Where Are the Women Directors?

Earlier this month we had Manohla Dargis' New York Times piece on the lack of women onscreen this summer, and now Patrick Goldstein at the LA Times gives us the annual lament about the paucity of women working behind the scenes as directors.

For anyone who is in the business, and who follows this issue, nothing in the article is new. I think it's great that these pieces are written, but they are always the same. Things suck for women directors, but nothing changes and things are actually getting worse. People in power in Hollywood are happy with the status quo and until everyone who cares about this issue figures out a way to work together and make change, nothing is going to happen. I'm not saying it's easy to make change. I sit here in Brooklyn, NY as a writer and observer, not as a woman trying to have a career as a director. But while most people believe that we are post-feminist, and post-organizing, and post-activism, I think the only way to make change is to organize and agitate. So, I'll be agitating from my perch by saying that the lack of women directors working in Hollywood is unacceptable!

Ok, now that I got that off my chest here are some noteworthy quotes from Goldstein's piece:

According to Media by Numbers, all 30 of the 30 top-grossing films from last summer were directed by men. According to my informal survey of major studio films from this summer, only two -- Mamma Mia! and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 -- are directed by women.

There are several other women directed options this summer including:

Brick Lane, directed by Sarah Gavron- Opens June 20
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, directed by Patricia Rozema- Opens July 2
Hounddog, directed by Deborah Kampmeier- Opens July 18
American Teen, directed by Nanette Burstein- Opens July 25 (documentary)
The Last Mistress, directed by Catherine Breillat- Opens June 27
Frozen River, directed by Courtney Hunt, Opens August 1

[Martha] Lauzen doesn't mince words. "Hollywood is far more embarrassed about being labeled racist than sexist," she told me. "There are a host of causes -- it's not like there's a smoke-filled room where men get together and prevent women from getting jobs. It's more insidious than that. But Hollywood is in denial, and as long as they're in denial, then they don't feel they need to do anything about it."

Martha Lauzen is the shit! She's an academic using real numbers so there's no disputing her words.

It's especially hard to cry discrimination about female directors when women flourish in so many other areas of the business -- Hollywood is loaded with powerful female producers, studio executives, managers and publicists. By and large, the track record of hiring women directors is no different at any studio, whether the studio is run by a man or a woman.

Not to belittle any of the awesome female producers, publicists and managers, but everyone in Hollywood knows that movie director (aside from studio boss) is the most important job. Maybe women have become more realistic of their chances in getting directing jobs and don't even go that route anymore because they know they can't get the job. Wouldn't that be sad that, after all the gains that women have made in our culture, they have begun censoring themselves from directing opportunities, precisely because they don't see hardly any other women in those roles?

I mean, whatever you think of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, you can see what having a woman compete for the most powerful job has done for girls and young women who now can dream bigger than ever before. As Marian Wright Edelman once said: "You can't be, what you can't see."

If you were looking at Hollywood's history through a gender lens, you might say the industry went almost directly from male domination to post-feminism without ever enjoying a true feminist age. The rise of feminism almost exactly overlaps with the last glory days of filmmaking (roughly 1967 to 1978), yet the era as portrayed in Peter Biskind's compelling history Easy Riders, Raging Bulls is one of pure male ego and excess.

If I was a feminist who worked in Hollywood in the late 70s and early 80s I would be pissed off that the article just erased some of the most important feminist female film role models we have ever had onscreen. Don't you think that Julia, Norma Rae, An Unmarried Woman, The China Syndrome, Silkwood, 9 to 5, Yentl, The Rose, Alien, My Brilliant Career, Terms of Endearment, Places in the Heart, Swing Shift, Out of Africa and Desert Hearts qualify as noteworthy feminist films? Interestingly, The studios actually made most of those movies and today studios are making very few films with female leads.

Sony Pictures Co-Chairman Amy Pascal, who made Meyers' last two films, has Ephron's next picture and has hired more female directors than any studio head, says summer movies just aren't an area of interest for most women. "It simply may be a matter of self-selection, since most studio films are aimed at young boys," she says. "Look at my summer slate. I don't think there's a woman who would've wanted to have directed Hancock or Pineapple Express.

"What really puts female directors behind the eight ball is that the film genres studios are most eager to make -- rowdy guy comedies, horror and superhero films -- are rarely of interest to women. "No one would dream of hiring Nora Ephron or Sofia Coppola for the new James Bond movie, but then again, why would they be interested?" says Terry Press, the veteran studio marketer.

