Busted Buggy Entertainment Shares Potential Women-Centric Projects

When asked what types of stories Busted Buggy Entertainment (BBE) might collaborate on in the future, owner, Courtney Daniels, shared that she’s currently fascinated with period pieces set around World War II.

“I would love to tell a story about the women who had to take on what were considered men’s jobs,” Daniels says. “The women in the factories—some had been to college and some hadn’t; they had kids at home and a spouse at war. They carried it all, work, home and country. Then when the men came home, they were told to go back to the house.”

Another aspect Daniels hopes to explore on screen would focus on communications during that time period.

“Today, we’re so attached to our cellphone,” she explains. “I know of this one couple that was separated in Europe during World War II. They had two children, and the husband was away at war. The Nazis were coming and she had to move countries. Then after she’d settled with the children in the new country—the same thing happened, and they had to move again to another country. When the war was over, her husband found her—several countries away! How?”

There are many female-driven stories to tell based in both fiction and fact and a key goal of BBE is to shed light on these unique tales.

“There are so many incredible stories about the regular, everyday woman in history,” Daniels says, “I can’t wait to help share them.”

According to Women in Film, female representation across the top grossing films of 2014 had dismal percentages. Movies with female lead characters peaked at 21 percent, with 18.9 percent of producers women and 11.2 percent of writers female. Daniels is well aware of the uphill battle many women face in the world of filmmaking.

“Women have this enormous capacity for love and compassion and it’s often viewed as a weakness in the industry,” Daniels explains, “I’d love to see it shown as an advantage. It’s a strength.”

Although women make up 51 percent of the United States population and purchase 50 percent of movie tickets, they represented 30 percent of all speaking roles in the top 100 grossing films of 2014. Since women are routinely shut out of opportunities both on screen and behind the camera, Daniels founded Busted Buggy Entertainment to offer more female-focused and female-driven productions.

Despite the gender wage gap, with a woman earning on average 78 cents to a man’s dollar, there has been a steady rise in female breadwinners.

“Women today are often the breadwinners and still they’re doing the laundry, ironing, making the kids’ lunches…” Daniels says. “That takes strength. I’d like to see more opportunities for women in film in order to better represent the population watching these movies.”