Women in Film Panel “Women-Led Financing”: Ask for What You Want

ByPhyllis Zimbler Miller

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The numerous pearls of wisdom dispensed at the May 6, 2019, Women in Film panel “Women-Led Financing: The Transformation Continues” held at The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills included the encouragement to ask for what you want.

While this may at first sound simplistic, for women especially this may be hard to do whether from fear of rejection or experiences of being told “no” so many times. Yet as one panelist said, if the answer is “no” you are no worse off than if you hadn’t asked.

The panel was moderated by Adrienne Becker, CEO, Level Forward, and the panelists were:

  • Sheila Driscoll, Managing Director, Sisters First/Billionaire Foundation
  • Anita Gou, Founder, Kindred Spirit
  • Deborah McIntosh, Partner, Endeavor Content
  • Viviana Zarragoitia, Vice President, Three Point Capital

Reviewing the panel discussion, I suddenly recalled something that I had done in the 1970s at a weekly newspaper in Philadelphia and forgotten about for almost two decades — changing the newspaper’s editorial style so that women could die in their own names.

I hadn’t remembered this until my family visited relatives in Philadelphia when my two daughters were teens and we stopped in to say hello to my old colleagues at the newspaper. That’s when these colleagues told my daughters about my efforts to change the paper’s obituary style.

As we explained to my daughters — before the change a woman’s obit gave the name of her husband, such as Mrs. John Jones (nee White), and her own first name was never mentioned. I worked to change that.

While this incident far in the past may seem unimportant, it is connected to the struggles that women still have in all walks of life for equal representation in their own right.

The Women in Film panel’s advice included, in addition to asking for what you want, collaborating rather than competing and being very clear about your motivation and what you want to accomplish.

Another valuable piece of advice from the panel is repeated in this tweet from @WomenInFilm:

Panelist Sheila Driscoll of The Billionaire Foundation reminded the audience of the adage: “When you make it to the top, don’t forget to send the elevator back down…” It’s part of the #WomenInFilm mission statement: “Women helping women cultivates the next generation.”

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