually can’t afford the time or the money to try someone out that they don’t know.
Teamwork can occasionally be difficult when people think they know well enough already and don’t naturally lean towards listening to my advice or instructions. I have learnt to be patient in these situations and people usually eventually realise that I know what I’m talking about.
Have you faced any specific challenges as a woman working in post-production?
In 2024, there is such a lack of females in a dubbing/re-recording mixer roles in the industry so still have people I meet assuming I must be in production, or editorial, and I even got asked if I could fetch the coffees at a recent event when I was one of three mixers, but the only female.
However, I have to accept that although it would be preferable for people’s ‘go to’ to be ‘she could be a mixer’, I know I am special, so it’s much better to try not to take it personally and educate people and inspire the next generation rather than to get upset or angry about it.
It’s mainly a generational thing because of their experiences, and until things are better balanced I don’t think this will change. It takes years to gain this amount of experience so I know it’s not going to change overnight – but things are changing slowly and we are seeing more young women.
At Azimuth I am lucky enough to have the talented Isabel Derr as my assistant and we will have more brilliant creative women join the team as the department grows.
How have you seen the landscape of post-production change throughout your career?
It’s certainly been slow, but it is happening. A lot of the post houses across the country have really sat up over the past few years and pushed hard to find young women that want to get in the tech and creative roles but there are still so many barriers. It’s so difficult to be able to afford to live in London where such a large proportion of the post houses are based, and therefore where runners’ positions and training opportunities are.
Also, a lot of people just don’t know my job exists, so it’s getting back to the grass roots of education, especially targeting girls and showing the possible roles and routes into the industry rather than the old school ‘mates’ route in.
What unique perspectives or strengths do you believe women bring to working in post-production?
It’s hard to pin down really as it varies so much from person to person, and it’s not like men don’t have a lot of these qualities too, but for me I know I think about things in a different way than a lot of my male colleagues have over the years.
I love figuring out why things aren’t working, and working my way through a problem with a process of elimination to find out how to fix something or prevent it happening again, rather than just making it work for now and forgetting about it.
I often look at a broader picture rather than the moment, but that might be from my experience as a head of department. It’s hard to know what is down to me being a woman and what is down to my experience. I feel like maybe our immediate reaction of ‘am I good enough to compete with all of these men?’ might be a difficult one to deal with at the time, but it makes us stronger in the long run.
I’ve worked really hard to get here and don’t regret any late night or stressed weekend as it’s all added up to my experience, attitude and ability that has got me here.
What can the industry do to further support and promote gender equality and inclusivity?
We need to find the young women, show them that these super cool jobs exist, show them that they can do them, and help them find the opportunities to make it happen and support them through it. I know that’s easier said than done but we need to pull together and do what we can. From Rise, Women in Film and TV, the Ch4 PP Scheme and Screenskills, there’s some fabulous schemes and access out there we need to help build on so that we can pass on our experience and help the next generation of awesome women in post-production find their place.
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