What Angelina Jolie's New Movie Can Tell Us About the Fate of Female Directors in Hollywood

Is the industry getting any better?

By Seija Rankin Nov 12, 2015 3:00 PMTags
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This Friday is a big occasion for Angelina Jolie: Her third directorial project, By The Sea, hits theaters. The movie is particularly personal for the actress, given that she wrote and produced, and costars alongside husband Brad Pitt.

But the date is also significant for the industry as a whole. November 13 will see the release of three different female-directed movies, with Jessie Nelson's Love The Coopers (starring Diane Keaton and Amanda Seyfried, among other big names), and The 33Patricia Riggen's adaptation of the Chilean mine collapse, joining Jolie's feature.

It's not hard to see why this triple release could be a game-changer in the industry; the disastrous lack of opportunities for female directors isn't exactly a Hollywood secret. But is it a sign of the changing times, or just a happy coincidence that will bring no real improvements to the gender landscape?

For Jolie's part, she's one of a few women who's managed to find consistent work in Hollywood—but only because she makes it happen for herself. She wrote and produced her first two films, In the Land of Blood and Honey and Unbroken, and there's no denying that her star power lends her quite a bit of command. It's hard to compare Angelina Jolie to a relatively unknown female director trying to break into the industry, but a major takeaway is that she has undoubtedly had to work harder than her male competition.

She took the same all-encompassing approach to her latest, By the Sea, acting as a multi-hyphenate in her quest to get the arty marital drama into theaters. The flick is an intimate look into a marriage on the rocks, and one that, for all intents and purposes, would not be the same if it were directed by, say, her husband Brad Pitt (who happens to star opposite Jolie). Angelina has often been hesitant to discuss the hardships she's faced as a woman in the industry for fear of turning focus away from her accomplishments, but we'll just let one simple fact about By The Sea speak for itself: It is the first time in Pitt's nearly 30-year career that he has been directed by a woman.

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Love The Coopers is Nelson's first directing gig in 13 years (she's been spending her time writing screenplays like Fred Clause), and she noted one positive shift in Hollywood: Reception. "It used to be for women, if just one movie didn't do well, she didn't get another chance," Nelson told the audience. "Which was unfortunate, because trying and failing is how you learn as a director. I now get the feeling that women are no longer being held to that."

As disturbing as anecdotes like Nelson's have been, the statistics are even scarier. Like the fact that when Kathryn Bigelow received her Oscar nomination for The Hurt Locker in 2009, she was the first woman in history to join the Best Director category. (And since then, it should be noted, no other woman has been nominated). Or the fact that women only comprise 7% of directors on Hollywood's biggest movies. 

The (slightly) good news is that scary math begets drastic measures. The Directors Guild has some choice words for the industry's lack of improvement when it comes to hiring female directors, and has set out to hold studios accountable for their practices. The federal government has also chimed in with their investigation into gender discrimination. But as many women in the thick of it will be quick to remind everyone, a harsh statement here and there has never resulted in true progress.

Perhaps the best course of action? Good old-fashioned hard work and success. As frustrating as the fact may be, the more women continue to kick ass in directing gigs—and bring in the big bucks to boot—the more studios will realize that hiring a woman isn't just good for gender equality, it's good for the bottom line. Take Elizabeth Banks. She took over behind the camera for Pitch Perfect 2 (Jason Moore helmed the original) and guided the film to bring in a whopping $69 million dollars over opening weekend, breaking first-time director box office records along the way. She's already been tapped to direct the upcoming third installment, signaling that (hopefully) her victory was too large to ignore.

While there's no guarantee that this weekend's triple girl-power release date will deliver box office numbers on par with Pitch Perfect 2 (and, frankly, with By The Sea's level of niche, it's not likely), Jolie and her fellow directors are making a positive, if slightly different, impact. Friday brings, in no particular order, a sensitive family Christmas Eve story, a disturbing portrait of a crumbling marriage and a harrowing action flick about a historic mine rescue. That is what we like to call variety, and variety is another powerful way to move the needle.

In years past, women were just as typecast in directing as they were in acting: There has been a stereotype among the industry that women only make one type of film (read: romantic comedies and sappy stories for other women). The fact that in one single day three women will release such a different lineup is huge. And we're willing to bet that the theater for By The Sea will be filled with more than just stay-at-home moms. 

So where does that leave us? Truly, no one can predict. And it would be naive to assume that Jolie and her girl gang can usher in a dramatic turnaround. But isn't it fun to think about the possibilities?

Watch: Brad Pitt Talks Being Directed By Wife Angelina