While it’s cool thatKathleen Kennedyis one of the powers-that-be in theStar Warsstory team, so far all of the hires for writing and directing jobs for the new movies have been dudes. That’s a bit of an issue when you consider that Disney is setting a pace of wanting to churn out at least oneStar Warsmovie from this year forwards, but thankfully, it looks like the future of the franchise isn’t entirely in the hands of male writers and directors.
According to theLos Angeles Times[viaCS], a “two-day summit held by Women in Film and the Sundance Institute to address the gender gap in Hollywood,Adriana Alberghetti(an agent and partner at power agency William Morris Endeavor).” The results of this summit managed to get meetings for four female directors and three female writers with an eye towards upcomingStar Warsmovies. While no specific names were mentioned, Alberghetti representsSarah Gavron(Suffragette) andS.J. Clarkson(Jessica Jones) as well as screenwritersLinda Woolverton(Maleficent) andMarti Noxon(Buffy the Vampire Slayer) among others.
For Kennedy’s part, she told theNew York Times[viaThe Wrap] that women need to be more aggressive if they want to be involved inStar Wars:
“Until I waved the flag at the Fortune women’s conference recently, I had not had one single phone call from a woman telling me that she really, really wants to direct a ‘Star Wars’ movie,” Kennedy said. “They need to be the ones picking up the phone and saying, ‘Hey, let me tell you what ‘Star Wars’ means to me and how much I could do with it.'”
I believe that the best people with the best ideas should get the job, but how do you measure “best” when it comes to art? There’s certainly a level of talent and experience required, but it’s become commonplace to send indie directors from their small-budget calling card films all the way to franchise blockbusters. When all of those directors are white guys, it limits the perspective we’re getting from these movies. Diversity is inherently good because it can prevent films from becoming repetitive. Hiring a women to write or direct aStar Warsfilm is no guarantee that movie will be good, but it will at least be different and help pave the way for other blockbusters to hire women for non-acting, above-the-line jobs.
As today’sgreat LA Times article points out, there’s a serious effort to bring fascinating female characters to the newStar Warsmovies. Hopefully, Lucasfilm and Disney will continue making that effort behind the camera as well.
