23rd July 2015

Why I Always Support Female Led Films on Opening Weekend

I have a tradition that I don’t talk about enough: Whenever possible, I ALWAYS support female led films on opening weekend in cinemas if they are available in my city. This year alone, that means I saw the following films during their opening weekend: Still Alice, Insurgent, Kumiko the Treasure Hunter, The Woman in Gold, Clouds of Sils Maria, Spy, Inside Out and Trainwreck.

There were definitely a few I didn’t see. Fifty Shades of Gray comes to mind as the most available that I skipped altogether. But I’ve also missed Ride, which was directed and written by Helen Hunt and Welcome to Me starring Kristen Wiig, which has failed to hit a screen anywhere near me.

This all started as a fun challenge. But each and every ticket I buy, I become more committed to this. And here’s why: Hundreds of movies will be released in 2015. Less than 20% of those will be directed by, written by or star a woman in the principal role. Those numbers haven’t changed in years and they aren’t going to change by us just talking about it.

They aren’t going to change if I write an angry blog post.

They aren’t going to change if talking heads go on TV and talk about it some more.

They aren’t going to change if we admit more women into film school.

I hate that this is true, but when it comes to how decisions get made, a lot of the time it’s about the consumer and the financial choices we make that show those with power that we aren’t complacently waiting. Hollywood believes that 17 year old boys go to movies. And that’s because they do.

Women watch movies. It’s true. We watch Netflix in higher numbers. We rent movies. We stream. We make it out to movie theaters too. We all know this. But opening weekend is this huge hurdle that we have yet to surmount. And why? Because there isn’t a precedent there. There isn’t the data.

The notion goes something like this: women don’t show up for opening weekend, which is the most important weekend for a film in terms of its ability to be considered a financial success. In order for a film to be considered not just viable, but successful, asses have to show up in seats on opening weekend and then spread the word that its a movie worth seeing so that it continues to do well at the box office and then again on streaming and home viewing.

I’m not saying it’s right. I’m not saying it’s wrong. I’m simply suggesting that this is the pervasive, fact-based truth that gets passed around in entertainment. And we can’t ignore it.

How do we change this? With our dollars. With movie tickets sold. With our asses in seats. Or vaginas, if you really want to get silly and specific about it.

And so a few months ago, I started as a challenge to myself to go see as many movies starring women on opening weekend as I could. In the passing weeks, it has continue to grow to seeing more movies written by women on opening weekend and hopefully, more movies directed by women too as this challenge continues. Each time I buy a ticket, I feel like I’m shaking the hand of the woman who beat the odds and got the damn movie made. Truly.

You might think I’m naive to believe that my one additional butt in one additional seat is going to change anything. And you know, you could convince me of that. But for me, it’s about the message it sends. It’s about the fact that I want people to watch my work and see my work and not discredit it in any way as a “woman’s work” and instead support it for the art itself. I truly believe there is value in women supporting other women, even women we don’t know personally or professionally.

This is about numbers AND perception. We need to change both. And I believe that if more of us take up the cause of trying our hardest to see more film directed by, written by or starting women, we will change the perception that women don’t come out for opening weekends.

I honestly believe that we can change this. In the industry, we talk about changing it constantly. We talk about getting more women into directing jobs. We talk about writing more stories for women. We talk about unconventional casting. We talk about creating associations and groups and clubs. We talk a lot. And that’s great. Please don’t misunderstand the value of talking.

But. And this is a huge one: WE HAVE TO SHOW UP.

So let’s keep talking. But let’s get to the movies, ladies.