There are not enough women* in film and video. And at KitSplit we want to help fix that.

We know how important mentorship can be when it comes to achieving professional success. But for newcomers, finding mentors can be difficult. And with so few women in positions of power in the film industry, it can be especially difficult for women.

Today, we’re excited to launch a program for free coaching sessions for women in film and video. Accomplished KitSplit community members have volunteered their time to offer these free sessions for women in the industry. Sign up here! There were 15 coaches (and counting!) with a range of impressive expertise, from documentary directors to film festival programmers and more.

We believe the value of mentorship is irreplaceable. It’s a key element of success via providing the opportunity to get career advice, broaden one’s perspective, and build the confidence to ‘lean in’ and speak up. A study in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that those with mentors are more likely to get promoted. And 75% of executives say mentoring has been critical to their career development.

Coaches and mentors may be even more helpful for women than men. A study from the University of California found that women gained more social capital from affiliation with a high-status mentor than their male counterparts.

But mentorship can be harder to come by for women, especially in male-dominated fields like film and video. Female filmmakers represent only 10% of directors, 8% of writers, and 2% of cinematographers.

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Taking action is one of our core values at KitSplit

We started KitSplit with a mission to democratize visual storytelling and make sure every visual creator has the resources they need to succeed (read our values). Our core focus so far has been one specific resource: easy, affordable camera gear rentals. But we are always eager to leverage our knowledge and community to connect more visual creators to more resources. Today, that’s broadened to include mentorship for women in the field. (You can always count on us to encourage you to brag, and brag for you!)

This project was inspired by, and borrows from, the open-source project “Digital Women Leaders”, a mentorship resource for women in journalism created by Katie Hawkins-Gaar. Want to make a version of this project for your own industry? Go for it—Katie even made a guide for that!

We have a long way to go—and a lot of work to do—to level the playing field in film & video and beyond. Until then, we hope this program is a meaningful step forward—one that helps women in our community get inspired and level up. Check out the site [link], spread the word, and book a session today!

*We believe that gender is a spectrum, and welcome a plurality of feminine voices including trans, queer and non-binary people.

More Resources

For those looking for additional resources in the realm of coaching or mentorship for women in film and video, we also recommend these resources:

Another great way to support women filmmakers is with KitSplit Gift Certificates.

Subscribe to our newsletter for more KitSplit news. And As always, let us know if you have any questions or feedback.

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