Here’s my latest column on Forbes
If you follow the issue of women directors working in Hollywood you will know that that this is a very complicated issue. Getting more women directors working at the highest level of the business is something that seems to be one of the most intractable issues in the business, and one that the powers in Hollywood refuse to address with any proactive solutions. But that hasn’t stopped many of us from raising the question as often as possible. In fact, whereas a few years ago there were very limited conversations on the topic, now, it seems that the drumbeat has gotten quite loud.
Recently, there have been several pieces written, some focused on the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, another on women directors mentoring each other. NY Times film critic Manohla Dargis has made this one of her issues and she addressed it again this past weekend in her Memo to Hollywood asking the Hollywood moguls why they refuse to hire women to direct big budget films. She wrote: “So … what’s up with not hiring women to direct movies? Is there something about double-X chromosomes that makes you squeamish? Are women biologically incapable of directing movies, especially the franchises that prop up the big studios year after year?”
