Director Liz W. Garcia used to go to work every day in a costume: 'This is not who I am'

Writer and director Liz W. Garcia arrived on set to start filming Prime Video original Space Cadet wearing a costume.

It wasn't the kind you find in a Halloween store though; it was the costume millions of talented women wear just to be taken seriously in a world that second-guesses their competence at every turn.

Garcia was wearing the costume of a man.

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"I caught myself wearing cargo pants the first few days, and I was like, 'Oh, I'm wearing a costume,'" she tells 9honey exclusively. 

"'This is not who I am. I'm trying to pretend that I'm one of the dudes and I'm not one of the dudes, so I'm just going to dress how I want to dress.'"

From that moment, she made a point to wear dresses on set and prove to everyone that what she wears to work has nothing to do with how well she does her job.

"That's going to be more symbolic than pretending that I'm a guy who likes cargo shorts."

It was a small change, but one that speaks volumes about the challenges women still face in the film industry, whether they're in front of the camera or behind it.

Though women make up about 50 per cent of moviegoers, they account for just 16 per cent of directors working on the top 250 grossing films last year, according to research from the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film (CSWT&F).

Greta Gerwig's Barbie was the most successful film of 2023, but she wasn't even nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, which has only gone to three women in the last 100 years; Kathryn Bigelow, Chloé Zhao, and Jane Campion.

In TV, there has been a marked decline in women working behind the scenes on streaming programs (from 37 per cent in 2021-22, to 34 per cent in 2022-23) and broadcast network programs (from 31 per cent in 2021-22, to 29 per cent in 2022-23) in the US.

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These numbers prove that despite success stories about women like Gerwig and Garcia, women are still at a massive disadvantage in the film and TV industry and Garcia feels the weight of that despite her many achievements.

At 47, she's written for TV hits like Dawson's Creek, directed Netflix flick Purple Hearts, signed a multi-year deal to develop television for Entertainment One, and is about to see her latest film Space Cadet hit streaming services around the world.

The story follows party girl Rex (Emma Roberts) as she chases her dream of becoming an astronaut 10 years after missing out on going to college due to a family tragedy.

Along the way, she has to deal with moments of self-doubt that closely mirror the imposter syndrome Garcia has tangled with countless times in her career, despite all she's accomplished.

"I'm still self conscious about being a female director, meaning I feel like I represent more people than myself, and so I'm very aware of how I conduct myself," she admits.

"Am I too nice? Was I just too nice? Am I bringing down the cause because I was just too nice and I should have been a little more hard?"

Garcia's experience isn't unique, they've become part and parcel of being a woman in male-dominated industry.

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"Friends of mine who are female directors, we have these conversations like, 'Do we have to act more like men to be taken seriously on set? Or can we just be ourselves?'" she says.

That's why wearing dresses to set every day while filming Space Cadet was so meaningful, not just to her but to every other woman involved with the project.

Some may have never worked with a female director before, let alone one who felt safe and confident enough to eschew the expectation that to fit in in a man's world, you have to emulate one.

For centuries, women have been told that they're only allowed into certain industries if they meet a certain standard, if they dress a certain way, if they perform a certain male-approved version of femininity; and even then, only a select few are granted entry.

In that culture, women were - and still are - pitted against one another and Gracia refuses to let it endure, at least not on her sets.

"I have a lot of compassion for the women who have and still do try to bring down other women, because I know it's just born of patriarchy," Garcia says.

"It's born of being told there can only be one or two of you in this company, in this writer's room."

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But that doesn't have to be true anymore, especially when the women who came before reach out a hand and lift the next generation into the light.

Today, Garcia strives to uplift female directors and writers who, like her, just want to carve out a space for themselves in an industry that barred the gates for decades.

Thankfully, the blokes are getting on board too.

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"Making Space Cadet, I've never worked with so many men ever," Garcia reveals.

"They were so supportive, so helpful. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop [...] I felt taken seriously in a way that was disarming. It was amazing."

It's cathartic to see how many "good men" are in the film industry these days and Garcia is eager to see more join the cause to support and empower women breaking into industries that used to reject them - whether it's film or space exploration.

SPACE CADET will premiere globally on Prime Video July 4, 2024.

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