Humor, I tell ya, that’s the way to deal with it!
There’s a lot going on around the world, but here’s something that’s persistently stable: the absurdly low number of women directors getting hired to join the Hollywood big-budget movie club.
So hat’s off to Funny or Die and the half-dozen women directors who shot this hilarious short depicting a barely-fictional meeting between Hollywood development executives and female filmmakers under consideration to direct a “movie that goes ‘boom.’”
Let’s see: there’s Catherine Hardwicke, director of “Twilight”; Nish Ganatra of “Transparent”; indie empress Nicole Holofcener (“Enough Said,” “Lovely and Amazing”); Shira Piven of “Welcome to Me” and Anne Fletcher of “Hot Pursuit.”
They face three studio executives who pitch “Space Cops 4” as a “summer blockbuster,” but are worried whether the ladies can make the action scenes go “boom.”
Suit One: “What we’re really looking for is for the film … can you make it go boom?”
Suit Two: “During the chase scene you got one car chasing the other case. T he car goes vroom, and we need the movie to go – vroom – do you think you can handle that?”
Hardwicke: “I’ve been working on some cool ideas.” (“Twilight” made $400 million, she points out.)
Meanwhile, “Jurassic World” director Colin Trevorrow decided it was the day to stick his foot in his mouth by suggesting that his female colleagues weren’t interested in directing big action movies.
Here’s the full comment in response to a question regarding how he might have fared as a woman:
“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. 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.”
Trevorrow can next be seen directing the new “Star Wars” movie Episode IX.
Back to the video. At one point one executive asks if one of the women needs to check on her kids. “If you have to go to your kids, that’s fine,” says one of the suits, before the director ducks out through the looking glass.
Humor – that’s the way to deal with this. Watch the video below.