Regarding Female Filmmakers

Way back in the early 2000’s my wife was working at George Lucas’ company Industrial, Light & Magic. She was the receptionist for Building A which at the time housed the commercial department (VFX for television commercials). The receptionist pool was small, (three or four people), and was an introductory position, and a great position to move up within the company. I remember one of her coworkers was this smart, bravado of a lady, who had a clear vision of what she wanted to do, and had the skills as well as the portfolio to prove it.

She wanted to be a director of horror films. She had gone to film school, and for her thesis shot on 35mm a fifteen minute short about a couple, (young guy and his girl) who are walking home, but somehow are separated, and the guy ends up being stalked by a demonic scarecrow. It was creepy in all the right places, high in tension, and visually stunning. It was a GREAT demo reel, and I told her that I was impressed, and she was sure to get a gig out of it. She shrugged, almost immediately defeated, and said to me “Probably not.”

I was slightly off put by her attitude, so I repeated “No. It was really great. Don’t doubt your film or yourself in the slightest.” In my naivety, I thought she was self doubting herself and her talents.

She looked at me like a dog catcher would a cute lost puppy with no tags, her eyes read ‘You poor little soul, you have no idea…’, and she said to me, “Don’t get me wrong I made a great short film. It’s just that no one in Hollywood wants to hire a female to make horror films.”

I laughed, and said almost too confidently, “That’s stupid. Why would anyone judge someone’s talents of making a film based on their gender?”

With no emotion she quipped, “No idea. Just the way it is in Hollywood.”

Skip ahead a decade, and here we are still wondering why aren’t women getting their fair share in the film production department. That receptionist was correct, Hollywood has their “stereotypes” in place, and a female director of horror is a rare find in the industry. Why? Who knows for sure, you ask any studio exec and they will proudly admit they do not use biases when hiring a director for a project, that they base the decision solely on the individuals ability to make a film. A filmmaker has to prove their worth with EVERY film they make. Take the director Josh Trank. He made a small indie film (CHRONICLE) that received critical attention and was subsequently hired to direct the reboot of THE FANTASTIC FOUR. It is very common in fact for a nobody to come in and immediately handle a huge blockbuster if their first film was critically received.

There is also Colin Trevorrow, who went from indie darling SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED (which I found decent, but not great) to directing JURASSIC WORLD, and was just offered the next STAR WARS, as well as Fede Alvarez, director of the EVIL DEAD reboot who was brought on to helm the cult classic update based on a short film about giant robots attacking Montevideo, Uruguay that he uploaded to youtube. I mean etc…etc…

New directors bring two things 1. a fresh perspective that Hollywood craves and 2.  A cheaper price tag. The question that remains to be answered is how many female directors of short films that are critically received being offered huge blockbuster projects fresh out of the gate? Coley Sohn is a filmmaker who in 2009 directed a short film, BOUTONNIERE. It premiered at Sundance Film Festival, and proceeded to play several other festivals and chalked up three awards. Coley has gone on to direct another feature film, and has a second in pre-production (according to IMDB.com as time of publication of this blog article). I have no idea if Coley was offered a big budget film after her short ran the festival circuit; I hope so, since she made a smart intelligent film that happened to star Zachary Quinto, who hit it big replacing Nimoy as the new Spock that same year, but considering that her first feature was written and directed by her, I can only guess that she wasn’t on any short list for a big budget blockbuster.

In a recent interview Colin Trevorrow was asked the question, if he was a female director would he have been offered JURASSIC WORLD after the success of his first film? He initially responded with this, “I want to believe that a film-maker with both the desire and ability to make a studio blockbuster will be given the opportunity to make their case,” responded the director. “I stress desire because I honestly think that’s a part of the issue. Many of the top female directors in our industry are not interested in doing a piece of studio business for its own sake. These film-makers have clear voices and stories to tell that don’t necessarily involve superheroes or spaceships or dinosaurs.”

After his initial response, and then heavily criticized he did clarify his point, but the point is that there is a stigma within the industry that female directors/writers etc…etc… do not want to make (subtext watch) big budget blockbusters, and while they may be talented they aren’t suited for films about robots and dinosaurs. That is ridiculous! Has he been to a Comic book/film convention lately? Just look at the attendees in cosplay outfits, you might find a few girls that have put A LOT of work into their costumes. Those are the fans, and I bet they want to see films about robots and dinosaurs just as much as the overweight Sith lord in the brown bathrobe that spent about the tenth of the effort as his girl counterpart does at those conventions. And with fans, you can bet there also people who not only want to see those types of films, but actually make those films as well. His use of the term “Lack of desire” is the film industry equivalent to the sexist statement: “Let the men do the dirty work, you stay in the kitchen where you are best suited.”

But then again, maybe Coley Sohn who has a strong personal voice does not want to make the next Jurassic World, and that’s okay. Ed Burns has admitted his lack of interest in bigger studio films, but appreciates the smaller independent stories he is best known for. Having a clear vision is okay, but note that there are female directors willing to take on T. Rex, and they should be given the opportunity to direct such a film.

