Set to make its world premiere today at Telluride Film Festival, Kitty Green’s “The Assistant” follows one day in the life of a recent college grad and aspiring filmmaker who finds herself working in an abusive workplace led by a powerful entertainment mogul. The feature, which is inspired by disgraced exec Harvey Weinstein and the women he targeted, has formed a partnership with The New York Women’s Foundation. Ten percent of “The Assistant’s” profits will support grantmaking for women-led, community-based organizations that promote the economic security, safety, and health of women and families in New York City, where the film was made. The filmmakers, producers, and financiers behind the film are calling attention to — and backing an org that addresses — the all-too common issues the film depicts.
“The Assistant” sees Jane (Julia Garner, “Ozark”) landing her dream job as a junior assistant to an influential man in the film industry. As expected, her duties include mundane tasks such as making coffee, ordering lunch, and adding paper to the copy machine. “But as Jane follows her daily routine, she, and we, grow increasingly aware of the abuse that insidiously colors every aspect of her work day, an accumulation of degradations against which Jane decides to take a stand, only to discover the true depth of the system into which she has entered,” the film’s synopsis hints. Green penned the script.
“I am thrilled to partner with The New York Women’s Foundation on this film,” said Green, who most recently helmed 2017 doc “Casting JonBenet.” “The Foundation uplifts the voices of women who all too often go unheard.”
Ana L. Oliveira, President and CEO of The New York Women’s Foundation, added, “Kitty Green has done a masterful job of depicting what so many women experience in all types of workplaces all across the world. The Foundation knows from its 32 years of investing in the economic opportunity, health, and safety of women that these issues are inextricably linked. Kitty’s film makes an important contribution to the continuing conversations that need to be had, and by contributing to The Foundation she is helping to advance change directly.”
According to Deadline, the original idea for “The Assistant” “sprang from a hybrid dark fiction project [Green] was researching with students on consent and power at college campuses when the Weinstein story broke.” “I was on my phone the whole time just reading all of this stuff,” she recalled. “I mean, I felt like I have a close connection to people that worked for [Weinstein], and people that have experienced misconduct in the film industry, so immediately I shifted my focus to Hollywood, I guess, and the film industry, and that’s sort of where it began, and then I started interviewing and the research process.”
