Response to Patrick Goldstein's 5/20/08 Article
By Jacqui Barcos and Jennifer Warren, Alliance of Women Directors
In Patrick Goldstein's 5/20/08 article about the "pathetic" lack of women directors, he cites DreamWorks Cochairman and CEO Stacey Snider's claim, "there just isn't a very wide pool of talent to choose from." Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Amy Pascal concurs, "look at my summer slate. I don't think there's a woman who would've wanted to direct 'Hancock' or 'Pineapple Express.'" That is, quite simply, bunk. Legions of talented and accomplished female directors would give their eye teeth to direct a genre, tentpole or blockbuster summer movie. But they are never given the chance. Studios seem to have no qualms hiring a male indie director, often comparatively inexperienced, to helm their tentpole franchises--often to great success. Christopher Nolan went from directing "Memento" to "Batman Begins. " Peter Jackson landed "Lord of the Rings" off "Heavenly Creatures." Yet this opportunity is rarely extended to brilliant female directors, even Academy Award nominees. We hear the same old lame excuses --"Women won't leave their children." "Women are terrified of taking charge"-- excuses that don't seem to apply to powerful female executives such as those quoted above. What a shame that those who have the power to make a change retreat into spin, cowardice, and indifference. Does anyone out there have the guts to open the door to the female directors that Goldstein so rightly points out are waiting in the wings to show what they can do?