The cult-classic television drama "The X-Files" has gone under fire for choosing to have an all-male writer's room for the show's upcoming 11th season. According to TVLine, Chris Carter, the show's creator, recruited franchise newcomers Brad Folder, Carter’s personal assistant during seasons 8 and 9, Gabe Rotter, a former writing assistant on season 9, and Benjamin Van Allen, a writers assistant on Season 10, to write episodes for the newest season along with writing vets Glen Morgan, Darin Morgan and James Wong.
Gillian Anderson, the show's starring detective and medical doctor Dana Scully, has taken to twitter with a message that seems to address the controversy. In it, Anderson acknowledges the absence of female directors throughout the entirety of the show.
And 2 out of 207 eps directed by women. I too look forward to the day when the numbers are different. #TheFutureisFemalehttps://t.co/38SVdTfCR1
— Gillian Anderson (@GillianA) June 29, 2017
This isn't the first time Anderson has addressed the show's sexism. In 2015, she was initially offered half the pay of her counterpart David Duchovny for the revival season of "The X-Files". “It was shocking to me, given all the work that I had done in the past to get us to be paid fairly," Anderson told the Daily Beast. "I worked really hard toward that and finally got somewhere with it.”
However, The "X-Files" isn't the only production that excludes women. In a 2016 study done by San Diego State University examining women in TV and film found that women working in behind-the-scenes positions like directors, writers, and producers make up only 27 percent of all individuals employed in that field. The study notes that the employment of behind-the-scenes women has stalled, making "no meaningful progress over the last decade." It also reports 60 percent of programs employed four women or less, while only seven percent of programs employed four men or less.
Season 11 of "The X-Files" will begin production this summer with a release date set for late 2017.
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