York St. John University held a showcase, as a part of the Aesthetica Short film festival, to honour some of their female alumni.

The panel featured six Media Production graduates who have since gone on to work in the U.K. TV and film industry.

The panel was chaired by Tracy Willits, a lecturer at the university, to give audience members and current students an insight into the industry, tips on how to get yourself noticed as well as what it’s like to be a woman working in TV and film.

The panel included Anna Bennet Squire, whose credits include Justice League, Aladdin, and, currently, Star Wars Episode IX in a time management role.

London-based Production Co-ordinator, Meridian Griffiths gave her knowledge from her background of working on a range of factual entertainment shows.

Another panellist is Lisa Cooke who graduated from the university in 2014. She now works in Manchester as a Junior Trainee, with a past of being a logger and runner for television.

Jesse Grace is the only panellist to divert from the TV and film industry to start her own photography company. She’s had a lifelong love for the camera and wanted to pursue that instead of being stuck in a job that she wouldn’t have enjoyed at much.

The final panellists in attendance were Sarah Broadbent and Aisling Anthony who stayed in York. Broadbent, along with other past York St. John students, founded award-winning production company Orillio. She works as an Assistant Producer and HR Director at the company. The company also later hired Anthony, also as an Assistant Producer.

When asked what it was like to be a woman in the industry, Squire said: “You don’t want to go to work every day and fight to be heard.” However, the whole panel reviled that they had mostly positive experiences on set and from the opposite gender.

Griffiths and Anthony also added that they luckily haven’t faced sexism issues in their fields and have a mix of both men and women. Anthony continued to say that if you do face sexism, you shouldn’t back down.

Squire gave the students the advice to stick to a simple one-page CV and a ensure you have a driver’s licence to make sure that companies don’t overlook you.

At the end of the panel, each of the women’s past films from their time at the university were displayed. Some of the panellists had not seen their projects in years so it was a surprise to them as well as the audience.