Now let us talk about Karyn Kusama who in 2000 released the amazing film GIRLFIGHT which came out of nowhere like a left hook. The film introduced us to the fearless Michelle Rodriguez, and seemed like a golden ticket for everyone involved. Shortly after the film was released Karyn was asked what was her next project, and she said she wanted direct a science fiction film. Then nothing. FIVE YEARS later Karyn got her wish and directed the horribly bad AEON FLUX, which at first you would think would prove that ladies cannot handle genre films like science fiction or horror, but in fact the film had to been a bad idea from the start. If you knew the original cartoons the film was based on, you would know that “STORY” was not something that existed in the cartoon. Sure, it had a linear sequence of events, but an actual story? It was about this weird chick bouncing around killing people, and I think maybe had three lines of dialogue in the entire series. It was aired during MTV’s Liquid Television which featured plotless animation shorts late at night, because insomniacs need to experience nightmares despite their inability to fall asleep. I did enjoy the Aeon Flux cartoons, but I couldn’t tell you what it was about. The feature film tried to tie a “plot” to the feature, which is a nice try on the writer’s part, but failed on their end horribly. Those writers have gone on to write GREAT (caps is not always yelling, sometimes it means sarcasm) cinema like R.I.P.D., RIDE ALONG and the CLASH OF THE TITANS remake. The two writers seem to have a film they wrote released every two to three years. Karyn on the other hand did the impossible and directed a science fiction film starring Charlize Theron who went on to be incredible in the new Mad Max film, but after that Karyn admitted that it was a constant struggle for her to make the film as a woman. The next film she directed was Cody Diablo’s JENNIFER’S BODY which I admittedly didn’t like, but had a big following nonetheless because of Diablo Cody fresh off of JUNO. That was four years between the two films. JENNIFER’S BODY ended up doubling its budget worldwide, but the next feature that Karyn directed was just released nearly 6 years later (and ironically was written by the same guys as Aeon Flux). I mean, Karyn is doing exactly what everyone said women can’t do which is genre filmmaking, but it is taking twice as long for her than her male counterparts to finish a project. Like I said every filmmaker has to prove themselves after every project (for instance Josh Trank screwed up, and now will be exiled for his blundering ways), but female filmmakers like Karyn Kusama, who has a decent track record, has twice the amount of proving to do just to get the next job.

That is just one example. We could talk about Penelope Spheeris who has a great track record as well as great versatility, and has been making films since 1968, but is not the household name you would think she should be considering that some of her films are so well known (BLACK SHEEP, WAYNE’S WORLD, THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION trilogy for starters). That is not to say she is not respected, because she is. But in 1968 Francis Ford Coppola made the film FINIAN’S RAINBOW and went on to make the revolutionary film RAIN PEOPLE in 1969 (which ironically provided a female protagonist voice in a way that was rare at the time) and in 1972 made the film THE GODFATHER, I mean that is a career defined by bounds, not steps. In 1968 Penelope directed some film called UNCLE TOM’s FAIRY TALES (never seen it), and in 1981 directed the first installment to the DECLINE series. A year later she made the fantastic angst film SUBURBIA and made a string of films once a year that I am sure no one will have heard of (wondering if you even know SUBURBIA), it wasn’t until 1992 that we see the first film with any commercial appeal, WAYNE’S WORLD.

I could keep belaboring the point, but I think you get the idea, and that is in the current market women are forced to work twice as hard with less rewards to get the job that her male counterpart is basically handed. I think we are making great strides and yes, people like Diablo Cody, Melissa McCarthy, and Angelina Jolie are leading a new revolution of female creative voices to show that women are just as good as men, but the problem isn’t just more women in film, it is that we need a diversity of voices in storytelling, not just female protagonists pasted into a film that use to star male leads. Case in point (and I tread lightly since the film is not out yet, but based on what I know of it I will mention it) the new Ghostbusters is being heralded (and lambasted depending on who you are talking to) for rebooting the film with an all female cast. I completely understand the idea of taking a genre film that is typically marketed to male constituents and replacing the leads with female characters to bring in the female audience, but if a female can be the lead character, why can’t they also be the lead director of that project. If we go back to Colin Trevorrow’s statement that women lack the desire for big budget films, why are we seeing more female protagonists in newer genre films (see examples RESIDENT EVIL, GHOSTBUSTERS reboot, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, PROMETHEUS), but still seeing filmmakers claiming that women lack the desire.

There is no simple answer to the question why women aren’t being offered the keys to the blockbuster kingdom, but the solution is. The male dominated industry must realize that female director’s are not lacking desire to direct large budget genre films, but that “lack of desire” is the misdirected stereotype that male executives and industry insiders are ascribing to their female counterparts based on preconceived notions placed on them based on marketing tools that say men make better genre films. Once we get past the fact that girls are not dainty porcelain dolls only best suited for a shelf, when will we see the walls built around talented female artists torn down and set free to make the films they really have the desire to make.