Balancing acts: Women actors in the Atlantic Canadian screen arts industry

The objective of this thesis was to analyze, using a critical feminist perspective, the work structures of the Atlantic Canadian screen arts industries from the standpoint of women performers operating within them. Employing qualitative data collected from five semi-structured interviews with women film and television performers in Halifax, Nova Scotia, this thesis highlights gendered inequalities present in the Atlantic film and television industryas well as the ways in which these inequalities are reproduced through the (dis)organization of creative labour and the production of material culture. My findings support the argument that a dearth of women's representation in the content-creating sectors of film and television creates an unstable and episodic working environment in which women actors may lack creative fulfillment and a sense of control over their careers. Furthermore, women actors are found to be at a higher risk for exploitation and appearance/age/race-based discrimination due to informal work structures and hiring practices, which necessitate decision-making between work security and personal agency as women actors navigate their careers.