And this is according to the Center for the Study of Women and Television and Film in San Diego State University. MARTIN: Talk to me about the Geena Davis Institute which you founded years ago. Spanish After feeling that she was shut out of directing because she's a woman, she became an activist. I was a feminist since I was 10-years-old because I came from a very right-wing family. LANDGRAF: And Im here to say its there. Filmed over 211 shoot days in nine countries and five continents over four years, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change. What were you looking for and what did you come away with? Synopsis. We've been talking with actor Geena Davis and director Maria Giese about the campaign for more representation of women behind and in front of the camera in movies and TV. - three years and seven months going. And then the second thing were unions. After we take a short break, we'll hear from photographer Bruce Talamon, whose photos of soul, funk and R&B stars of the '70s and early '80s are collected in a book. GIESE: Well, I understood very quickly that the numbers in and of themselves inferred violations of Title VII. GEENA DAVIS, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING: Thank you. . Why hasnt it changed before now? In 2012, my archery coach noticed that when both Brave and The Hunger Games came out, suddenly the percentage of girls taking up archery shot up 105 percent, higher than adult men. Film Review: 'This Changes Everything' Before the #MeToo movement began, director Tom Donahue began assembling a documentary about gender inequality in Hollywood. MARTIN: So you can see it with kids entertainment? And that's when you really are tested with your mental abilities because once you have a really good shot, your job is to recreate it exactly and - every time. We havent made significant progress, Klein argues, because weve been expecting solutions from the very same institutions that created the problem in the first place . I'm sure it made a lot of money. GIESE: You know, I did a lot of script writing and doctoring and - but no, no primetime TV shows, even though I observed for hundreds of hours on major TV shows like Dick Wolf's "Law & Order.". 2019 | Maturity Rating: 13+ | 1h 35m | Documentary Films. Here it is. The feature documentary, This Changes Everything, narrated by Naomi and directed by Avi Lewis,premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Oscar Winning Director Alfonso Cuarn, and executive producers Seth Macfarlane, Shepard Fairey, and Danny Glover. GROSS: Prevent that kind of behavior. (Laughter). Originally, it was about workplace discrimination in Hollywood but I thought to myself, who is going to want to see this movie outside of the people in Hollywood. Nobody was going into this thinking, oh, we're going to really make a statement with this, or this is going to be a powerful message for anybody. We have been told its impossible to get off fossil fuels when in fact we know exactly how to do itit just requires breaking every rule in the free-market . She founded an institute, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. So I never thought about it again. So they were driven out of the unions. Great doc until the credits rolled Late Night with Seth Meyers: Milo Ventimiglia/Geena Davis/Ex Hex/Julian Dorio. DAVIS: Well, it was completely random in some ways. I showed her, you know, G-rated videos and little kids movies and TV shows - and, you know, obviously, there's some exceptions to that. After a break, I'll talk more with Geena Davis about her movie career, and Bruce Talamon will talk about taking photos of soul, funk and R&B stars of the '70s. And I think thats but also part of it is that my peers and I felt like you cannot complain about any of this because they wont hire you. But we were stunned at the reaction that was instant - cover of Time magazine and all that stuff. Sisters have done it for themselves so why get a guy to direct? Can you talk about that? Like why do I care? JOHN LANDGRAF, HEAD, FX: I had this unconscious bias that we would have to be making sacrifices to hire people with less experience. hb```b``1f`e``c`@ 6v@NDl?L0`aeeVeE! And I just want an excuse to be able to do that (laughter). As Egypt's last pharaoh, Cleopatra fights to protect her throne, family and legacy in this docudrama featuring reenactments and expert interviews. It is also possible to buy "This Changes Everything" on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Vudu as download or rent it on Apple TV . GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. It was just like the way it was, and, you know, being sexy and all that kind of stuff. JOIN NOW. All rights reserved. The film presents seven portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana's Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing . The EEOC functions in total confidentiality. DAVIS: Oh, I don't know which one you mean. DAVIS: Not at all. He could hardly have timed it . Lithuanian Dutch Nothing except that climate change changes everything. Russian UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did. So why does the behind the camera representation matter so much? Dutch To have these conversations with men, youre saying like, well, I dont think you should depict it that way and I think you should depict it this way. 0000023356 00000 n He's got you pinned against a car. Lucky for everybody then that opening up such spaces is exactly what Klein does best., This is the best book about climate change in a very long timein large part because its about much more. Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter. DONAHUE: Its funny. Well, Tom, talk a little about what the problem is if you would. I felt very unhappy with having that sort of imposed on me by other people. . And so I learned at 36 that I actually was coordinated. Now they were saying, oh, I have to tell you what I thought about this movie, and this is how many times I saw it. A work of startling force, exhaustive reporting, and telling anecdote . Filmed over 211 shoot days in nine countries and five continents over four years, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change. A new documentary explores how women in Hollywood are pushing for more representation in front of and behind the camera. GROSS: Did you think of it as discrimination against older women? Geena Davis and Tom Donahue on This Changes Everything, Maleeha Lodhi Discusses Tensions Between India and Pakistan, Michael Mann Explains Why We Need to Rethink Food Production, + Major support for Amanpour and Company is provided by the Anderson Family Charitable Fund, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim, III, Candace King Weir, Jim Attwood and Leslie Williams, the Leila and Mickey Straus Family Charitable Trust, Mark J. Blechner, Seton J. Melvin, Bernard and Denise Schwartz, Koo and Patricia Yuen, Barbara Hope Zuckerberg, Jeffrey Katz and Beth Rogers, the Filomen M. DAgostino Foundation, Josh Weston and. SANDRA OH: Shonda was able to make half of her cast not white. There are problem areas in terms of style as well as content. GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guests are both featured in the new documentary "This Changes Everything" about discrimination against women in Hollywood. 0000006432 00000 n GROSS: But you were with Sydney Pollack. LANDGRAF: And maybe that the talent wouldnt be there. Whats your first name? And the ending's kind of similar, where, you know, they kind of ride off a cliff, and you drive off a cliff. 2023 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. This is FRESH AIR. CHLOE GRACE MORETZ: When I was 15, I did Carrie. That movie was directed by Kim Pierce who was my first female director but it was a massively male crew. GROSS: Let down your hair, as you put it. GROSS: Geena Davis, Maria Giese, thank you both so much for talking with us. And so that was really fun. Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Chastain, Meryl Streep, Rashida Jones, Natalie Portman, Tracee Ellis Ross and many, many more actresses talk passionately and persuasively about the need to kick the door open and tell womens stories in ways that are real and rich. After the release of This Changes Everything book and film, Naomi went on a sold out tour to speak to audiences worldwide. And, you know, the growing movement against Keystone XL, but, frankly, all of the tar sands pipelines, is really starting to resonate right there in the electoral cycle. And I also expected it to be not true anymore by the time I would get to that age. In this part of the interview, I'm going to talk more with Davis about her own movie career. We also heard from director Maria Giese, who's also featured in the film "This Changes Everything." ELLEN POMPEO: All the parts that I had been auditioning for were the girlfriend or the wife, so I did notice immediately that, oh, I get to be the lead role. Spanish Finnish Geena Daviswhos also an executive producer herebridges these two perspectives. The two opposing viewpoints can be seen in two western society examples, the first concerning the Alberta oil sands, and the second fossil fuel energy production and transportation in what is traditional Montana farmland. But on the other hand, I sort of felt like, well, this is what was supposed to happen. Ukrainian. Hilary Weston Writers Trust Prize for Nonfiction. MARTIN: Well, you do interview one executive, the head of FX, John Landgraf. GROSS: Geena, I want to ask you about one of the recurring roles that you have now, and that's on this series "GLOW" - the Netflix series "GLOW," which is about women wrestlers in the 1980s. Slovene CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Now, whether in politics or science or any other field, one thing is for sure, we need more women now. You were working with Dustin Hoffman. And I'm like, oh, my God, no. It often seems that these worlds are completely . But so I think that will change and I think it will impact society, that life will imitate art. And then I saw it everywhere. DONAHUE: There hasnt been a lot of change. It looks like we don't have any synopsis for this title yet. But when she got older and roles started to dry up, she realized how unempowered women were in Hollywood. It couldnt be timelier, and its simmering feeling of frustration is palpable. Geena Davis and Maria Giese, welcome to FRESH AIR. