logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
1h 4m

Naomi McDougall Jones, "The Wrong Kind o...

Marshall Poe
About this episode

The Wrong Kind of Women: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood (Beacon, 2020) by Naomi McDougall Jones is a brutally honest look at the systemic exclusion of women in film—an industry with massive cultural influence—and how, in response, women are making space in cinema for their voices to be heard.

Generation after generation, women have faced the devastating reality that Hollywood is a system built to keep them out. The films created by that system influence everything from our worldviews to our brain chemistry. When women’s voices are excluded from the medium, the impact on society is immense. Actor, screenwriter, and award-winning independent filmmaker Naomi McDougall Jones takes us inside the cutthroat, scandal-laden film industry, where only 5% of top studio films are directed by women and less than 20% of leading characters in mainstream films are female. Jones calls on all of us to act radically to build a different kind of future for cinema—not only for the women being actively hurt inside the industry but for those outside it, whose lives, purchasing decisions, and sense of selves are shaped by the stories told.

Informed by the journey of her own career; by interviews with others throughout the film industry; and by cold, hard data, Jones deconstructs the casual, commonplace sexism rampant in Hollywood that has kept women out of key roles for decades. Next, she shows us the growing women-driven revolution in filmmaking—sparked by streaming services, crumbling distribution models, direct-to-audience access via innovative online platforms, and outside advocacy groups—which has enabled women to build careers outside the traditional studio system. Finally, she makes a business case for financing and producing films by female filmmakers.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose doctoral work focused on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/film

Up next
Aug 19
Thomas Christian Bächle and Jascha Bareis eds., "The Realities of Autonomous Weapons (Bristol UP, 2025)
Autonomous weapons exist in a strange territory between Pentagon procurement contracts and Hollywood blockbusters, between actual military systems and speculative futures. For this week's Liminal Library, I spoke with Jascha Bareis, co-editor of The Realities of Autonomous Weapon ... Show More
1 h
Aug 15
Prudence Peiffer, "The Slip: The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever" (Harper, 2023)
For just over a decade, from 1956 to 1967, a collection of dilapidated former sail-making warehouses clustered at the lower tip of Manhattan became the quiet epicenter of the art world. Coenties Slip, a dead-end street near the water, was home to a circle of wildly talented and v ... Show More
50m 30s
Aug 13
Alisha Mughal, "It Can’t Rain All the Time: The Crow" (ECW Press, 2025)
Alisha Mughal's It Can’t Rain All the Time: The Crow (ECW Press, 2025) weaves memoir with film criticism in an effort to pin down The Crow’s cultural resonance. A passionate analysis of the ill-fated 1994 film starring the late Brandon Lee and its long-lasting influence on action ... Show More
44m 21s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2024
America Ferrera - 'Barbie' [LIVE]
In front of an audience at Chapman University, the trailblazing actress, producer, director and activist reflects on the unlikely path to her breakthrough role in the indie film 'Real Women Have Curves'; becoming the first Latina ever to win the best actress in a comedy series Em ... Show More
1h 49m
Sep 2022
The Woman King
It certainly feels great to cover a good movie again! Our mini-run of new releases ends with Gina Prince-Bythewood’s crowd-pleaser - the African female warrior epic “The Woman King”. We’ve got David’s exclusive report on the film’s world premiere at TIFF (humblebrag), a deep dive ... Show More
1h 54m
Sep 2024
The State of Spec Scripts, ‘The Substance’ & Panama Filmmaking
Selling a script can feel like a distant dream, but the process is very much alive. From using platforms like The Black List to writing query letters and building personal connections, breaking into the industry is challenging but not impossible.Plus, we explore the rise of the P ... Show More
1h 37m
Aug 2021
How to Make Academy Award-winning Indie Films with Shadow Magic and Confetti writer & director Ann Hu.
On this week’s podcast, Giles Alderson welcomes writer & director Ann Hu to the show. She is the Chinese Academy Award-winning director of the feature film Shadow Magic (2000), starring Jared Harris. Now Ann is back with her delightful second feature film, Confetti, which is out ... Show More
52m 2s
Jul 4
Lights, Camera, Disruption: Breaking Taboos By Challenging Status Quo
In this episode of the No Film School Podcast, GG Hawkins presents two riveting conversations that push boundaries and challenge cultural taboos. First, she interviews Michael Taylor Jackson, writer, director, and star of the radically inventive film Orange Underground (Bajo Nara ... Show More
1h 23m
Jun 2024
How To Have Sex: lead actor & BAFTA Rising Star Mia McKenna-Bruce joins us!
We lure the amazing Mia McKenna-Bruce to our studio to discuss our fave film of last year: How To Have Sex. She stars as the central character of Tara in this stunning film exploring sexual consent, female friendship, toxic friendship, and self discovery. Mia gives us the scoop o ... Show More
48m 38s
Apr 2025
The Untold Stories of Palestine | Farah Nabulsi, Director of The Teacher & The Present
In this episode of Kawalis, we welcome Farah Nabulsi, the acclaimed director and writer behind films like "The Teacher" and the BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated "The Present." Nabulsi shares her powerful journey from her career in finance to filmmaking, highlighting her profound ... Show More
1h 13m
Feb 2019
Adam Levine-Maroon 5 Super Bowl Halftime; Jussie Smollett Attack - Meet The Hollywood Press
Adam Levine-Maroon 5’s Super Bowl Halftime moment has finally arrived -- he speaks out on the eve of the show about the fallout over his decision to perform. Jussie Smollett hits stage for first time since his attack and has a message for media and his attackers. A “Real Housewiv ... Show More
47m 43s
Jan 2024
Ava DuVernay Wants Her Film “Origin” to Influence the 2024 Election
The filmmaker Ava DuVernay has a reputation for tackling challenging material about America’s troubled past. She depicted the bloody fight to achieve equal voting rights for African Americans in her 2014 film “Selma”; examined the prison-industrial complex in her 2016 Peabody Awa ... Show More
33m 45s
Jan 2019
R. Kelly Backlash John Lasseter Hired? Julie Chen Moonves & More - Meet The Hollywood Press
The shocking allegations levied in the ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ docuseries sparks backlash, horror and a police investigation. Did Kevin Hart’s Oscar debacle damage ‘The Upside’ box office. Oscar host update. Disgraced Pixar chief John Lasseter’s rehiring sparks backlash and larger d ... Show More
59m 22s