Dr. Courtney Brannon Donoghue is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Arts specializing in media industry studies, global media, and cultural studies. Her research broadly utilizes critical media industry studies approach, grounded in industry interviews and international fieldwork, to explore the intersection between local media professionals working for transnational companies and broader forces of gatekeeping, access, and power.
Published by University of Texas Press, 2023
Conversations about gender equity in the workplace accelerated in the 2010s, with debates inside Hollywood specifically pointing to broader systemic problems of employment disparities and exploitative labor practices. Compounded by the devastating #MeToo revelations, these problems led to a wide-scale call for change. The Value Gap traces female-driven filmmaking across development, financing, production, film festivals, marketing, and distribution, examining the realities facing women working in the industry during this transformative moment. Drawing from five years of extensive interviews with female producers, writers, and directors at different stages of their careers, Courtney Brannon Donoghue examines how Hollywood business cultures “value” female-driven projects as risky or not bankable. Industry claims that “movies targeting female audiences don’t make money” or “women can’t direct big-budget blockbusters” have long circulated to rationalize systemic gender inequities and have served to normalize studios prioritizing the white male–driven status quo. Through a critical media industry studies lens, The Value Gap challenges this pervasive logic with firsthand accounts of women actively navigating the male-dominated and conglomerate-owned industrial landscape.
Host: Dr. Swapnil Rai
Co-Host and Producer: Amber Hardiman
Editor: Sachin Sukumar