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>>> For Immediate Release <<<
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MOVIESBYWOMEN.COM TEAMS WITH GUERRILLA GIRLS
FOR 2006 AWARDS SEASON BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN

Billboard Highlights Gender and Racial Inequalities in the Entertainment Industry

August 25, 2005 (LOS ANGELES) – Hollywood-based MoviesByWomen.com and the Guerrilla Girls announced their “Startling Statistics” campaign for the 2005-2006 film awards season will be in place during the March 2006 Oscar season on a billboard located in Hollywood, California, just down the street from the Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards®.  Grassroots efforts, led by film director Tara Veneruso are already in place to strategically build awareness of the gender and racial inequalities in the film business, while capitalizing on the entertainment industry’s heightened consciousness as movie studios actively campaign for the various awards for their films. MoviesByWomen.com is leading the Guerrilla Girls’ 2006 campaign by raising funds for the billboard

MoviesByWomen.com highlights feature films directed by women, supporting them the first weekend they are theatrically distributed through the infamous weekly email known as THE FIRST WEEKENDERS GROUP. The Guerrilla Girls, a rogue group of anonymous females who build awareness for inequalities in the art and entertainment industries with members of THE FIRST WEEKENDERS GROUP, launched the first “Anatomically Correct Oscar” billboard campaign in 2002 and a second campaign in 2003. The location of the billboard during the height of awards season in Los Angeles created a furor in the domestic and international communities with articles in such media affiliates as the Los Angeles Times and NBC-TV to the BBC in London. It is expected the 2006 campaign will do the same.

From the Guerrilla Girl’swebsite: “We've received many, many letters and lots of press about our billboard… We were on Access Hollywood, NBC-TV, CBS-TV and many radio shows, from Feminist Magazine on KPFK-LA to Larry Elder's drive time talk radio show on KABC-LA. Even the conservative call-in shows were supportive--turns out Republicans hate Hollywood even more than they hate feminism!”

The 2006 billboard campaign will highlight these frightening facts:

Women comprised 5% of all directors working on the top 250 films of 2004, down from 11% in 2000. 6% of government in Afghanistan is women, a better statistic than Hollywood.  Women comprise 14% of the United States Senate. Hollywood likes to be cutting edge, but is lagging behind every other industry in terms of equality for women and people of color.

“Every year the Guerrilla Girls’ billboard has been up, people talk about it, and are usually surprised that the directing community is still a white man’s domain.  Our hope is that talk will lead to action,” said Tara Veneruso, director of the feature documentary, “Janis Joplin Slept Here”, who also leads content for MoviesByWomen.com and The First Weekenders Group.  “MoviesByWomen is proud to give its support for another successful campaign in 2006.”

About MoviesByWomen.com and THE FIRST WEEKENDERS GROUP

Moviesbywomen.com is a grassroots collective that grows from the passions of women directors who work toward increasing the awareness of women's contributions to film and television history. Run by volunteers, including film director Tara Veneruso and her production company, Flaming Angel Films, the site is dedicated to raising awareness and gaining equality for women directors and maintains an ongoing campaign to unite women film organizations nationwide. Information on historic female directors, statistics on women directors, and Director interviews are also featured.

Moviesbywomen.com hosts the weekly email THE FIRST WEEKENDERS GROUP, to promote ticket buying for feature films directed by women the first weekend they are theatrically distributed, and to help drive viewership for women-directed films aired on television. Launched in 1999, Tara began the list for 80 filmmakers who wanted to be made aware of women directed feature films. THE FIRST WEEKENDERS GROUP subscriber list has grown to include over 3000 members nation wide. 

About the Guerrilla Girls

Since 1985 the Guerrilla Girls have been reinventing the “F” word—feminism, that is. Still going strong in the 21st century, anonymous females take the names of dead women artists as pseudonyms and appear in public wearing gorilla masks. In 18 years Guerrilla Girls produced over 100 posters, stickers, books, printed projects, and actions that expose sexism and racism in politics, the art world, film and the culture at large. Using humor to convey information, provoke discussion, and show that feminists can be funny, members wear gorilla masks to focus on the issues rather than personalities. Dubbing themselves the conscience of culture, they declare themselves feminist counterparts to the mostly male tradition of anonymous do-gooders like Robin Hood, Batman, and the Lone Ranger. Their work has been passed around the world by kindred spirits who the Guerrilla Girls are proud to have as supporters. It has also appeared in hundreds of newspapers and magazines, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vogue, The Nation, Bitch and Bust; on TV and radio, including NPR, CNN, the BBC and CBC; and in countless art and feminist texts. The mystery surrounding their identities has attracted attention. They could be anyone; they are everywhere.