Two deadlines next week. Two children who keep wetting the bed. One partner out of the country for five days and a summons for Jury service to respond to (get out of). No I haven’t had time to watch the Milli-Brand interview.
Being a parent is like being in production 24 hours a day with no turnaround and more laundry. So it’s no wonder that making structural change around how parents (and children) and the family unit are regarded in society is a real challenge. The people most vested in change are the ones with the least time to do anything about it.
This week I met the inspirational Tamsyn Dent – a woman who has spent the last few years doing the real dirty work behind structural change. Collecting and analysing data. She’s a PhD student looking at gendered employment across the UK’s creative media industries and in particular the impact that motherhood has on women’s careers in the industry. She’s also a mother of two. You can read more about what she’s doing here.
We managed to talk for about an hour, or perhaps it was more like fifteen minutes. There was a lot of poo involved, a fair amount of lego and more than one sick horsey who needed wrapping in loo paper. I felt privileged that she had made the time to come and talk to me about her specialist subject on a bank holiday weekend, and really bad that I hadn’t got any cake in.
As important as it is to have first hand stories and experience in discussing what changes the film industry can make to better support its parent members, it is also clear we need someone not being licked hysterically by a two year old in day-of-the-week pants. Which is why we’re looking to hire.
We want to bring someone on to manage this project, and we’re looking for help (cash). If you want to know more, please stay in touch – we’ll be launching our fundraising campaign soon. We’re hoping this will leave us a little more time to do the two jobs we’re already juggling, not to mention all that bloody laundry.
Hope Dickson Leach