We Made a TV Show with Women 50+ (Because Hollywood Wouldn't)

We did a really crazy thing. We went up a Swiss mountain and shot the pilot episode of $HARE, an independent TV series, with women over 50 looking like... well, women over 50. We didn’t have a makeup department on location, and we didn’t use any fancy lighting tricks - just a handful of actresses looking like they actually appear in the wild, just as your friends, colleagues, and neighbours would.

But first things first.

Ten years ago, as I was nearing my mid-40s, I noticed something odd: women my age were vanishing from our film and TV screens. At first, I thought I was imagining things. But then I couldn't unsee it. Research and stats by the American Geena Davis Institute and the European Malisa Foundation confirmed my suspicion. Women in the second half of life are censored from our film and TV screens.

So where did all the female working actors go? Did they leave voluntarily? Were they politely escorted off the stage? And if so, by whom? Was there some secret commission that told my actor friends it was time for a French exit? Did they just politely follow along the emergency exit lighting or did some of them fight tooth and nail to stay? I started to develop a theory about a Mediterranean island somewhere, populated entirely by female actors over 40.

Ask anyone in the film industry about why this is happening and you'll be met with uncomfortable silence. But it’s not just shoulder shrugging. When I won The Writers Lab UK & Europe - with the pilot screenplay of $HARE, producers were interested – but only if I lowered the age of the female protagonist from 59 to 35. They loved the concept of the show – a Swiss Succession, money, family intrigue and all of it set on a winter campsite near St. Moritz. $HARE could travel internationally they said. But not with an old woman in the lead.

This is how The Writers Lab founder Elizabeth Kaiden puts it: ‘Women over 40 make up 25% of the world population, and women over 50 control $19 billion, yet this demographic remains ignored by Hollywood and streamers. AI won’t change that — only women will’.

And so we did! Instead of lowering the age of my protagonist, I founded Zenka Films my very own film production company. Which is just the sort of thing middle-aged women get up to. (More about my founder’s journey on my Substack Startup with 50.)

And when I started to look around for women who might join me on my adventure it turned out they had not left. Neither do they want to spend all their remaining days sunbathing on a Mediterranean island. Quite to the contrary. They were more than ready to jump back into action, brace the cold, stomp through the snow and join me up on that winter campsite in the Swiss Alps.

One moment those guardians of non-gender parity were looking the other way – and hop, here we are again. Taking up space. Making plenty of noise. Having the best time. Telling stories that matter.

One advantage of age? We no longer sit around wondering whether it's okay to do this. Nor do we ask for permission to open the door. We just dismantle the gates and walk straight back in.

And our audience isn’t running for the hills. Viewers are not shocked, disoriented, bored, or any of the other emotions producers warned me about when they said a 59-year-old female protagonist was ‘commercially suicidal’.

Our audience is excited to watch $HARE and to see real women on screen. Women with crazy stories, women who never had kids. Others had kids, but they don’t have grandkids. And some have grandkids – and they adore them! - but that’s just one part of their reality. Their days, weeks and months, and their life’s purpose can’t be boiled down to or summed up with ‘she’s a grandparent now’. There’s more. Much more.

We set out to change this with $HARE. Having women in the second half of life appear on screen may sound perfectly reasonable to you. But to the film industry people? They thought I'd lost my mind (some still do). ‘Who would want to see these ladies on screen?’

Which is why actors like Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman fund The Writers Lab. They are the exception to the rule and they know it. They have seen their colleagues disappear and they know that the scripts and roles they get offered should be much more exciting, much more reflective of the rich and varied lives women lead in their second half.

Turns out, women actually love seeing themselves on screen. Shocking, right? Who could have predicted that humans enjoy watching stories about other humans who look like them? Don't take my word for it. A month ago, Caroline Criado Perez, author of feminist bestseller Invisible Women, wrote about $HARE, ageism and the lack of gender parity in film in her Substack.

From the moment it came out we were flooded with donations. Women from all over the world sent financial support and the most amazing comments.

Here are some:

· Time to overcome these obstacles and patriarchal paradigms! F@&& this- let’s go!

· I'm cackling and rubbing my wrinkled old hands together. I can't wait to see $HARE!

· Love what you’re doing… modelling the way forward.

· Go for it. We are by your side!

· This is my moms age and I want her to be represented in TV as well. Thank you for this!

· Nolite te bastardes coborundorum!

· I'm 60, do this!

It turns out that making television with and about women who refuse to disappear attracts others who feel the same way. Because this isn’t just about the film business – our industry is just a reflection of something that happens all across the world.

The great thing? When you decide to challenge the film industry's views on women over 50, you realize you're not alone.

Yes, it's a rocky road, and yes, we're broke, and no, we don't know yet how we'll get episodes two to five produced (but we will, don't you worry). Because here's the thing about women over 50 - we've got staying power. We've learned to play the long game. And we're just getting started!

Join team $HARE by watching the pilot episode.

Tell your friends and let’s show the world that women 50+ don't just fade away – if anything, they climb higher.

zenkafilms.com

They will start streaming $HARE from January 21, 2025.

Link: https://share-tvseries.com/