YouTube partners with Geena Davis, U.N. to empower female creators
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. -- GloZell Green said working in the entertainment industry can often entail collaborating with "boys, boys, boys, men, men, men."
But as the YouTube star prepares for motherhood, Green said she hopes future generations can work in a more diverse world -- filled with even more female role models.
That's where YouTube wants to help.
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The video giant announced a new program Wednesday, just ahead of International Women's Day on March 8, designed to empower female creators to catalyze even more female-driven content on the platform.
For the inaugural women-led program, YouTube funded about 50 productions, which were filmed on sets constructed specifically for this initiative at spaces in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo and New York. The video topics include women in the workforce, health, science, engineering, music, comedy and scripted content.
To help with the productions, YouTube tapped seven successful female creators -- Green, Anna Akana (from the U.S.), Alexys Fleming (from the U.S.), Julia Veiga Faria (from Brazil), Em Ford (from the U.K.), Nilam Farooq (from Germany) and Kuma Miki (from Japan) -- who serve as creative directors and mentors. They provided everything from guidance and tips to cameos in videos.
"We are in this time where we have to say, ‘hey we are women and it’s time for us to be celebrated,'" Green told Mashable. "I don’t think there’s ever enough of that."
Drawing strength from famous female figures who faced adversity, the group of creative directors also met in L.A. at the end of February to film the program's kick-off video "Women Create."
Green said she was honored to channel Madam CJ Walker, the first female millionaire, for the video. Not to mention, working with all female creators was "like a breath of a fresh air."
Others on set with Green echoed her enthusiasm for the program.
"I was so honored to do this 'mega-collab' and program," Faria, known as JoutJout Prazer on YouTube, told Mashable. "Sometimes you have all it takes but you don't go and get it because you are a girl."
For the kick-off video, Faria dressed as Pagu, a Brazilian writer, poet, playwright, journalist and translator.
At the space in Sao Paulo, she helped 15 creators on their videos and collaborated with an additional nine creators to do joint videos.
Ford, a beauty video blogger, said it was important for her to spread positive messages to other women after learning how to deal with a slew of mean commenters on her videos.
She said she and the creators she helped in London "really bonded" when spending time together at the space.
"It was so lovely to speak with different women and hear their experiences on YouTube, what they are hoping to do and how they are being inspired by other creators," she told Mashable.
For the L.A. video, she dressed as her style icon Marilyn Monroe.
Also helping with the program: The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. The nonprofit, which works to improve gender depictions on-screen and behind-the-camera, provided consultations to creators as they worked on their videos.
"Entertainment today often depicts a society where there are far fewer female characters than male characters, and the characters that are female are often more stereotyped," Davis, an Academy Award-winning actor, said in a statement. “We need more strong female voices represented in media so that this gender balance becomes normal to the young girls who are turning on their screens. By taking this step to empower and represent more female voices on YouTube, I hope that more young girls and women around the world can be inspired to be part of the creative community.”
All the content made through the program will be uploaded to a playlist on the YouTube Spaces channel throughout March.
As part of the new program, YouTube also partnered with the U.N. for a new yearlong partnership that "appoints top female creators on the platform as Change Ambassadors, a group of millennial influencers dedicated to fighting for gender equality as part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals."
The Change Ambassadors this year are: Ingrid Nilsen (U.S.), Jackie Aina (U.S.), Yuya (Mexico), Taty Ferreira (Brazil), Hayla Ghazal (U.A.E), Louise Pentland (U.K.) and Chika Yoshida (Japan).
“YouTube has always been a platform where women of all ages and backgrounds can find their voice and tell their stories," Susan Wojcicki, YouTube CEO, said in a statement."Through our global YouTube Spaces program and new partnership with the UN, we'll strengthen female voices on YouTube and around the world."
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Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
