|
 McDormand urged powerful celebrities to insist on inclusion
riders: contractual provisions that require producers to
interview female candidates for jobs ranging from gaffer to
director.
In the aftermath of McDormand's speech, one major Hollywood
studio, Warner Bros., adopted policies based on the idea, and
A-list stars such as Matt Damon and Michael B. Jordan, who also
work as producers, committed to pushing for inclusion riders.
"It's been remarkable," said Kalpana Kotagal, a civil rights
attorney who co-developed the inclusion rider concept, which
also is being used to encourage hiring of people of color, as
well as gay, disabled and older people. "We are actually seeing
it being implemented."
Kotagal pointed to coming-of-age movie "Hala," which debuted at
the Sundance Film Festival and will be distributed by Apple Inc.
Producers adopted inclusion riders and filled many off-screen
jobs, including the majority of department head positions, with
women.
The publicity around the riders kick-started a nascent effort to
pressure filmmakers into boosting female representation.
A study released this month showed some gains. Forty of the top
100 films in 2018 featured a female as a lead character, the
highest number since tracking began 12 years earlier, according
to University of Southern California's Annenberg Inclusion
Initiative. Those movies included best picture nominees "A Star
is Born," "The Favourite" and "Roma."
And 28 percent of this year's Oscar nominees are women, the
highest percentage in history.
The industry is taking other steps to promote gender diversity.
The 4 Percent Challenge asks for a commitment to announcing at
least one feature film with a female director in the next 18
months. Four percent refers to the pool of women-directed films
among the top 1,200 movies of the past 10 years.
"For decades, directors have been viewed as a male job," said
Oscar-nominated "Vice" director Adam McKay.
But he said that attitude is changing, and his production
company has made five feature films with female directors.
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"I think you are seeing the whole town rally around the idea that
there are voices that need to heard," he said.
More than 120 actors, producers and writers, and seven studios, have
signed on to the 4 Percent Challenge. Many studios also have
established mentoring programs for women.
Still, "the work is far from done," Kotagal said.
The industry remains far below the 50/50 parity that advocates are
pushing for among on-screen talent, behind-the-scenes workers and
studio executives. The number of female cinematographers is
particularly low, comprising just 3 percent of last year's 100
top-grossing films, according to data from San Diego State
University.
And none of the major studios aside from AT&T Inc-owned Warner Bros.
has committed to using inclusion riders across the board on
productions.
Actress Natalie Portman said she had encountered resistance to the
idea. "I think a lot of people are making the argument that you're
hiring people for their talent, not their gender," she told
Hollywood website Deadline in December.
A common refrain across the movie business is that decades of
inequality make it hard to find qualified women to fill positions.
Betsy West, co-director of Oscar-nominated documentary "RBG" about
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, rejected that argument.
Key jobs on "RBG," including editor, producer and cinematographer,
were performed by women.
"People say 'How did you find the people?'" West said. "It wasn't
that hard. They are out there, and you just have to look."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Additional reporting by Omar Younis;
Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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