After creating a true cinematic phenomenon with “Barbie,” Greta Gerwig was the guest of honor at the 75th annual Pioneer of the Year Dinner at the Beverly Hilton on Wednesday, an annual charity event to benefit the Will Rogers Pioneer Assistance Fund.
“This is an extraordinary thing. I’m used to going to the Beverly Hilton to lose,” Gerwig quipped, referencing to the hotel’s status as the host of the Golden Globes, where she has been nominated four times without a win.
Started in 1947, the Pioneer of the Year dinner has served as an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Pioneer Assistance Fund, which provides financial aid and assistance to entertainment industry workers in need.
Now run by the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, the dinner has honored leading Hollywood figures such as Bob Hope, Donna Langley, Alan Horn, Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson and most recently, the late MGM distribution veteran Erik Lomis.
“The work that you do in caring for this community that I’m part of is just so extraordinary,” Gerwig said in her acceptance speech. “It makes me so proud to be part of an industry where people spend their time and money and talent to figure out how to look out for each other and to lift each other up.”
Gerwig’s career as a writer-director reached new heights with “Barbie,” becoming the highest grossing film ever in the century-long history of Warner Bros. with $1.44 billion grossed worldwide while earning eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Its simultaneous release date with Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” captured the imaginations of millions around the world, who showed up to see both films as a double feature and gave movie theaters a much-needed boost to their business.
Prior to “Barbie,” Gerwig got her big break and her first Golden Globe nomination as the lead in “Frances Ha,” a black-and-white comedy she co-wrote with director and now husband Noah Baumbach. Michael De Luca, the co-chair and CEO of Warner Bros.’ motion picture group, recalled having a meeting with Gerwig shortly after that film’s release.
“We had a lovely talk about art and movies and life, and at the end I asked, ‘What do you want to do next?’ She said, ‘I think I want to try directing.’ Greta, thank you for trying.”
Gerwig made her directorial debut with the 2017 teen drama “Lady Bird” and followed it up with an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women,” both of which starred Saoirse Ronan and earned Best Picture Oscar nominations. Those nominations, along with “Barbie,” make Gerwig the first director to have their first three films as a solo director nominated for the Academy’s top prize.
“I’ll never forget opening weekend, and my 11-year-old daughter came to me on Sunday morning and said, ‘Can we get dressed up and go see ‘Barbie’ now?’ Mind you, she has seen the movie about five times already through the course of our working together,” Warner co-chair/CEO Pam Abdy said.
“But we sat in the theater, and the lights went down, and we saw the beautiful Margot Robbie as Barbie, and I looked at my daughter’s face and saw this pure joy, and I will never, ever forget it,” Abdy added.
In her speech, Gerwig talked about her guiding star as a director, which is to establish a joyful atmosphere on set that can be felt by everyone who sees the final cut.
“How people feel when working on my movies is as important to me as the movie itself … I think an audience can actually feel the joy of making a film through the screen, and they get to vicariously participate in it,” she said. “And yes, of course, sometimes a dreadful shoot can make a great movie. But I think that the movies that people want to live inside are the ones that represent everyone working to the edges of their ability and also looking out for one another.”
