“There’s nothing we’d like more than to find a female director for ‘Star Wars,’ ” producer and Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy said earlier this year, and she’s following through on that commitment. While it’s a dude party directing the next batch of films — Rian Johnson (“Star Wars: Episode VIII“), Colin Trevorrow (“Star Wars: Episode IX“), Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story“), Phil Lord and Chris Miller (the Han Solo spinoff) — Kennedy very clearly has women in mind beyond that horizon.
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The Los Angeles Times reports that earlier this fall, 44 of Hollywood’s movers and shakers got together to address the industry’s much publicized and documented gender bias and gender gaps in hiring. Organized by Women in Film and the Sundance Institute, the meeting featured suits from Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Marvel, HBO, DreamWorks Animation, Creative Artists Agency, William Morris Endeavor, and United Talent Agency, mixing both studios and talent to talk about what steps can be taken to see more women involved in film production.
So what will the results be? Perhaps we’ll find out sooner rather later as the paper reveals that, following the get together, Adriana Alberghetti, an agent, and partner at WME, managed to wrangle meetings for four female directors, and three female writers, for the “Star Wars” movies. Which names and which films were not specified, though she does represent directors Sarah Gavron (“Suffragette“) and S.J. Clarkson (“Jessica Jones”), and screenwriters Linda Woolverton (“Maleficent“) and Marti Noxon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Fright Night“), among others.
So, definitely some positive steps, and hopefully real change is coming soon for a franchise that has an endless opportunity of storytelling perspectives to explore. [via ComingSoon]