We are living in a truly wonderful time. For the first time in many years, I see real opening – some real possibilities for women to participate in fields that have been largely closed to us. As a result of wonderful research being done about gender in the media landscape, we finally have tools for discussion – numbers and statistics that tell a truth that many of us have known. Now the conversation has become more industry-wide.
I certainly never envisioned participating in an organization like this. I had hoped that we would not need something like this. I had hoped that my career, plus the careers of a few of my contemporaries and those who have come before us, would create a myriad of opportunities, equal opportunities for everyone.
When Miriam Cutler, Lolita Ritmanis and I first started talking, our goals were really quite simple. We thought we might do a concert to highlight the diversity of music in our community. But we quickly saw that so much more was needed. We saw that advocacy was a key part of what we could do. We could help each other and other women as well. We could help mentor, educate, and promote the music of our colleagues. We quickly forged deep bonds and envisioned ambitious goals.
Our aim for the Alliance is in five years to grow larger than anyone could possibly imagine, and in ten years, become utterly unnecessary.
The directory is a huge part of this mission. We want to show that there are many many qualified women composers. We have the credits. We have the skills. We have the experience. No longer will any director, producer, game developer, executive be able to say that there are no women composers. We have multitudes and they are listed.
The Alliance is an all-volunteer organization. Please let us know if you’re interested in volunteering and what special skills you might bring to the table. We are looking for hosts for gatherings, data entry, web management, music editing and mastering. I look forward to meeting each and every one of you at one of our gatherings.
Together, we can open the ears and minds of our industry.
Laura Karpman
Founding President
AWFC