These days, not all 3-D films are big buck extravaganzas like “Avatar.” The technology is increasingly being used in small-budget and straight-to-DVD films. And Shannon Benna, owner of Hollywood production company MoonlightDrive, wants to make sure women get in on the explosion of 3-D projects by launching a trade group called Stereo Sisters.

Benna calls herself Hollywood’s first female stereographer – that’s a technician who supervises production and filming of 3-D projects. Her stereographer credit will be on the horror film “A Haunting in Salem,” which will be released on DVD and video-on-demand in August.

Is it a significant breakthrough for women in the industry?

“Any of the creative arts where women are making inroads is definitely of interest to us,” said Gayle Nachlis, executive director of Women in Film Los Angeles, a Carthay Square non-profit organization that promotes gender equality in the movie industry. “The first of being anything is noteworthy.” Nachlis doesn’t know Benna.

Previously a producer in 2-D, Benna was wary of 3-D before being introduced by a female friend in the mid-2000s.

“It wasn’t until later in life that I embraced technology,” she said. “I want to encourage other girls to break that taboo.”

Movies in 3-D can now be shot on hand-held cameras, although large studio productions still require elaborate setups. The process has also become cheaper with the proliferation of 3-D rigs, making the technology available to microbudget films like “Haunting in Salem.”

“You don’t have to wait for a million or $2 million of funding,” Benna said. “The prices have come down drastically. These days 3-D adds maybe 20 percent to the budget.”

MoonlightDrive’s other business, converting 2-D to 3-D, is also being priced down. The space is teeming with new companies. At its highest, conversion can go for up to $100,000 per minute of footage, although it varies greatly.

Stereo Sisters isn’t Benna’s first stab at promoting women’s work in Hollywood. In 2006, she helped put a billboard on the corner of Sunset and Cahuenga boulevards featuring the phrase “Unchain the Women Directors.” It attracted press coverage over the absence of women nominees for best director in the Academy Awards.

Stereo Sisters will launch this month and use a social network-like site to connect female newcomers and college students with veterans offering jobs or internships on 3-D projects.

“It’s important to bring women together,” Benna said. “I’d very much like the site to be a point of convergence.”