“Dune: Part Two” producer Mary Parent said that despite her own success working on big-budget productions, it’s “harder to get in” now than it was when she started her career decades ago.
“It’s harder to get in. The paths that used to exist don’t. I think that’s really impacted everything,” Parent said at TheWrap’s annual Grill conference on Tuesday, observing that the field has been dominated historically by men, especially on “big films.”
“Those were the films I wanted to make,” Parent said.
The lack of progress for female producers in the business was raised by former New York Times journalist Laura Holson who moderated the panel which included Lucy Fisher, the producer of “Gladiator II” opens next month, and veteran executive and producer Sue Naegle, who produced this awards season contender “Nightbitch.” Holson cited data reflecting that between 1998 and 2023, the number of female producers had only increased by 2%.
“I can’t answer it. I don’t understand why those numbers don’t go up,” said Fisher, expressing frustration. “There’s an unrecognized bias and every woman in every field has to say, ‘I have to do it better than everybody else to get my spot.’”
Fisher recalled that she was the president of the Producers Guild for four years, and that at the time it was “almost 50/50.”
Parent, who is also the chairwoman of worldwide production for Legendary said that there was only one time in her career where the producer, the line producer and the unit production manager were all women. It was in 2012 on Gareth Edwards’ “Godzilla” for Legendary.
On “Nightbitch,” producer Naegle noted that women produced the movie including Amy Adams, the movie’s star – and they also had a female writer/director in Marielle Heller (who also made “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”). Naegle said that mentorship is the key. “Mentorship is everything. It is the #1 thing that we can do to move those numbers is mentor young women,” Naegle stressed.
Another hurdle to women producing in the industry is the fact that so many productions are decamping for foreign locations, which is incredibly challenging for female producers who are also mothers, Fisher observed.
Fisher remembered a time when two or three movies would be made on the lot – she’d have her kids come to the studio and they’d walk around and peek in on the productions. “That doesn’t happen anymore,” Fisher said. “One thing about choosing life as a producer as a woman, it’s a big problem. They should have more jobs in California.”
This last comment got a rise out of Parent who shot back: “Good luck with that.”
The panel Powerhouse Producers was sponsored by Wrapbook Payroll.
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