Yu Gu is a Canadian-American filmmaker with a focus on the individual's relationship to society. Her film A Woman's Work: The NFL's Cheerleader Problem debuted at Tribeca in 2019.[1]
Yu Gu | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Occupation | Film producer |
Yu was born in Chongqing and raised in Vancouver.[1] She became interested in the story of Lacy Thibodeaux-Fields after reading about her case in the LA Times.[2] Thibodeaux-Fields, a cheerleader with the Los Angeles Raiders, had hired Oakland employment attorney Sharon Vinick to check her contract. Vinick is quoted in the film: "There are more provisions in here that are illegal then any contract I know of.[2] After filing a class action suit against her employer, Thibodeaux-Fields' case made the news.
Yu got to know American football culture during her life as a student in California. She was shocked to learn about the gender pay gap the cheerleaders experienced, and met Thibodeaux-Fields and her attorney initially with the idea of making a film about Thibodeaux-Fields while following the progression of the case. She said, "In the beginning I thought this was just going to be about one woman".[2] During the next four years, the case and the film took a different direction.
References edit
- ^ a b A Woman's Work: The NFL's Cheerleader Problem, 2019 article on website of Tribeca film festival
- ^ a b c A Woman's Work: The cheerleader who took on the NFL for gender discrimination, by Ciaran Varley, BBC Sport, 5 March 2021
External links edit
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