In 1973, The Hollywood Reporter published a column written by Sue Cameron based on a secret survey slipped to her by Joyce Perry from the Women's Committee of the Writers Guild. Joyce came up with the idea of compiling statistics on the 1972-83 television season to find out what percentage of television shows were written by women. The resulting survey reported that women wrote less than three percent of the television scripts. Immediately after Sue's column was published, phones began ringing off the hook with tales of inequities in Hollywood.

Tichi Wilkerson Kassel, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter, suggested that an organization be started to help women in the entertainment industry. A small group of women met on the following Tuesday and sat on the floor of Tichi's office for what was to become a historic brainstorming session. Tuna salad and egg salad sandwiches were the order of the day. All agreed that women should help women and that it was time to organize.

"Tichi was not only the backbone of WIF emotionally and many times financially, but she was also our spiritual leader. Women today don't know how lonely it was in those early days and how needed a membership organization was, where women could network and support each other. We were only 250 members then. It is very differnet today."

                                              Bonny Dore, WIF Past President, member since 1975

Founded on a simple concept by seven women, the original founding members could never have envisioned the clout and monumental worldwide growth WIF enjoys today. Since that fateful Tuesday afternoon, Women In Film & Television International has grown to become one of the major voices for advocacy of women in the entertainment industry. There are more than 10,000 members in nearly 40 affiliated chapters nationwide and throughout the world. WIFTI is a nonprofit organization committed to empowering, promoting, nurturing, and mentoring women in the entertainment, communication, and media industries to achieve their highest potential.

Learn more under WIFTI Chapters.