Women comprised 20% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the top 100 (domestic) grossing films. Because there is a lack of women in the industry, stories are not being told through a women’s lens. With women representing 50% of movie watchers, there’s a tremendous gap in the industry yet to be fulfilled.
MirrorWater Entertainment
MirrorWater Entertainment (MWE) operates globally as a film development and production company and is based in the valley of the highest mountain in Germany, the Zugspitz Region. It maintains its representation in Los Angeles, California, and Bethesda, Maryland. MWE specializes in feature films, TV shows, and documentaries for various platforms.
Christina G. Rose is an independent filmmaker and the CEO of MWE. Rose comments, “We are a family-run business working in collaboration with handpicked producers that care about more than just the bottom line. By fostering growth and development, honesty, and fairness and by pushing each other to our creative limits, we believe in delivering content that is passionate, entertaining, educational, and real.”
Empowered: Women Shaping the Future
MWE recently launched an exciting new docu-series, Empowered: Women Shaping the Future. The series follows six women who chose to serve in leadership roles primarily dominated by men. Each episode documents each woman’s individual struggles to get where they are today.
“Our focus was on the path these women chose and the challenges of taking on leadership roles in industries that are mostly male, Christina says. “Showing the truth behind their success and what it takes to smash through glass ceilings.”
A pilot from Mumbai, India, mentioned her challenge in defying the cultural stereotypes. She is the youngest woman to command the largest single-engine jet in the world, and she confided that she has at times struggled to gain the respect of her male peers,” Christina states. “She has shown exceptional courage in going through all of the training and getting her license so that she could take her place in the cockpit. She is incredible!”
In Puerto Rico, Christina spent a great deal of time interviewing the first woman to play in the men’s baseball league. She also manages a girls’ softball team. “The kids clearly respected her,” she recalled, smiling at the memory. “She’s able to hit a baseball a lot further than some men, and her girls get so excited when she nails it. She has spent a lot of time using softball to teach them skills they can use away from the field.”
Christina recalls the chaos and energy of the Formula 3 racetrack in Sepang, Malaysia, where she met a Hungarian female driver who reveled in keeping up with her male competitors. “It’s not a sport that sees many female participants, so she’s made a lot of waves. She is the first to jump into her car, and when the race starts, she goes just as fast as the men do, including her boyfriend, David Schumacher. When she started in touring cars before transitioning to formula cars, she crashed and flipped six times, yet she couldn’t wait to get back on the track. She placed second in the next race.”
In Germany, Christina filmed an astrophysicist who is working toward becoming the first German woman to leave Earth and explore space. “She is completely dedicated to learning more about what lies beyond what we know of the universe,” Christina remembers. “There are incredible barriers that must be overcome, and we captured them as well as her backstory, making her dream even more poignant.”
In Alaska, Christina braved icy waters with a salmon fishing business owner. “I was impressed by how strong she is,” Christina shares. “Fishing day after day is tough, especially when you live in such an isolated area and the sea is so rough. What makes her story notable is that she chose to focus on the environmental and sustainable hook-and-line fishing method since Alaska is one of the last places on earth where wild salmon still thrive. She said she has learned a lot about herself and how important her work is to preserving our planet.”
Christina followed a Chinese/New Zealand orchestra conductor in Finland and Australia who had music in her soul. “Artists and musicians have strong emotions, but Tianyi is so masterfully calm and focused that it’s not surprising that she leads orchestras in concert halls all around the world. However, since she left China and grew up in New Zealand, the search for her identity is on full display when she conducts Dvorjak’s Symphony 9, “From the New World,” and I think it is what many immigrants can relate to. She is so incredibly talented.”
With the filmmaking industry still underrepresented and far from giving women a fair shot, Christina was told many times that this series wouldn’t attract an audience. Rejections, however, didn’t stop her. With a diverse crew, she pulled off the impossible and created a series that not only teaches women to take on challenges but inspires and empowers anyone who’s ever been told they aren’t good enough.
Christina knows about the challenges that await women in the professional world. After earning her MFA from the University of Southern California, she worked internationally at Arad Productions and Exclusive Media and in distribution at ZDF-Enterprises. Upon co-founding MirrorWater Entertainment LLC with her brother, she set out to make films that would make waves.
“We want to entertain, yes, but more than that, we want to educate and enlighten,” she says. “We want to give voice to the stories that go beyond the latest superhero movie and instead explore the successes, challenges, and even failures that people all over the world experience every day.”
These six women are becoming the example for today’s women-women of all backgrounds, races, and beliefs. Christina emphasizes, “They are not driven by money, fame, or glory. They are just ordinary women doing extraordinary things in professions where few women have dared to tread.”
MWE hopes to hold a special screening for International Women’s Day in 2022. Empowered: Women Shaping the Future is available for streaming on MirrorWater Entertainment for those who can’t wait.
