Feds Investigating Lack of Female Directors in Hollywood

The investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) comes in the wake of a complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), claiming that of the 1,300 top-grossing films spanning a 12 year period, only 4.1% were directed by women.

“Our goal is to show the civil rights enforcement agencies that a significant number of people who are women directors or work with women directors want this long-running civil rights problem to be fixed,” the petition read.

The ACLU had also collected interviews from about 50 female directors, at least some of whom will now be interviewed by the EEOC as it works on an investigation.

“Your name was provided to our agency by Melissa Goodman with the ACLU,” the EEOC’s letter reads. “Ms. Goodman has advised the EEOC that you would be willing to speak with us, so that we may learn more about the gender-related issues which you are facing in both the Film and Television Industries. To that end, I would like to begin coordinating dates and times for these interviews, to take place during the month of October at our Los Angeles District Office. Please note that these interviews will be considered confidential. At your earliest opportunity, please contact me and let me know your availability so that we can schedule a date and time for your interview.”

While film and television studios appear for now to be the primary target of the federal investigation, the original ACLU petition also criticized talent agencies and the Director’s Guild of America for “ineffective” efforts to promote the hiring of more women, some of which “may perpetuate discrimination.”

While there certainly are a lot of talented female directors out there, look at Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), Angelina Jolie (Unbroken), Penelope Spheres (Wayne’s World). However, it’s possible that the lack of female directors on big-budget blockbuster films isn’t due to issues of gender, but instead due to the fact that they weren’t the right people for the job. Wouldn’t hiring females just because of their gender be sexist also? Marvel recently reached out to Selma director Ava DuVernay about directing the upcoming Black Panther film, but she turned them down.

Source: breitbart.com