I think there is a generation gap here. I believe that younger women would be very interested in directing a huge summer romp. The big question is, did you even ask a woman if she wanted to direct one of those? You won't know until you ask. I love the fact that we give European men like Louis Leterrer (The Hulk) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) opportunities to direct big summer movies but we don't give women those same opportunities. I also love the fact that Patrick got women to say that other women are not interested in directing these movies. Have you called someone like say, Angela Robinson? Doubtful.

It's hardly a coincidence that both Meyers and Ephron became full-time directors only after their children were older. Men rarely turn down a movie because it takes them away from their family. For women, it's a wrenching decision to either leave kids at home or uproot a family to spend months on a faraway film location. Many women also believe that men are better suited, in terms of temperament, for the job of ordering around a crew every day.

Wow, are we really saying that women can't direct until their kids are out of the house? This is just bs. I've asked women directors this question and they all laugh saying that if they got a job they would figure it out. The article infers that you need to have a wife or someone at home to make sure everything is organized in order to do your job. What is this, the 50s? Sexist bs.

"Men just enjoy being in charge more," says Polly Platt, a groundbreaking figure in Hollywood as a production designer (The Last Picture Show) and producer (Broadcast News)..."But most of the women I know didn't enjoy the perks of the job, like when you walk onto the set and everyone's waiting for you to make a decision. Having 150 people all waiting to hear your answers to every question -- most women would find that terrifying."

Polly, god I hope you were misquoted here cause you sound like an idiot and I'm sure you're not. Being a director is being a leader, you need vision and you need to be able to juggle a lot of things at once. Some women and some men have those qualities. I know many women who would love to have 150 people waiting to hear her answer to a question. I don't believe that most women would find that terrifying. To put a blanket statement out there that women are afraid of giving orders is absurd and dangerous and plays into all the gender stereotypes.

Still, that pathetic 6% figure sticks in your craw. Hollywood has always prided itself as the land of opportunity, but when it comes to female filmmakers, it's more like a vast wasteland.

If 94% of all the films we see are from a male perspective we are missing out on so many other perspectives. So here's the question I ask every time I read one of these pieces: Who is going to do something about this?

Wanted: More Female Directors

Comments

[Dots]

I forgot Quentin's KILL BILL duo.
And I must say THE HOURS and BAGDAD CAFE are so fine.

[Dots]

Men don't write nor direct three dimentional women 80% of the time. They really don't know how...they have rarely had to look at this possibility. So the flat image of wife, mother, sister, daughter, girl friend, grandma goes on and on. In a screenwriters group I attended, I heard a man say that he wanted to write a more interesting role for a woman but just didn't know how. Writers Block.
So for the time being we must put a women in the role written for a man. (JANE Bond, Dirty SALLY, ISMERELDA Jones, etc.)
Thak God for Tomb Raider
Women have had to understand men to survive. [Rarely is it the other way around.]
It follows that, if given the opportunity, women WOULD BE the better directors.
Do I hear Julie Taymor?

[dahpunkster]

have you seen waitress by aidrenne shelly great movie andy griffith and kerry russel are also in it it is a great movie .. you will never look at pie the same way again

[LeBelAge]

Part 2

Please spare me, that big budget films are only liked by males. There are plenty of women and girls in the audience for summer movies. Films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Super Man, the Matrix and Harry Potter are universally loved by both genders. The thing all those films have in common are strong and intelligent female characters interwoven in their story lines. Strong and intelligent female characters are the reason TV attracts a large female audience.

Action adventurer roles with female leads do have an audience. Xena and Buffy the Vampire Slayer were huge hits around the globe. Hollywood is comfortable playing it safe. Unfortunately that comfort includes sexism. On need look no further than the number of women who have been nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards. The answer 3 women and none has ever won.

6% is an outrage. If only 6% of doctors & lawyers in this country were female, there would be a public outcry and government involvement. I think the Hollywood is in need of some oversight pronto. Why should Hollywood be treated differently from other professions and industries?