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. . Better yet, it also explains how folks are now pushing back and using the law, media pressure and other forms of recourse to change the numbers. Sandra Oh speaks movingly about The Joy Luck Club and its singularity at the time, one of the only films to put female Asian characters at the center of its story. Director of photography: Stefano Ferrari This Changes Everything is, improbably, Kleins most optimistic book. Executive producers: Geena Davis, Regina K. Scully, Ku-ling Yurman, Madeline Di Nonno, Steve Edwards, Jennie Peters, Simone Pero, Patty Casby So I'm wondering if you think it's having that kind of effect. So do you have any idea where things stand? Documentary . Willie Nelson Turns 90: Keith Richards Joins Hollywood Bowl Bash, Breaking Down the List: Facts and Figures About THR Critics 50 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far), This Closeness Review: A Couple and Their Airbnb Host Get Acquainted in an Astute Dramedy of Awkwardness, Parachute Review: Brittany Snows Directing Debut Tackles Addiction, Eating Disorders and Anxiety With an Impressively Light Touch, Toronto: THR's Photo Portfolio With Steve Carell, Matthew McConaughey, Salma Hayek, Melissa McCarthy and More, Wes Anderson Directing Star Wars? MARTIN: In fact, there is a clip in the film where you talk about the fact that representation in actually entertainment can actually matter in the real world. And so it kind of made sense in that way. In between, we see clips from both movies and television that illustrate the films points in amusing and often striking ways. And I was really worried about coming off as if I didn't know anything, that people would be saying, she doesn't even know where to stand or what to do. And her actions led to an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation into systemic discrimination against women directors in Hollywood. Its a lot of documents and newspaper headlines. And I was - well, I was mostly thrilled that my first job was not playing, you know, a corpse in a morgue on a soap opera or something. Lithuanian And that action alone sent the numbers skyrocketing from 0.5% to 16% in just 10 years from 1985 to 1995. So I knew the way to move the numbers and to make real significant change was through legal action. Since then it has been shown 1000s of times in community screenings around the world. DAVIS: They do. And in May 2015, The New York Times published the ACLU's 15-page letter to the EEOC and to other government agencies, calling for an industry-wide federal investigation into systemic discrimination against women directors. It'll ruin your career was the thinking. GROSS: So what did you learn being on set? And you say in the film that you were watching something with your daughter. And she founded an institute to study gender discrimination in Hollywood. Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. GROSS: Well, what was wrong with that plan? A right wing think tank provides its view that the climate change issue needs to be dealt with through market forces. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. GROSS: The one with the feathers and DAVIS: The one with the feathers and rhinestones? Be the first to contribute. GROSS: And you also are an archer - like bow and arrow archery. DONAHUE: Well, two things. This is FRESH AIR. MARTIN: And youre saying that entertainment really does matter. With: Geena Davis, Meryl Streep, Chlo Grace Moretz, Yara Shahidi, Natalie Portman, Taraji P. Henson, Reese Witherspoon, Cate Blanchett, Jill Soloway, Shonda Rhimes, Alan Alda, Sandra Oh, Anita Hill, Jessica Chastain, Rose McGowan, Judd Apatow, Rosario Dawson, Maria Geise, Amandla Stenberg, Maureen Ryan Brenda Chapman explains her thinking in conceiving Pixars Brave: I purposely went for a princess so I could throw the princess thing on its head. (But then the movie weirdly fails to follow up with the fact that Chapman was forced to share directing credit with Mark Andrews once Brave came out, rather than serving as the first woman to direct a Pixar feature.) What have they each done? Kleins sharp analysis makes a compelling case that a mass awakening is part of the answer., Gripping and dramatic . Didnt seem to happen. And she's been dedicated to equality for women, more roles for women in Hollywood. Thats the problem. Theyll just get somebody else. GROSS: So part of your work was modeling for Victoria's Secret. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they just dont like me. In the course of this struggle, they help ignite a nationwide movement. In the wake of her prom scandal, Princess Margrethe longs for normalcy as she struggles to maintain her perfect facade while dealing with family drama. . The most profound threat to humanity is the war our economic model is waging against life on earth. So at 41, I took it up and then became absolutely obsessed, as I do with things. Catalan Things were looking good for you after film school. Maria Giese is a director who felt shut out for being a woman. We should be showing kids that boys and girls share the same bicycle. Along with many others who spoke to Everythings director Tom Donahue (who also made the docs Casting By andThank You for Your Service), like Natalie Portman and Chloe Grace Moretz, Davis talks without self-pity about feeling objectified by the filmmaking process. So I sat down with her, and the very first show I turned on and watched with her, I pretty much immediately noticed something, and I thought, wait a minute - how many female characters are in this show? (Yes, I am aware that even comparing these two films critically risks replicating the very same divide-and-rule strategies that have forced female filmmakers to compete with each other for years rather than collaborate and collectivize. And her actions led to an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation into systemic discrimination against women directors. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Its one of the best things thats ever happened in my professional career. Her work led to an ongoing EEOC, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, investigation into systemic discrimination against women directors, as well as an ACLU campaign against discrimination. Sandra Oh speaks movingly about the importance of seeing actresses who looked like her for the first time in The Joy Luck Club. And Tiffany Haddishtotally unsurprisinglygets the biggest laughs of all when she recalls the thrill of seeing Diahann Carroll stride into a room and start a catfight with Joan Collins on Dynasty., Behind the scenes, This Changes Everything offers several nuggets that are both illuminating and infuriating. German 0000002877 00000 n The story goes full circle back to Alberta and what should or needs to be done to combat climate change while dealing with the economy and thus people's short term well-being. Korean Heres where some of the more eye-opening information emerges in the documentary, as well as the profound possibility of shaping young minds in positive ways. MICHEL MARTIN, CONTRIBUTOR: Geena Davis, Tom Donahue, thank you so much for talking to us. MARTIN: Do you think its because your initial focus was on kids television? And I explained to them why I thought that this was so significant on a global level. Norwegian Incidentally, both of these docs conspicuously have no interviews with several of the industrys best known and most lauded female directors, such as Kathryn Bigelow and Sofia Coppola, who have expressed the view, at least in Bigelows case, that they much prefer to be seen as simply directors, not as female directors. Drawing on an impressive volume of research, Ms. Klein savages the idea that we will be saved by new technologies or by an incremental shift away from fossil fuels: Both approaches, she argues, are forms of denial . Danish Finally, inevitably, there will be viewers who may feel understandably perplexed as to why, even though an end credit points out that 75 percent of the crew that worked on this film was female, its still a man getting the directors credit here, and a man (Stefano Ferrari) taking the director of photography credit, especially when there are so many outstanding female cinematographers emerging now. And this is in every sector of society, its the same story. The movie This Changes Everything, an American documentary film, directed by Tom Donahue, debued in 2018. And but I just assumed kids media would be gender-balanced, and wholesome, and good for you, and all that. She, along with many others, weighs in on the need to offer little girls and boys a chance to see that women can be the heroes, the protagonists, the lead figures in the stories we tell. We have been told its impossible to get off fossil fuels when in fact we know exactly how to do itit just requires breaking every rule in the free-market playbook: reining in corporate power, rebuilding local economies, and reclaiming our democracies. What happened was when I was in Thelma & Louise, after Thelma & Louise came out, a lot of the press was talking about, this is going to change everything. So sue me.) 0000002423 00000 n Well, it meant a little ironically. So I had been very unathletic as a kid. Published in 2014, it debuted at #5 on the New York Times list and at #1 in Canada. Klein argues that the changes to our relationship with nature and one another that are required to respond to the climate crisis humanely should not be viewed as grim penance, but rather as a kind of gifta catalyst to transform broken economic and cultural priorities and to heal long-festering historical wounds. Actress Geena Davis rallies Meryl Streep, Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon and others in this . GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Watch all you want. But to such diverse representation up on screens, battles must be fought, executives persuaded and, most of all, women hired to write, direct, produce and advocate for such stories in the first place. Maria Giese is a director who felt shut out of directing because she's a woman. But thats what we were worried about. And when we looked at - when we first looked at TV shows, kids - the ratio of male to female characters on kids programs, specifically made for them, had the worst ratio of male to female characters. This Changes Everything. This film is about gender inequality in the TV and movie industry and they couldn't hire a woman to direct this?! And if you're just joining us, my guest is actor Geena Davis and director Maria Giese. We have been told the market will save us, when in fact the addiction to profit and growth is digging us in deeper every day. I never got another paying job. Youll get much less salary because you guys dont really matter and well replace you if you have any complaints. GROSS: How did you decide to create your institute? What are we doing? GROSS: So you went to the ACLU, and then the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission became