If you haven't read Vulture's list of 100 female directors Hollywood could be hiring you should. It's a great 'shut your mouth' argument for those suits that hilariously say 'well, we would hire female directors if there were any!' Bless Kyle Buchanan for spearheading this -- though I hope he had interns helping. Naturally there will be passionate responses. Diversity arguments will always promote some degree of snark -- see Anthony Mackie's recent comments about the Black Panther movie's search for a director -- and nitpicking, including here.
But we nitpick with love.
David Poland argues that "strategy," not shaming, is what's required and that statistics and math won't help. He neglects to detail the strategy though. As for myself I (mostly) love the list and think it's important that a wake up call like this is out there -- what did happen to Laverne herself, Penny Marshall, who directed so many huge hits in the 80s and 90s? It's smart to make the list far reaching and extensive but some of the people are not reasonable for an argument either because their careers have been over for so long or because...wait for it... they aren't good directors. (Obviously there are many bad directors with penises who get lots of work. But we'd like them to find other jobs, too!)
As much as we love Elizabeth Banks as an actress -- and wow has she ever been upping her game in that department of late -- and hope she doesn't read this she does not show what one might call "promise" as a director in Pitch Perfect 2. Phyllida Lloyd, another name on the list, has made two bad films starring Meryl Streep. She will surely find work again since Mamma Mia! was a gargantuan global hit and Iron Lady won two Oscars but she's a terrible film director. She has no sense of where cameras go or basically anything. Those movies are b-a-d. Her work on stage is reportedly grand and we have no reason to doubt that consensus but some talents don't transfer well across mediums.
Names. Names. Names.
The biggest and most celebrated female directors like Sofia Coppola, Kathryn Bigelow, Jane Campion (all Oscar winners for directing or screenwriting) and the recently ascended Ava DuVernay will continue to get work as well they should since they are all completely amazing and distinctive. Likewise arthouse auteurs like Claire Denis, Andrea Arnold, Miranda July, and Ana Lily Armipour should just keep doing their singular brilliant things because a) Hollywood wouldn't know what to do with them and b) they probably wouldn't ever want to do it, whatever it was, with Hollywood - swipe left.
To Vulture's list we would like to add or at least point to the annual Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars wherein female directors are regularly submitted to represent their countries. This year's race alone features 13 movies directed or codirected by women. So though it's tough out there for female directors everywhere it's not as tough in some industries as it is in Hollywood.
But, Hollywood Suits and Powerful Executives, if you're reading (haha) please throw interesting work at these less famous women who are really fine directors and whose sensibilities are accessible enough for the mainstream and not one of them have made enough movies: Lisa Cholodenko (who has never made anything less than interesting and often they're just plain great), Isabel Coixet (good with low key engaging drama), Debra Granik (Winter's Bone!), Leslye Headland (great with romantic comedy -- a genre that desperately needs revitalizing voices), Drew Barrymore (Whip It is so underrated), Gina Prince-Bythewood (very strong with romance), Kasi Lemmons (Eve's Bayou!), Floria Sigismondi (Runaways showed much promise), and Dee Rees (Pariah was a miracle). Vulture's suggestion of lifting TV director Jennifer Getzinger into the movie ranks to see what she could do on a bigger less episodic scale is also insightful. She's worked on some great television including Mad Men ("The Suitcase" - a one hour masterpiece), Orange is the New Black, and Masters of Sex and all three of those series have displayed visual prowess rather than just the verbal prowess one expects from tv given that it's always dubbed "a writer's medium".
P.S. If you're interested in this topic make sure to follow Anne Marie's "Women's Picture" series. This month every Thursday will be devoted to Mira Nair films (the excellent Oscar nominated Salaam Bombay! is tomorrow) and she's already given us whole months of Kathryn Bigelow, Ida Lupino, Ava DuVernay, Jane Campion, and Agnes Varda.