High-profile producer Nina Jacobson (The Hunger Games franchise, Ryan Murphy’s upcoming American Crime Story) wrote a guest column for Variety’s Broken Hollywood feature, which focuses on execs’ opinions on the state of Hollywood — namely its disrepair.

Jacobson begins her piece by opining the lack of opportunities available for young people in the business, which has resulted in a “shortage of fresh blood”; she goes on to emphasize the importance of actively seeking “fresh faces” who will succeed on the basis of their merit, as opposed to passively accepting and hiring the privileged few who have connections in the industry and make it to the table because of nepotism.

It’s always interesting to get the perspective of someone who’s in the trenches and working to change the system from within. Here’s our favorite quote from the illuminating piece, which can be read in full here:

“If people are going to give opportunities to those who remind them of themselves, and the majority who work in Hollywood are white men, then the majority of opportunities go to white men. In order to have critical mass, you have to push harder and get out of your comfort zone. ‘Boys don’t identify with a female protagonist’ is a common conventional wisdom. It’s just not true.”

Listen to our podcast with Nina Jacobson, where she discusses the dearth of female directors and Jennifer Lawrence’s meteoric rise, here.

[via Variety]