involved, too. Indeed, Wonder Womans director Patty Jenkins is one of the many voices heard here. There's no question about it. She speaks candidly about the way shes been depicted on screen, how she and many others thought the revolutionary Thelma & Louise would change everything (hence the title) back in 1991, and the research shes done on the portrayal of women in childrens programming through her Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. DAVIS: Exactly. Rose McGowan, now inextricably linked to the #MeToo movement, wryly reflects on what it was like to be so often the only woman on a set in the early part of her career, keenly aware of how the camera operator was tracking her rear end. When you have 150 men on set and one woman, how is that woman protected? Production companies: CreativeChaos vmg, New Plot Films, US Release 2019. But that was my plan. Downloads only available on ad-free plans. Produced by: Ilan Arboleda, Kerianne Flynn, Tom Donahue I'm talking about family-rated films. Watch all you want. The credits mention that 75 percent of the crew working on the film was female, but it sort of seems like a no-brainer to have a woman direct the movie about the fact that women dont direct enough movies. makes a muscular case for global warming as the defining, cross-sectional issue of our era., [A]robust new polemic . Russian She ends up shooting him, and then you both go on the lam because you feel like, who's going to believe you? And they started to reach out to interview many, many women, as many women directors as they could. It was night and day, where before, they might say, hey, "Beetlejuice" or something. Featuring a strong, eclectic and impressively starry roster of women working in front of and behind the camera, This Changes Everything offers up a handy-dandy, quickfire history lesson that points out how, for generations, sexism and prejudice in the entertainment industry has shut out and silenced filmmakers who arent straight white men. [Klein] writes of a decisive battle for the fate of the earth in which we either take back control of the planet from the capitalists who are destroying it or watch it all burn.. A.I. Actress Geena Davis rallies Meryl Streep, Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon and others in this powerful documentary. Prior to the worldwide publication of This Changes Everything, Naomi filmed a one and a half minute book trailer that highlighted the main themes of the book. MARTIN: You know one of the things that really fascinated me about the film is that you point out it wasnt always this way. Flawed as it is, This Changes Everything matters and maybe itll even make a difference. So I think that's a big change that's happened. Now we will see so many more female buddy pictures, female road movies or whatever and movies about female friendship. And then maybe five years later, another movie comes out with a female star. And why does that matter? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone, listen up, please. The catastrophic effects of climate change are viewed through the lens of those in the US northeast coast who suffered through Hurricane Sandy. MARTIN: Why do you think that was the click moment for you? They're both featured in the new documentary about that campaign called "This Changes Everything.". It ultimately all worked out for me, but the likelihood of becoming a famous model was actually pretty slim, and I didn't. . - It didn't change anything. In This Changes Everything, Naomi Klein explores the issue of climate change from a political perspective and considers why we have failed as yet to respond to the global danger it poses. And I think its because what I decided to do was I wanted the research so I could go directly to the creators and share it with them in a private and very friendly way because I knew they didnt know what they were doing. You hear so many women speaking up when they encounter injustice and openly talking about it. Geena Davis is also an executive producer of the film. DAVIS: It did well. But it was television that showed me there it was another way, and it was a show called MASH. Suddenly, they could see what they were doing, and weve yet to leave any meeting where somebody doesnt say, you just changed my project. The musical score, composed by Leigh Roberts and Allison Piccioni, is way too prominent in the mix and by a massive distance much too reminiscent of old-school TV documentaries, underscoring every emotion with obvious musical cues. And then on screen really is impactful, because as much as it can create a negative impact, it has the power to create incredibly positive changes like were talking in the movie about the CSI effect where there were so many shows so many female forensic scientists on T.V. Against the backdrop of Greece in crisis, a powerful social movement rises. Well, get her back. And that in turn should give us hope, because it means the fight for a just world is the same as the fight for a livable one., This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate is a book of such ambition and consequence that it is almost unreviewable . Bosnian DONAHUE: So the cheaper shows on Netflix and Hulu. I always say go through the script and change it. So it was so horrifying to me that we would be doing this to kids that I decided I had to try to do something.
