A few weeks back Doc Oho interviewed Nick Briggs about his five years in the chair as Executive Producer of Big Finish.  it’s a good interview and worth the read.
One of the questions Doc Oho asked was:
There has been a discussion recently on Gallifrey Base with regards to there being a lack of female writers contributing stories. Is there a submissions policy with regards to the various ranges or are all the slots allocated internally? Is there any way that Big Finish could seek out fresh female talent?
Nick Briggs’s response was:
The issue of skewing opportunity to favour unrepresented groups in any creative field is a really difficult one. We have an ongoing discussion about this in Big Finish circles. We are certainly very keen for there to be more female writers, for example. But we are a small company with tough deadlines, so actually managing to get scripts from anyone in the first place has to be the major concern. That said, I’m very mindful of this issue and the justified strength of feeling from people who feel under-represented, so I am certainly making efforts to change things. I think there’s a very valid argument that like prefers like, so I think there’s some truth in the fact that I may unconsciously be drawn towards people who are like me – white, male, etc. That’s certainly not a conscious choice of mine. So I hope that the more I consider this issue, the more capable I will be of doing something more positive about it. But, as I say, because time is always short and deadlines are always tight, my major concern is just getting the best stuff out there. I don’t ever want to be in a situation where I would have to put a brilliant idea or script to one side because the sex or race of the writer didn’t meet certain criteria.
It’s the beginning of an excellent answer – showing quite a bit of self awareness – which is then completely ruined when Nick says, “I don’t ever want to be in a situation where I would have to put a brilliant idea or script to one side because the sex or race of the writer didn’t meet certain criteria.”
Why do people say this sort of shit? Â There’s no Government or fannish mandate to force Big Finish to publish more stories by female writers. Â All that’s being asked is that Big Finish consider increasing representation by women from about 2% to something bigger than 2%.
The reasons Nick gives as to why ‘publishing more stuff by women’ isn’t an easy problem to solve overnight seem fair to me.  I’m the last person to judge or comment on the constant pressures that Big Finish face to produce content.  But for fucks sake, don’t derail genuine gender concerns by invoking the quota boogeyman.
Ha, yes. This issue has been such a hot topic for SF anthologies over the last several years, and often comes down to – INVITE MORE WOMEN. And funnily enough, the gender balance of anthologies has become less of an issue because so many editors have done exactly that, and still produced awesome books.
Exactly. I understand tight deadlines and even accept the difficulties of writing audio, but that shouldn’t be an excuse not to rectify the current situation.