Sometimes I watch writers wringing their hands about getting an agent and formatting their script and whether Final Draft 7 is really better than Movie Magic 6 and I just move away from the conversation and in my mind start working out my grocery list because, crap, I think that would be more productive. For me, when it comes down to it, it's about what's on the page...the rest is beyond my control.
That's kind of how I feel when we get to the issue of sexism and Hollywood. It's beyond my control. Plus, in my humble opinion, La-La Land is pretty gender-blind and colorblind in terms of what gets made. This is because pea-brained executives only have two questions in their heads...
a) will this make lots of money
b) will it win an Oscar I can put on my mantelpiece...if people still have those
And okay three...
c) if I let George Clooney make this highbrow, black and white movie I don't understand can I secure him for Ocean's 14?
If you can get a check mark after a) you could be a purple hermaphrodyte with body odor, the script will get bought, even if it never gets made. The only rule in Hollywood is don't be old. Hollywood doesn't take kindly to aging so keep being 25 forever.
Being a woman or minority only matters in terms of the likability issue, the being part of the club stuff which, while being a big drawback, is not insurmountable. If you can make them enough money and have a track record of doing so in another medium (they don't like risk), they'll get past the fact that they don't necessarily relate to you.
Prime example? Tyler Perry. Do you think Lions Gate was clamoring to make black movies with a star mainstream audiences still haven't heard of? Nope. But Perry had a huge following with the plays he wrote and delivered Lions Gate one hell of a debut project with "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" which grossed 50 million and cost pennies to make (5 million). He keeps giving them those kinds of numbers and they keep writing him checks. It's one big happy world.
And so recently, when an older woman writer in one of my writers groups started talking about making change in Hollywood, enlisting journalists and producers and execs to form a think tank on how to get more women-directed and women-written movies in the system, I was kind of like that snotty kid chick who went for Obama over Hillary. See, I'm lukewarm on all this, "hey writers, let's lobby Hollywood" 'cause I believe if you write something really marketable and have a little bit of luck and talent, you'll succeed. Also, I'm a writer first so I'm going to take that precious time to write.
I know. It's pathetic... I don't know where my lack of outrage comes from. Perhaps it's from being part-producer. I just feel if you're not writing marketable studio stuff then you have to make it yourself. Don't expect a studio that's always looking at bottom line to pony up 15 million dollars for your "soft" social-issue pic that may or may not find an audience. Them's just the breaks.
Now if you're talking about more mentorships for women, internship programs, women screenwriting competitions with big cash prizes, more financial support to women & film non-profits or more screenwriting residencies for women, that's different...but that's the long term plan before the scripts end up on the studio's desk.
In the short term, I suppose we could give women viewers a kick in the pants that tells them get out there and go see women-made movies, that's different... though I imagine, being regular movie goers who just want to be entertained, we'll go see what we like.
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