Passes the Bechdel test

Authors Anonymous

Name: Authors Anonymous
Released: 2014

2014. Directed by Ellie Kanner, written by David Congalton.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
6 women characters. 6 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 11 scenes out of 126.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

After a dysfunctional group of unpublished writers with the motto "all for one" accept Hannah Rinaldi (Kaley Cuoco) into their fold, the last thing they expect is her overnight success - but that's exactly what they get. While her career takes off, her eccentric and envious colleagues (Chris Klein, Teri Polo, Dylan Walsh, Dennis Farina and Jonathan Bennett) struggle to find their own paths to publishing fame and fortune. Tensions rise, rivalries form, and hearts are broken. Rejection turns to desperation. Good thing they're only armed with pens...

Released: 18 Mar 2014
Genres: Comedy
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 4.4 / 10
Metascore: 16 / 100
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Hannah 158 lines, woman
Henry 141 lines, man
Alan 131 lines, man
Colette 117 lines, woman
William 70 lines, man
John 66 lines, man
Sigrid 18 lines, woman
Lois 16 lines, woman
Caption 12 lines
David 11 lines, man

Full cast, 15 people

Kaley Cuoco as Hannah Rinaldi
Chris Klein as Henry Obert
Tricia Helfer as Sigrid Hagenguth
Jonathan Banks as David Kelleher
Teri Polo as Colette Mooney
Jonathan Bennett as William Bruce
Dennis Farina as John K. Butzin
Dylan Walsh as Alan Mooney
Charlene Amoia as Eudora
Meagen Fay as Maureen
Diane Robin as Lois Pepper
Daniel Riordan as Richard Brodwell
John Griffin as Blau
Robb Skyler as Dr. Xiroman
Scott Ford as Hot Bartender

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 126

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers

Scenes	Women's lines	Men's lines
1 to 3	0	3
4 to 6	8	10
7 to 9	0	3
10 to 12	7	14
13 to 15	0	3
16 to 18	8	6
19 to 21	5	4
22 to 24	4	7
25 to 27	4	3
28 to 30	10	31
31 to 33	5	9
34 to 36	6	8
37 to 39	25	0
40 to 42	9	24
43 to 45	7	1
46 to 48	20	21
49 to 51	3	17
52 to 54	3	19
55 to 57	9	23
58 to 60	14	20
61 to 63	6	10
64 to 66	14	21
67 to 69	10	8
70 to 72	0	4
73 to 75	0	2
76 to 78	6	1
79 to 81	2	3
82 to 84	7	14
85 to 87	4	22
88 to 90	23	23
91 to 93	8	2
94 to 96	11	3
97 to 99	18	0
100 to 102	10	13
103 to 105	0	3
106 to 108	39	35
109 to 111	0	7
112 to 114	7	12
115 to 117	0	15
118 to 120	7	0
121 to 123	10	3
124 to 126	2	0

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

HANNAH: I really like the way Yuri is developing, Colette. COLETTE: You do?

HANNAH: I've always had this knack for telling stories. Ever since I was a kid. MAUREEN: She's a natural. HANNAH: Moved here. Took a couple writing classes. Decided to go for it. 24/7. Total dedication to my craft. The writing always comes first. My late… MAUREEN: Metaphor.

HANNAH: My favorite writer? Favorite writer. Favorite writer... HANNAH: Favorite. Wow. Hard to say. I've studied Composition more than actual Literature. Gee. I know Maureen enjoys Jane... MAUREEN: Jane Austen. HANNAH: That's the one. I hear she's good. But my favorite writer? Let me think about that a bit, OK?

COLETTE: Yes, yes. Way to go, Hannah! HANNAH: Thank you! 'Night.

HANNAH: Brian sold Sleeping on the Moon! MAUREEN: Oh my god! Oh my god! HANNAH: Yes, Brian. I will. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I will. Promise. Thank you!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 44 are women's.

331 lines from women, 427 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

6 women and 9 men in the cast. 6 women and 6 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 11 of 776. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 22 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 41% of the words (3,608), men 59% (5,237). Women have 44% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit E: the test the other way

Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.

Conversations between two named characters

Two women

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

5 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 54% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Ellie Kanner (woman)
Written by: David Congalton (gender not listed)
Produced by: Cassidy Lunnen (woman), Ellie Kanner (woman), Hal Schwartz (gender not listed)
Shot by: Tobias Datum (man)
Edited by: Stephen R. Myers (man)
Music by: Jeff Cardoni (man)
Production design by: Travis Zariwny (man)
Costumes by: Samantha Kuester (woman)
Cast by: Dori Zuckerman (woman)

The crew, department by department

Production

4 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
Sound

0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
Art

0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
Costume & Make-Up

2 women, 0 men
Camera

0 women, 1 men
Directing

1 women, 0 men
Editing

0 women, 1 men
Writing

0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 40 on average. Men: 51 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Kaley Cuoco 28, Charlene Amoia 31, Tricia Helfer 40, Teri Polo 44, Meagen Fay 57

Men

Jonathan Bennett 32, Chris Klein 35, Dylan Walsh 50, Jonathan Banks 67, Dennis Farina 70

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 126 scenes and 776 lines of dialogue. How the test works

Related films

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