“There’s a saying, Behind every great man is a great woman.” That saying has not been updated for decades. Until now.

An independent short film by a majority-female crew wants you to know that it’s time support went both ways. “Because beside every great man is a great woman.”

The film was written, shot, edited and released within two weeks, in time for International Women’s Day. Olivia Cheung, integrated producer at The Royals, and Cassie De Colling, awarded director with The Otto Empire, came together after hearing too many stories about discrimination and gender bias in the film and advertising workplace. They wrote the script over a weekend in order to make the film in time for International Women’s Day.

It follows three women in everyday situations where gender bias, presumption and misconception exist – sometimes in the most subtle ways. The 60-second core film is supported by four 30-second character spots – The Leader, The Underdog, The Creator and The Problem Solver, highlighting important roles women play.

The campaign’s portrayal of women excelling in fields perceived to be male-dominated takes its cue from this year’s IWD theme of #PressforProgress, whose aim is to motivate and unite friends, colleagues and whole communities to think, act and be gender inclusive.

In the Australian film industry, women make up 32% of producers and just 16% of directors and 23% of writers.

Cheung noted, “It was an ambitious goal to begin with. Typically a social campaign of this size would be planned for at least six months, and we managed to get this together from concept to delivery in three weeks, with the support of so many people willing to donate their time and skills.

“It just goes to show how many people connected with the #BesideNotBehind message – to make things truly equal and not about gender, it’s about supporting each other. There’s a lot of mixed feelings around the gender equality and feminist movement that can divide men and women, and that’s why we felt it was important to share a message that it’s about supporting each other, which I think is the unique thing about our campaign.”

De Colling added, “We’ve made a lot of progress in removing gender bias, differences in pay gap, creating more opportunities for women and men to stand shoulder to shoulder. I was keen to make a piece people would watch and feel like they could acknowledge the subtle differences of the current gender divide but more so be a part of the message of acknowledging and supporting each other.

“The thing that made this job so magic for me was looking around on set and seeing such a passionate crew of women and men championing the message #BesideNotBehind. It was incredibly fulfilling. Everyone involved has worked around the clock to create the best film possible given the resources and time. #BesideNotBehind gave us all an opportunity to expand our networks, learn from each other and have a truly iconic piece to show at the end.”

The film is also hosted on the Beside Not Behind Facebook page.
Credits:

Written by Cassie De Colling & Olivia Cheung

Directed by Cassie De Colling

Produced by Olivia Cheung

Talent:

THE CREATOR

Mum: Rebecca Bastiaensz

Dad: Carey Carter

Daughter: Lara Darwish

THE UNDERDOG

Female AFL Player: Siobhan Barnes

Male AFL Player: Chad O’Brien

Physio: Madeleine French

THE LEADER

Politician: Sally Cheng

Male Secretary: Jamie Hansen

PROBLEM SOLVER

Girlfriend: Heather Burridge

Boyfriend: Andrew Eggleton

P-Plater: Dean Smyth

Crew

Director: Cassie De Colling

Producer: Olivia Cheung

Director of Photography: Ashley Barron

Production Managers: Olivia Cheung, Justine Pitcher & Ema Thornell

Associate Producer: Michelle Lloyd

Location Scout: Francesca D’Orazio & Michelle Jones

Location Manager (Melb Water): Peter Kissonergis

Casting Agency: 2 Divas

Casting & Production Coordinator: Jessica To

Casting Support: Lauren Bailey & Jenna Eriksen

1st Assistant Director: Astrid Dominguez

1st Assistant Camera (Day 1): Karina Davies

1st Assistant Camera (Day 2): Vanessa Cox

2nd Assistant Camera: Felicia Smith

Gaffer: Daniel Carr

Best Boy: Tommi Hacker

Electrics: Markus Hilgert

Production Designer: Oosah Kerr

Art Dept Assistants: Lauren Bailey & Kerri Mould

Wardrobe: Lenna Boord

MUA (Day 1): Eve Flight

MUA (Day 2): Kate Radford

Production Assistants: Kean Szczur & Lauren Merritt

BTS Videographer: Amelia Mullooly

BTS Stills Photographer (Day 1): Jackson Gallagher

BTS Stills Photographer (Day 2): Dijana Risteska

Catering: Gail Bailey

PR & Marketing: Michelle Lloyd & Andrea Sophocleous

Post Production

Offline Editors: Grace Eyre & Max Miller

Online Editors: Wilfred Patriarca

Colour Grade: Edel Rafferty

Sound Design: Kathleen Burros

Music Composer: Ned Beckley

Voice-over: Natalie Bond

Recording Studio: Gusto Studio

Content Producer: Hossein Khodabandehloo

Support from:

The Royals, The Otto Empire, Panavision, 2 Divas, The Editors, The Refinery, Studio Pancho, Equate Studios, Noise International, Australian Cinematographers Society, Melbourne Water & Film Victoria

Special thanks to:

Nic Godoy and Greg Lloyd, Steve O’Farrell, Andrew Siwka, Dave King, Jo Jo De Fina, Gareth Sweet, Stuart Nightingale, Haley Kriksic, Claire Ambrosio, Andrea Sophocleous, Mika Tran Justine Pitcher, Kate Merrin, Alice Grant, Francesca D’Orazio, Ema Thornell, Amy Fong, Daniel Kim, Qiao Li, Hossein Khodabandehloo, Antuong Nguyen, Paul Bloomfield, Peter Kissonergis, Colin Simkins and Sean Calleja Ben Bickford, Leon the builder, Ben Tumney, Joe Loh, Warwick Field, Gail Bailey.