As we reported back in January, a new docu-series from director Caroline Suh will interrogate gender inequality in Hollywood.
A video featuring interview clips with a host of high-profile names has been released and it gives us a taste of what to expect from “The 4%: Film’s Gender Problem.” It also affords insight into just how many people are willing to join the conversation around gender in Hollywood, which is now “at a bit of a fever pitch,” as Toni Collette so aptly puts it in the video.
4% refers to the percentage of top Hollywood feature films directed by women in the last 13 years, as discovered by Stacy M. Smith and her team at the Media Diversity and Social Change Initiative at USC.
We hear producers, directors, writers, actresses, cinematographers, critics and experts — both male and female — weigh in on why this is a problem and what needs to be done to solve it. The video includes “Boys Don’t Cry” writer-director Kimberly Peirce imploring people to “stop saying that there’s not enough qualified women — they’re out there,” “Carol” producer Christine Vachon proclaiming that the time has come to “just do something about it” and America Ferrera explaining that “no one wants to go into a field that feels incredibly unwelcoming.”
“The 4%: Film’s Gender Problem” premieres on Epix March 8, International Women’s Day, and segments continue throughout the month.
Check out the full video below.