[fetacheese]

i completely agree with you. since 50% of the population in this country is comprised of women, why do big studio execs make the assumption that only the male portion of that counts in terms of ticket sales? they're so afraid to let a woman handle a big budget film or, heaven-forbid, an action film! and yes, if this were any other industry the government would be all over them. it's hideous how no one cares. and if you're one of those who talks about it too much, then you're called "difficult" and possibly blacklisted. even as a screenwriter i use an ambiguous name just so my stuff doesn't get read as a "chick" movie. it's a sad state of affairs.

[alsm9]

Yes, I think the biggest problem is that a lot of women don't care. As a collective group we are complacent. Power, in any situation, is never freely handed over, you have to fight for it. Women don't fight for it, or so it seems.

[LeBelAge]

Timely article. Angela Robinson indeed. She's a great writer and director. She made a great comedy/action flick with D.E.B.S. She won the short film award at Sundance, which led to funding for the full length picture. However, when it came time for distribution and advertising Sony Pictures bailed and the homophobic theater owners failed to put the movie in theaters.

On average it takes 7 years for female directors to get funding for their second film. Meanwhile inexperienced male directors are given big pictures to direct by the studios, as the article pointed out. There are plenty of female directors who would jump at the chance to direct a big blockbuster.

This is all about having access to money and power. Its the quintessential big boys club despite women playing pivotal roles in other parts of the industry. Women do not control the movie theater chains, which select and rate the films for consumption. Nor do women in general have access to big private financiers.

[Sportswoman]

Nancy Meyers who directed and wrote The Holiday is a success story. In fact, I think she also produced that movie, as well as writing Notting Hill, and several other relative hits.

[baldblackman]

When you say "where are all the women dirictors" I guess you mean White woman? Because it seem to me all this talk about sexism focuses on how "bad " White woman have it while seemingly ignoring all other women.
"Hollywood is far more embarrassed about being labeled racist than sexis," what are you talking about!

[alsm9]

Sounds like you are just presuming that.

Sexism is far more accepted than racism. There is a morning radio show in my city that constantly refers to women as "poon". No one seems to have a problem with this (other than me it seems). I think if they were referring to someone's race in a derogatory manner, there would be a very different response. Racism is becoming taboo (rightly so), but sexism is not.

[cylindar]

You know, the sad truth is I don't think anyone cares. I think female directors will find their place sooner or later. I do not think that making good films has anything to do with displaying a feminine or masculine perspective as such a singular perspective narrows the audience for your film. I think their is a need for more feminine perspective but it certainly will not box office right. Now if you talk about Feminist perspective you arr really in trouble at the box office because even most women will not go there. There are actually some people out there who think that doing a drama on day care woes would be appealing. I certainly would not be investing in such a calamity. Actually I do believe that both masculine and feminine perspective suck unless tempered by each other. Oh, yes, you have to be a good director too!

[vorpalmusic]

The whole film industry is going down the tubes anyway.

Given one decade video games will be so advanced that nobody will care about non-interactive media anymore. To those smart women in the industry reading this: get off the sinking ship while there is still time and apply your brilliance somewhere it will be appreciated.

[walk0nwalls]

Hollywood ironically is always going to be on the tail end of progressive culture and with the increasing (who am I kidding, it's here) corporatization of all hollywood forms, well progress is hard coming.

I mean please, these are the same guys who trampled all over the WGA with nary a bat of an eye, it's not just women, it's anything that challenges the status quo.

But you are right, sexism is much more tolerated. I guess that toleration just stems out of women not complaining loudly enough. But ultimately business per usual in Hollywood is rampant and accepted discrimination on all counts.

[fetacheese]

thank you for your post.

i've worked in the industry as a producer and have witnessed this unfortunate phenomena. women like me are always in positions of producer (aka project manager/admin assists) or sometimes writers. now that i've left my job and am pursuing filmmaking as a career, it has been really interesting, to put it mildly. and it's completely acceptable and nobody cares. just look how many people posted in response to this! sexism in the industry is not only acceptable, but there is no political correctness when referring to people's "roles"--the way it would be horribly unacceptable (and tacky) if this were a discussion of race. the current presidential race serves as the perfect comparison.

but i don't have any answers either. i just hope to be given a fair shot at getting work. and i hope people will finally break up the boy's club known as the entire film industry. it should be an embarrassment and it's a real shame that it's not.

[wrensis]

The same place the women presidents are

[crepsuzett]

get ready for JEN LYNCH'S movie 'SURVELLIANCE'...bill pulman and the whole cast is DIRECTED by an amazing talent...