About Female Writers

In her interview, Colette Freedman touched on a hot topic in the theatre community - the lack of female playwrights being produced. It turns out it's not just the theatre industry though, a recent study has shown a decline in female writers in television.

In the 2006-2007 television season, 35 percent of the writers of broadcast network, prime-time programs were women, according to an annual study by San Diego State University's Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. In the 2010-2011 season, that number had dropped by more than half, to 15 percent.

Maureen Ryan, from AOL TV, decided to investigate this by talking to some people in the industry. Her anecdotal findings are interesting.

Any thoughts? Do we think women just aren't submitting? Are they avoiding the industry altogether? Are they being overlooked and ignored? I will say, I find it interesting that, quite without any planning, the bulk of Dragon's 2011 season was written by women. Theresa Rebeck. Ellen McLaughlin. Colette Freedman. Marie Jones. There are women writing scripts worth producing. How many female writers were produced on Broadway this year?